Don't Ignore the Park

Glacier National Park did everyone a service by having a "fee free" day September 24.  And as two retirees in need of saving money, and of entertainment, and of activity, we took advantage.

It was a beautiful day.
I apologize in advance for all the photos I'm going to include in this post.

Avalanche Lake.  An easy hike but very popular.  Which means people everywhere.

We managed two hikes for a total of seven miles of hiking.  And we ate the lunch we brought, managed to get in a bit of driving;  all within leaving our house around 9AM and returning around 6:30PM.  Granted we were tired but the scenery was wonderful.

My knit mitts came in handy as we were snowed upon a bit.

And four male big horned sheep were hanging out...

It was a great day and a good reminder of why we moved to this area.

Vacation Highlights

It would be so easy to go on and on about our great vacation in Glacier National Park.  And believe me, I'd love to.  What better way to keep your vacation going than to never stop talking about it?
But for your sake I'll just give you the high points.

For me that has to include our two night stay at Sperry Chalet, and our 8 mile round trip hike to Sperry Glacier.  Just gorgeous scenery.

I still can't believe Kim managed to get me to walk out on this rock for this photo, as scared as I am of heights.

It had rained a bit that night at the chalet and we woke up to snow in the higher elevations, which of course is where the glacier is located.

It was a beautiful hike with an inch or two of snow.  The alpine trees and flowers were stunning.  There was a lot of fog/clouds which gave everything an eerie but beautiful appearance.

This stairway, cut into a rock cliff, was the final uphill before the glacier.  I almost didn't make it.  The stairs were so steep, and with a layer of snow on them, and the way down soooo distant.  My fear of heights really kicked in here.

We took many hikes around the park and were always glad we did.  Fall colors were settling in and everything looked lovely.

Lake from the highway - an easy pic.

Kim got himself up early and took some sunrise photos of the mountains surrounding one of our hotels.

A rare still morning picture of Swiftcurrent Lake.

We felt very privileged to view as much wildlife as we did.  This mountain goat was especially friendly and seemed very curious about us.

I also loved the Bighorn Sheep.

And would it be Glacier National Park without some bear sightings?  Of course not.

Great trip.  Great food.  Great scenery.  Great company.

Back From Vacation

Yes, we've been on vacation.  See if you can guess where we went.

Here are our three major hotels and their views.

Number One:

 See that small corner of lake?  That's where we hiked from to reach the hotel.


Number Two:

Number Three:

I'm sure you guessed it, we went to Glacier National Park.  The first hotel is Sperry Chalet, number two is of course The Prince of Wales hotel in Waterton, Canada and number three is Many Glacier Lodge.

Great trip.  Loved every minute.