Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park -- go now to actually see a glacier -- but the signs of glacial forces abound in the Park.  The forests are green and lush; wild flowers at higher elevations are sprinkled through the meadows; the animals and birds relish in this enormous intact ecosystem.

More of the same from us:  camping, birding, hiking, ranger programs.  On a calm sunny day we paddled along the shore of Lake McDonald (on the west side) struck by the clear water from snowpack runoff.

When even the park rangers described the weather forecast as "hike now and then leave for a few days"  we headed west to Spokane to retreat to a hotel.  A huge low pressure system was bringing wind, hail and rain (in, um, measurable amounts for a couple of days).  In 2 summers this is our first hotel stay due simply to weather.  Dreaming about that RV we are!!

Lovely creek water as we birded McDonald Creek.  We spotted 2 female harlequin ducks but no chicks.   

Avalanche Lake.  Classic glacier cirque.  So many waterfalls.

Mountain Goat along a trail.  We watched them on cliff sides, sure they were about to stumble and fall.  NOT.

Alpine flower

Walking in the lush green forest.
 Clap clap TALK clap clap.  Anything to keep the bears away.

Love that color!

How many goats can you find???

Going to the Sun Road.  Really for us...Going to the Rain Clouds Road.

Delicate snippets of color along the trail

Let's go canoeing!  We saw fish!

My favorite Tshirt in the park!

Rocks and Water