Glacier National Park

 July 1, 2021

We drove to Glacier National Park

Columbia Falls RV greeted us with these nice flowers.

We backed in to site 41 for the week.

The site is narrow and our neighbor's electric is in the middle of our grass section.

Thursday night is Farmers Market in Columbia Falls, it has some farmers selling goods, as well as crafters, food trucks, a beer garden and a band.  If only it wasn't still in the 90s at 7:00 pm.

July 2, 2021

Today we took the Going To The Sun Road over to St. Mary's Lake to hike the Three Falls Trail.

At the Sun Point Parking Lot we hear a commotion and I walk over and see a grizzly bear in the parking lot.  I told Jim there was a grizzly and he followed the bear into the woods and got this Where's Waldo the bear, shot which is more than me, I did not get a shot of the bear.

As we start the trail of 3 falls, we see mountains, pines and a peak at the lake.

St Mary's lake is a beautiful turquoise green.

The first falls we come to is Baring Falls.

"Baring Falls is a pleasant waterfall that drops roughly 25 feet over a rock ledge. After plunging over the ledge, Baring Creek continues flowing for another hundred yards or so before spilling into Saint Mary Lake. "

The second falls is St Mary's Falls.

Look at all this white water, this falls is flowing fast.

"St. Mary Falls drops roughly 35 feet in three separate tiers, with the two largest being the most photogenic. A smaller waterfall can be found below the footbridge."

I was feeling adventurous and went climbing off the trail, can you find me in this photo at St Mary's Falls?

"Before reaching Virginia Falls hikers will pass two series of cascades and waterfalls, both of which would be notable destinations in and of themselves. However, being located between two absolutely spectacular waterfalls, the relative aesthetic quality of the two unnamed falls may be somewhat diminished." 

Flowing water is gorgeous, even if it is unnamed. 

The third falls is Virginia Falls, we climbed up to the top.

Jim got so close that the wind off the falls gave him a cooling shower.

A kind hiker offered to take our picture at an observation just below the top.

And a third viewing point was a little lower.

I liked all the views, but this one was most serene.

Another unnamed falls that was fun and full of white water.

The red rocks surrounding St Mary's Lake offset the turquoise lake.

The three falls trail was a winner.

We headed back on the Going To the Sun Road and caught this long waterfall.

And this one too, the snowmelt is awesome at making waterfalls.

We went to Logan's Pass to have our picnic lunch and spotted 2 Big Horn Sheep.

Seems like most wildlife turns their backsides to my camera.

The view behind the visitor center at Logan's Pass.

Trails up here are currently closed due to a Momma Bear and her cub in the area, hopefully the trail to Hidden Lake will open up later this week so we can hike it.

There is still snow up here at Logan's Pass.

More snowmelt along the Going To The Sun Road.

I also saw a Mountain Goat at a pull off on the Going To The Sun Road.

Jim has caught a cold and was resting in the car at this point.

Now for some more views from the Going To the Sun Road.

a little more snowmelt

The road was built over this waterfall, see it come out under the road.

The mountains are losing their snow.

Yes, the views here are endless.

July 3, 2021

Today's hike was along Upper McDonald Creek

The morning sun sparkled down on us.

Jim is looking pretty cheerful as he fights off his cold.

The water was thundering (that's a good thing).

Here is a video so you can hear it thunder.

The entire Creek was artistry in motion.

People come to see the creek on horseback too.

McDonald Falls goes the full width of the creek.

Sacred Dancing Cascades are further up the river.

"The cascade receives its name from a Kootenai phrase meaning "a good place to dance", or "where people dance". "

The trail led us into a quiet forest.

Dotted with wildflowers.

On the way back, I took some time to sit and enjoy the falls.

We stopped by Lake McDonald Lodge, this is the light fixture in the lobby.

We sat by the lake in the shade and had a picnic lunch.

Concerned that restaurants may be closed on the 4th we went out to celebrate our 40th Anniversary at Heavens Peak  BBQ restaurant.  It was pretty casual but had a mountain view and a tasty Going To The Sun-gria (white sangria and peach liquor).

July 4, 2021

Happy 40th  Anniversary to Us!

Today we woke up early (6 am) but still did not get a parking space at our trailhead, so we parked up the road about a mile away from the Avalanche Lake Trailhead.

First we pas Avalanche Gorge where the whitewater is churning.

Here it races around a rock in the middle of the gorge.

Snow melt in mass, just wonderful.

Here is a video of the Avalanche Gorge.

After the gorge we go into the shaded woods toward Avalanche Lake.

We have mountain views from the trail.

And then Avalanche Lake filling from multiple waterfalls at the far end.

The lake is a turquoise green, very clear and very cold.

Jim rested while I walked along the west side of the lake toward the waterfalls.

A third waterfall is viewable in the corner.

The view back over the lake, breathtakingly beautiful.

The lake is calm enough to reflect the mountains.

I could stay here all day, but the sun is intense, so time to leave.

We passed by this deer on the trail back.

We were checking out a place to kayak tomorrow when I noticed the clouds on the horizon shaped like another mountain.  A minute later it took on a new shape.

We did not go to a town fireworks show but did enjoy neighbors setting off fireworks from 10pm until midnight.

July 5, 2021

Jim needed a day off to recover from his cold, so no kayaking today.

I took a walk from the campsite to River's Edge Park.

The Flathead River.  

It's a nice neighborhood park with a fishing pond, community garden and beautiful river views.

A mom and her two kids paddleboard down the river.

July 6, 2021

Today we went to Two Medicine area of Glacier National Park and saw a moose run across the road in front of us before we even reached the entrance gate. (Sorry no picture, tried to get video off of Garmin but missed it by 5 minutes as it only holds so much video and then overwrites, darn it).

Running Eagle Falls

"This sacred waterfall was named to honor Pitamakan, or Running Eagle. Near the falls she had a four day vision quest to learn her destiny. She became the only famed female warrior of the Blackfeet tribe. She led many successful hunting and war parties, and was the only woman given a man's name in the tribe."

"Towering prominently above the falls is 9513-foot Rising Wolf Mountain, which is named after the first white man to live with the Blackfeet Indians. Hugh Monroe, who was married to Sinopah, received his Indian name as a result of his habit of getting out of bed in the morning on his hands and knees, thus resembling a wolf. Rising Wolf Mountain also has the distinction of being the highest mountain in the Two Medicine area."

"The waterfall receives its nickname, "Trick Falls", because there are actually two separate waterfalls at this location. During the spring run-off, water rushes over the top ledge, creating a 40-foot drop, while completely or partially obscuring the lower falls. However, as the volume of water decreases by late summer, and the upper falls "dries up," water continues to rush through a sink hole at the top of the cliff before flowing out of an opening in the cliff face below, thus creating the lower 20-foot falls."

We then hiked on the Aster Overlook Trail and passed this beaver pond.

The tree across the pond was chewed down by a beaver.

We passed Aster Falls on our way to the overlook.

". . . a 20-foot waterfall that cascades down a rock face in a succession of three drops."

I love a waterfall even a simple one.

Jim at Aster Overlook

"The trail from this point, however, climbs more than 500 feet in just three-quarters of a mile, but is well worth the effort as the views of Two Medicine Lake, Rising Wolf Mountain, Flinsch Peak and Dawson Pass are quite outstanding from this vantage point." 

Two Medicine Lake

A beautiful mountain at Two Medicine Lake

Smiling faces and Dawson Pass.

A meadow of wildflowers on the trail.

Happy 4th of July weekend from America the Beautiful.

July 7, 2021

It's official, Jim has shared his cold with me.  I still want to hike but Jim wants to rest.

And he got a haircut.

We picked up groceries and are resting up for our travel day tomorrow.

I took another walk to Rivers Edge Park, it was more tiring with a cold.

We enjoyed our time at Glacier.  We recommend to anyone who wants to visit to set up your base camp on the East side, especially if you like waterfalls.  We would have stayed on the east side but due to Covid the Indian Reservation had the east side closed when we were making reservations.