West Trip.....Day 7

 

 

Today we are headed off to the Glacier National Park located in the northwest corner of Montana just south of the Canadian border. Established in 1910 this one million acre park was carved out by receding glaciers which left behind breathtaking scenery including lakes and valley's among the mountains.

 

Lake McDonald  

 

We started our tour at the Lake McDonald Lodge where our group boarded three of these Red Bus "Jammers" since vehicles over 21 feet in length are prohibited from driving on the road.

One of the highlights of Glacier is the 52 mile long Going-To-The-Sun Road which bisects the park and crosses the Continental Divide at Logan Pass.

 

 McDonald Creek

 

A view of Heavens Peak, elevation 8,987 feet. Despite all the snow on Heavens Peak, there is no glacier.

 

 

 

 

 These historic red busses "Jammers" were built in the 1930s for the park and have a Ohio connection. They were built by the White Motor Company in Cleveland. 500 busses were built for various western parks, but most of the other parks did not restore their busses and were retired from service in the 50s. Glacier however did completely restore their fleet in 1989 and are still in service today.

They call them "jammers" because when they were first used, they had standard transmissions and the residents could hear the drivers "jammin" the gears up and down the mountains.

 

Haystack Waterfall

This pretty waterfall is located along the Going-to-the-Sun Road and cascades down to and under the highway and continues falling down the mountainside.

Mount Oberlin is on the left and Cannon Mountain on the right.

 

 

The Garden Wall.

The sharp spire to the right is Bishops Cap, Mount Gould in the center,

 

With a name like Glacier National Park, one would think you would see Glaciers all over the park. The truth is 150 years ago there were 150 glaciers in Glacier National Park. Today there are only 25 left. Most of them are tucked away on the north faces of peaks and gradually disappearing. It is assumed in another 10-15 years the park could be glacier free.

The little patch of snow peeking out from behind the Garden Wall is Gem Glacier, the smallest named Glacier in the park.

 

Another view of Heavens Peak from a higher elevation.

 

Mount Clements and the alpine meadows at Logan Pass.

 

Mount Reynolds

 

 

 

 

As we leave the park we pass by McDonald Lake again......

 

 

And the last of the beautiful Montana ranches and countryside.

 

 

 

We keep heading north and crossed the border into Canada around 4:00pm. The scenery just doesn't stop.

 

 It's just incredibly beautiful and this is just the beginning of the Canadian Rockies.

 

The Aspen Lodge in Banff is our home for the night.

 

 Next: The Canadian Rockies

 

West Trip....Day 6

Welcome to Montana!

The home of cowboys, ranches and horses. This is "Big Sky Country" and it is beautiful! Although I personally wouldn't move to a part of the country that has even more winter than Ohio......shudder......I now understand what attracts people to move to Montana.

  Up until today, I have been in all the states we visited so far.  Montana is new territory for me.

 

 

Once again, this is mostly a driving day as we head north toward Glacier National Park from Gardiner to Kalispell, a distance of just over 400 miles. There were beautiful scenic views along the way, from rolling hills, prairie grasslands, rivers, and towering mountains. And as usual, photo opportunities are rather limited on these driving days so just a lot of random shots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The one stop we made was the Smokejumpers Center in Missoula. This is the nation's largest base for highly trained specialists who parachute into remote area of national forests to fight the spread of wildfires. A tour through the base gives visitors a look at the preparation and skill required of men and women who work as smokejumpers.

 

 

 

 

Our last stop for the day is in St. Ignatius where we enjoyed a home cooked meal with an Amish family.

Well, since I live in an Amish community and I know how the Amish can cook, I knew we would be served a delicious meal and we certainly were but....... I was completely blown away when I got off the bus and stepped into a little piece of paradise on earth.

  I was like a kid in a candy store. I didn't know which way to go first. Of course the stream and waterfall caught my attention so that's where I headed first.  A shot up the stream......

 

then downstream.

 

The area around the waterfall.....

and a close-up of the waterfall.

 

This is the area beside the waterfall. Lets see where the steps lead to.

 

All I could say was Wow and Yes please......In. My. Backyard!

Back in the main garden, there are a lot of hostas. Everyone who has read my blog knows I'm a hosta fanatic. 

 

 

 Love the Russian Sage with the hosta's. I have one pathetic spindly stalk of Russian Sage. If I can ever get it to grow like this I will plant some with my hosta's. Very pretty combination!

This part of the garden is to the right of the steps that lead to the pond.

 

And it just keeps on going and going. And all of this has to be irrigated.

 

The Mission Mountains are the mountain range in the background.

I don't think I would ever get tired of a view like this from my back yard. It doesn't get much better than this.

 

 She called this Lavatera and it's in the Hollyhock and Hibiscus family.

 

I have a fascination for old weathered barns.  I'll take one of these too. Thank You.....

 

 

 

 

And eventually we found time from our garden meanderings to eat a delicious meal of salad, meatloaf, mashed potatoes, vegetable, and the best fresh peach cream pie I ever tasted.

 

 After dinner Simon shared the story of his dream as a young boy to live in Montana someday. I have to admire people who have the courage to step outside of their comfort zone and live their dreams!

Some of the Amish in St. Ignatius previously lived in our area here in Ohio.

 

We thought this was the perfect setting to do our group photo.

 

It was hard to leave this idyllic setting but the time came to get on board and head to Kalispell for the night. 

 

 Amish schoolhouse in the neighborhood.

 

Our hotel tonight was the Hampton Inn in Kalispell, Montana.

 

Gorgeous sunset in Kalispell.

 

 

Next......Glacier National Park