Travels With Connie #64 Glacier Park
Sometimes I know exactly where I am going. In that case it’s easy, pick a route and go.
More often I have an idea where I’d like to end up, and generally speaking a direction to go.
Once in a while I just follow the front wheel and see where it takes me.
As I was rolling out of Wallace, Idaho headed for Glacier I was thinking that it had been at least 35 years since I had been there. Way past time for a return to this magnificent park.
It's not the most visited Park in the system, and is really famous for a single road, the Going to the Sun Highway. But Glacier is a really spectacular place that has an incredible hiking and backpacking network too.
The road goes on forever. Actually it doesn't, but the road itself is pretty spectacular. It's nicely paved with tons of pullouts (probably one in three was being renovated when I was there). It doesn't seem an add on to the park, it seems an integral part.
At one point there was a huge crowd of people on and off the road with the Rangers flagging traffic. As I crept by I saw the moose grazing in a pool just off the road. My first thought was "What is the matter with you people? Haven't you ever seen a moose before?" When it occurred to me that the simple answer was no. They hadn't ever seen a moose before.
I came into the Park from Columbia Falls, Montana. Almost immediately you come to the beautiful McDonald Lake. It's peaceful and serene and is a great reminder that you are in a different world than you were a half hour ago.
The road hasn't begun to climb, yet, but you can feel if not see that the world is changing. You are going to the sun.
I just checked with USPS (Park Service) to confirm the name of the West Entrance. There is a fire burning in Glacier, just past the Lake here. If you are so inclined you might say a prayer for the firefighters there.
Thanks for coming along for the ride.
All words and photographs in this post are mine. For better or worse
You want some real motorcycle travel? Check out Velimir. That’s some kind of motorcycle writing.
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Amazing view ;)
You could include me in the group that has never seen a moose in the wild, seen plenty of stuffed and mounted heads and even a full size one stuffed but I just never have encountered one in the wild.
Nice pictures and beautiful scenery, so how much chained did you notice from 35 years prior?
The change is really hard to even quantify. There was much more 'white' when I was there last. But this year was not a great snow year and spring came early in the Northwest. Going to the Sun Highway was open in early June this year, and most years it is the 4th of July before they even get it open. Last time up there was some restricted vision areas on the highway. Restricted by walls of snow over 8' high :)
The highway surface is much better than I remember. It's amazing just how good it is considering the brutal conditions and the freeze/thaw cycles that it goes through.
Man it sounds like that Sun Highway is only open a few months out of the year then. I would imagine it is sometimes snowing there in late Sept or early Oct. and more than like November is probably holding snow pretty well by then.
Countryside up there is so serene and beautiful one cannot imagine the fires raging through eating it's path of destruction @bigtom13
To see a moose, no I haven't but sure would like to see them in real life.
I seem to see it a couple times a year. A bear, or a moose or buffalo or elk. People will just stop and gawk. And when I consider the whole thing, they are worth stopping and gawking at. There IS something special about seeing the large mammals in their habitat.
Fires are a part of the western forests. The NPS has altered their firefighting strategy to 'let nature take it's course' which makes for some explosive burns. But the next time (maybe 35 to 50 years) will be better because of the strategy today. I like that they are considering our great grandchildren's outdoor experiences...
Fire breaks and planning in forestry departments is on-going, preserving for the future. Controlled burning is sometimes called on to promote new plant life, sadly animals get caught in this as well.
Yes enjoyment of witnessing the big animals that roam does stop us in our tracks to appreciate wildlife in nature.
Beautiful! I really enjoy camping with my family. @ironshield
Thank you. I am so much more comfortable there than I am here it's hard to explain. I feel like I belong when I am in nature.
What a beautiful world we live in @bigtom13, thank you for taking us on this lovely drive with you, looks so serene! I've never seen a moose so would also stop on the side of the road for that :)
Yeah. It is a beautiful world. Glacier gets more and more spectacular as you go. The Going to the Sun Highway is incredible.
Enjoy your travels!
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Your trips are an adventure. @bigtom13
They do tend to be an adventure. Not on the Indiana Jones scale, but on the BT scale :) I certainly enjoy them.
Thanks for stopping by!
I love seeing all these stops along your travels this summer. The lake looks serene and perfect for launching my boat and catching some fish. Connie is looking sharp in that first picture as well.
I didn't have enough lens on the camera. There was a boat about your size fishing, but it was far enough away that it just wasn't a usable photo.
Thanks. Connie is such a hussy that she always likes the compliments!
Amazing photos @bigtom13!!!
Thanks man! I sure enjoyed taking them and sharing them.
I thought of you yesterday. A whole lot of respect went away with Aretha.
Let's say a little prayer for her!
-Keep on truckin!
/FF
@bigtom13 BEAUTIFUL, CONGRATULATIONS FOR YOUR POST, YOUR MIND IS FULL OF GREEN
Thank you. I really like that my mind is full of green. Glad you liked it.