Lots of Glacier National Park 8-22-07

Today we woke up to mostly clear skies, could see fog up in the park, but over the next hour it started burning off so we decided to drive through Glacier National Park. With all the fires and smoke we weren’t sure we would even go through there, no sense if you can’t see much especially when it is all about the scenery. We packed a picnic and headed off.

It was a gorgeous day, mostly clear, a teeny bit of haze and warm if you stayed in the sun. We were very glad we went, the views were stunning, the water clear and the air so fresh. Somewhere before the park we crossed a river and a large Bald Eagle flew across the bridge and on up the river. It happened so fast, no picture of course. They are working on part of the road through the park so there was a delay, but when you see that road you are VERY glad that they are working on it, some very scary drops. Our only complaint was they didn’t have enough bathroom stops. Other parks at least will put in a couple porta-potties during peak periods. There were so many people in the park that the parking lot at the visitor center in the middle of the park was full, so if you had to use the facilities you were out of luck. We didn’t find another bathroom until we were almost out the other side.

On our way home we stopped at the fire camp south of the park where Larry met up with one of his old customers, he visited for a couple hours while I read a book. Larry may end up working for him some next year. His friend has two communication center trailers that he provides to the helibases at fire camps. Larry outfitted the first one with all the radios and wired it etc. Darel, his friend, mentioned his other trailer was in McCall, ID and we thought it was funny because we had recently been through there. The last picture is of a helicopter lowering his bucket and coming in for a landing.

We stopped in West Glacier to get something to eat. On our way through we just missed seeing a Harley Biker hit a deer, he had leg injuries and you could see the skid marks going all across the road, his bike was a mess, but fortunately he mustn’t of been going very fast which probably saved him and his buddies too. Every time I see something like that I want to smack every bike rider I know over the head and say “What Is Wrong With You!” You all know who you are! We know those details because Larry was listening to his scanner.

All these pictures were taken in the park. The glaciers that have been there for millions of years are small and just look like dirty patches of snow. There was a light dusting of snow on some of the peaks, it is a stunning place and we had a great day.