Glacier National Park

We have spent the past few days in northern Montana exploring Glacier National Park!  Our first day we got up early to take the 50 mile “Going to the sun” Road scenic drive.  It was an absolutely breathtaking drive albeit a bit nerve wracking for the passenger!

Along the way we stopped to check into a boat tour on one of the lakes only to find out that you need to book in advance which we had not done.  But as luck would have it Greg was wearing his Gator t-shirt and struck up a conversation with a fellow Floridian who happened to have two extra tickets for the boat ride. Did I mention our new friend was an FSU fan who felt bad that they had been winning so much lately so figured the least he could do is offer us his extra tickets!  Had a great time with our new friends on the boat ride and the guided hike to the St. Mary’s waterfalls.  On the way to the falls, we spotted three moose feeding in the marsh area of the lake.

We also stopped at Logan’s Pass and took the hike to the hidden lake and along the way found lots of mountain goats and this cute little ground squirrel!

We enjoyed a great picnic along the going to the sun road – you can’t beat the view!

Another great hike was the Highline Trail at Logan’s Pass which runs along the Continental Divide.  This is not a hike for those with a fear of heights as you walk along a very narrow path with a sheer cliff down to the going to the sun road.  They even have a cable for you to hold onto along some portions of the trail. And if you get lucky like we did, the mountain goats are using the path at the same time so you need to step aside and let them pass!

Glacier National Park has just recently been named an international dark sky park and this summer they are hosting three star gazing parties and one just happened to be while we were here.  We were fortunate enough to secure a ticket to the party and what a cool experience it was.  There were lots of astrologers on hand to answer questions and point out stars, constellations, etc. and they had all kinds of fancy telescopes for us to use.  We even saw the international space station twice as it circled the earth during our party.  It was a very unique and educational experience and we were so glad we were able to attend this very rare event.

Our last day in the area we went out to the Hungry Horse Dam and preservation area for a beautiful picnic lunch on the lake created by the dam and enjoyed a dip in the cool crystal clear waters of the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi.