Travels With Connie #64 Glacier Park

in travel •  6 years ago  (edited)

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.

Connie at the gate.jpg

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.

Glacierentry.jpg

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.

Tourbus1.jpg

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.

MacDonaldLake1.jpg

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.

MacDonaldlake5.JPG

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.

MacDonaldLake4.JPG

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.

Awesome pictures. I want a motorcycle to go on adventures too.

Glacier is amazing. It's like somebody sat down and decided to just keep building on the scenery. It just gets better and better and better the higher you go. It's astounding.

I took some time off motorcycles when I was raising children at my wife's explicit suggestion :) I understand the responsibility part. Though I did manage to keep a dirt bike so I could at least ride a little.

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!

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

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!

@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.

So awesome man! I would love to visit there some day. So many places I have yet to see here in the States!

In all honesty, my first favorite is Yosemite. Yellowstone and Grand Canyon are right up there on the top shelf, Zion and Glacier too. The vistas are just stunning and big. There is a reason they call Montana "the Big Sky Country."

oh yes my first love will always be Yosemite. I grew up rock climbing there. In fact that was the first place I ever rock climbed at the age of 10. Yeah I really need to visit Montana. Maybe do some fly fishing there too. :)

Dear sir it's amazing to see you and I enjoyed the every moment with you.
It's completely fantastic way to feel the beauty of nature, seeing glaciers is one of my dream and I think very soon I will be somewhere closer to the glacier of Himalayan region.
Sir your photography is quite outstanding.
The best way is representing the real phenomena of nature is awesome.
See you soon with more exciting things and natural beauty.
God bless you.

Thanks you. I hope you take lots of pictures when you get to the Himalayas. I've never been, and just the idea excites me.

Definitely, sir, I will keep in mind your valuable suggestion and definitely do the same, I am eager to share my complete journey with steemit world.

Your travels never cease to amaze us with your words and pictures. Be safe until we talk again.

Hey ya Tony. Thanks for the kind words. I really do appreciate it.

Now this is how I imagine America to be! hehe I would have been the same with the Moose btw, I have never seen one either! :D

This is a pretty spectacular part of America. It really is.

You know? I'm sure people look at me funny for gawking at skyscrapers or public art or any of the beauty in the city. I understand it, I really do. I am really fortunate to have been able to live outside for much of my life.

Thanks for stopping by!

oh man. this is what I think of when I think of Merica. I'd love to go camping in a place like this and gawk at the moose. I've never seen one either!

They are just stunning creatures. So big, and so gangly. And so fast if you anger them :) I agree, this would be an absolutely beautiful place to camp. The stars are just amazing at that altitude and with no lights. It is just an amazing place. Oh, and part of it is in Canada, too. Their Waterton National Park is just across the border, and the places line up exactly.

Oye que agradables imagenes. como me gustaria un paseo por ese parque...

I think you would love a walk in that park. The Highway is spectacular and can take you to places to hike from, It truly is beautiful.

Creo que te encantaría pasear por ese parque. La autopista es espectacular y puede llevarlo a lugares para ir de excursión, realmente es hermoso.

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National Parks always offer some spectacular sceneries and glimpses of the wild life.
The last moose I saw landed on my windshield. I thought his face would be the last thing I see.

Amazing bike

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You have a minor misspelling in the following sentence:

When it occured to me that the simple answer was no.
It should be occurred instead of occured.

Corrected. Thank you.