Glacier National Park Montana, part 1

We left Washington and made it all the way to Coram Montana, near Glacier National Park. After a good night's sleep, with the weather still warm and sunny we headed to West Glacier entrance where we had decided rather than take the trip over the "Going-to-the Sun Road" we would see other parts of the park. Our first stop in the morning was just inside the park at Apgar Visitor Center at the south end of Lake McDonald where we got a shot of the lake before we headed northwest on the Inside North Fork Road.

We went through miles and miles of dusty road through the area of a HUGH forest fire in 2003 that devastated thousands and thousands of acres.

The road was barely a one-lane dirt road, 25 miles long with about 2" of soft dirt in places as you can see from the cloud we created in our rear-view mirror. When we got back, the truck was brown without any of the color showing through.

Some of the trees are starting to change color, but in this area it was just gold.

And every once in a while you could see some red mixed in with the gold.

What a combination of the remains of the fire, with rows of green and gold and then repeating the pattern with the mountains in the background.

Another area looking down onto a valley with the river running through it. If you want to see the mountains in full bloom you will just have to wait until another post from another part of the park.

We turned off the dirt road onto another one and headed toward Bowman Lake where we got the blanket out and stretched out for a short rest. We also met a wonderful man who let us "try out" his two-person inflatable, and we got hooked!

This and the next picture are the view we enjoyed while sitting there. When we got there a slight breeze was blowing, but before we departed it stopped and gave us a beautiful view of the reflections of the mountains. Wow, what a sight but it was time to head back home as we have been on the road all day. The blue sky and water just popped in these pictures, and it really did look like that!

On the way down the hill we had to stop and get this shot of a lone gold tree with a stream and valley in the background.

A great day, with lots of dust for lunch but what a different area of the park to see. If you want to see more of the park, check back in a few days for parts 2, 3 and 4.

To be continued...