Arrived Safely Home

Another great trip with my favorite camping partner!

We had a fine trip home (no mechanical problems at all due to the engineer in our family :-) and are grateful to have some wonderful memories of our time in Glacier National Park!

Animals and Wild Flowers

Indian Paintbrush flowers were abundant

We got very close to a Big-horned sheep on Iceberg Lake hike

Female moose by Many Glacier campground

The bear we saw on the hike to Bowman Lake

Deer on the way to Iceberg Lake

Most of the Beargrass wasn't at peak yet

Final Hike to Scenic Point

On Thursday, we woke up to another glorious day - much appreciated after the rain and wind from the previous days. Here is a photo of our campsite at Two Medicine overlooking Mount Sinopah.

Because we planned on leaving in the late afternoon for home, we decided to hike to Scenic Point. Scenic Point was a shorter overall hike but with a 2350 vertical gain - the perfect solution for a beautiful day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Scenic Point hike goes up through a valley where the white pines have all died due to a fungus. While it is so sad that the trees have died, the result is that the whole hike has these very interesting tree forms that were so fun to photograph.

 

 

 

 

 

On the way up to Scenic Point

Lunch at the top

Dave near the top of Scenic Point

A Move to Two Medicine Campground

On Wednesday morning, we woke up to 41 degrees, drizzle and high winds. We went ahead with our planned relocation to Two Medicine Campground which is about an hour plus drive south of Many Glacier Campground.

We arrived at our new campsite and got set up by about 11:00 a.m. Because of the weather conditions, we were having difficulty mustering up enthusiasm for a long hike.

We decided to take the afternoon ferry ride to the end of Two Medicine Lake and then do a shorter hike for the afternoon. We also had heard that some nice weather was arriving the next day.

At Two Falls in Medicine Lake

We hiked to Two Falls which is a spectacular double waterfall.

The photographer at work

Dave is an amazing photographer and Glacier offers so many wonderful photographic opportunities.

After our hike to Twin Falls, David and Greg decided to hike onto No Name Lake and then hike back to the campsite.

Andrew, Diana and I took the ferry back and just relaxed while we waited to Greg and David to return at about 7:30 p.m.

After we ate a late dinner, we decided to make a camp fire - the rain had finally stopped.

Diana had a lesson in splitting wood.

Enjoying the campfire at Two Medicine

A Completely Different Day!

What we woke up to on Tuesday

While we had been having dinner on Monday night outside, the campground host had stopped by to let us know about a severe storm warning for the middle of the night.

Sure enough, in the middle of the night, we woke up to hear hail on the motor home.

By the time we actually woke up in the morning, we were greeted with a temperature in the lower 40s and a rain deluge.

Good thing for rain gear!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a day spent in the motor home playing cards and looking at our photos, David, Andrew, Diana and I decided to walk over to Many Glacier Hotel at about 4:00 p.m. to see if we could find any Internet. Andrew wanted to check his work schedule and I was hoping to put a few posts up on the blog.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walking a mile to Many Glacier Hotel in rain and 35 mile per hour winds

We didn't find any working Internet (going to Glacier is a good chance to "get off the grid" entirely, but we did find lots of games in the hotel lobby. So we spent about an hour playing Boggle before braving the wind and rain to walk back to the campsite.

Iceberg Lake Hike

Starting our hike

On Monday morning, we awoke to another glorious day. We had breakfast and then left to hike to Iceberg Lake.

We've taken this hike before - both in June where the lake is still frozen and covered with snow and in July where you can see the lake's beautiful turquoise color.

We knew we wouldn't see an open lake this year, but even the frozen lake surrounded by the jagged peaks is spectacular.

Crossing one of the many streams rushing down the mountain side

We have several serious photographers in the group, so our hike includes lots of stops to take photos.

Even with my little Cannon "point and shoot," I am able to capture a small bit of the beauty of Glacier.

Flowers on the way to Iceberg Lake

One of hundreds of waterfalls we saw on the 7 hour hike

Iceberg Lake is nestled right below the snow in this photo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diana said she "liked being able to wear shorts and still see snow"

The final hour of the hike was in snow

Dave in front of Iceberg Lake

Andrew and Diana at Iceberg Lake

On the way back down

Resting on the way back down

Great day of hiking in a beautiful place!

Meal Times at the Campsite

This photo will give you a glimpse at our awesome camping site at Many Glacier - I'm standing with a rushing river at my back looking towards the motor home with the awning out. We were surrounded by mountains on all sides.

Part of what I love to do is cook - I make all the food ahead of time and freeze. This trip, I tried some new recipes because we had two vegetarians traveling with us.

So in the morning, we pull out a meal from the motor home freezer. Each night, we all helped prepare the meal and then had lots of fun eating together.

Andrew cooking the peanut butter sauce for peanut butter noodles

Hike to Redrock Falls

 Even though the Park Ranger told us that we could expect quite a bit of rain, we woke up on Sunday to a beautiful blue sky.

To celebrate our good luck, we decided to start the morning off with banana pecan pancakes cooked by Greg.

Everyone enjoyed breakfast! 
 











We decided to start with a hike to Redrock Falls and then possibly continue on to Bowman Lake. We enjoyed the beauty of the hike to the falls where we stopped to have lunch.

Andrew, Diana, & David

Enjoying one of the many rushing streams along the way

Diana & Andrew at Redrock Falls

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back side of Redrock Falls

After lunch, we continued on to Bowman Lake. About an hour into the hike from the falls, we stopped along with a few other hikers due to a bear on the side of the trail. We decided to take a few photos of the bear that was feeding, but not chance trying to pass by. We first thought it was a grizzly bear, but after looking at Dave's pictures of the bear, decided it was a cinnamon colored black bear. Either way, we decided to keep our distance.

On the way back, Diana and I just had to see how cold the water was - it was very cold, but refreshing!