Glacier National Park-Revisited

Returning to the States

Our border crossing from Canada back into the US in Montana was uneventful and a short drive took us to the town of St. Mary and our campground at Johnson's RV park. Our site was on top of a bluff with views of Lake St. Mary and the mountain peaks of Glacier National Park.

 

 

 

Driving Going to the Sun Road

 

The Going to the Sun Road opened unseasonably late this year, just the day we arrived in Glacier in mid July! Late snows delayed the annual clearing of this road which travels through Glacier NP and crosses the Continental Divide at Logan Pass, elevation 6,647 ft. Reopening the road each summer is quite a lengthy and dangerous process, clearing massive amounts of snow and avoiding avalanches. Having seen pictures of the road clearing process and now driving on the road, I am so appreciative of those who spend months of their time to clear this narrow roadway through Glacier NP!

The drive is stunning all the way from East to West Glacier. Turnouts provide opportunities to take in the magnitude of the Glacier carved mountains, snow melting and cascading down the slopes in so many waterfalls, mountain goats high up on the cliffs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My favorite part of the drive was the Weeping Wall, where the snow melt is pouring on the roadway from boulders hanging beside and overhead!

We had gotten on the road about 8:00 a.m. to drive straight through to Logan Pass with the hopes of a hike.  We managed to find a parking spot at Logan Pass, which is the highest point on the road. While we have heard that the spots in the way-too-small parking lot fill very early in the day, many were still available.

However the trail we hoped to hike was still covered in snow and closed part way. We decided to pass on a hike here. Instead we enjoyed the drive over this amazing roadway, savoring the views and some short hikes when parking became available.

 

 

 

 

St. Mary and Virginia Falls Trail

Another early morning drive into the park was rewarded with a parking spot at this very popular trailhead. There are only about 15-20 spots to park here so we were very fortunate to grab a spot for our truck. This was a hike that we did in part last year, but only the portion to St. Mary Falls, the trail leading though a previous wild fire burn. Beyond that the trail leads out of the burned area and follows the creek that soon becomes a series of short falls. Gradually stepping higher on stone ledges, the cascading waters lead to the place where the falls originate high above. We were so glad that we had the time to add the portion of the hike all the way up to Virginia falls to this trip. So beautiful and tranquil.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sun Point Trail

Ending our drive on Going to the Sun Road, we discovered this little hidden gem, which used to be the site of Sun Point Chalet. Before travel by car was popular, people visited Glacier by horseback, staying at chalets that were spaced a days ride apart from one another. The chalet complex was on top of a promontory with panoramic views of the lake. Today the chalet buildings have been removed and this area is a picnic and day use area.  A hike up the rocky bluff was quite amazing and we could imagine staying in a chalet here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many Glacier Hotel, Boat Tour and Hiking

From the Many Glacier Hotel, we began our boat tour aboard Chief Joseph on Swift Current Lake for a leisurely ride across the lake. We saw a moose and her calf grazing on the plants on the shoreline. At the end of Swift Current Lake we disembarked to hike a short distance over the hill to continue our boat tour on the Morning Eagle on Lake Josephine. Two lakes, one tour!

 

From Lake Josephine, Salamander Glacier, high on the mountain was visible at the end of the valley. The water was a beautiful shade of blue and it was a clear sunny day. At the end of this lake we began the Grinnell Lake Hike.

 

 

Turquoise blue glacial water with towering sheer peaks above met us at the end of the 1.3 mile trail through forest and fern groves, the trail crossing a very bouncy suspension foot bridge over the stream at one point. We enjoyed a little lunch at the lake shore and enjoyed the scenery before us.

We hiked back the way we had come, arriving at the boat dock to wait for the Morning Eagle to pick us up and bring us back to the other boat dock. Both Steve and I feel that this is perhaps the most beautiful hike we have ever done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wanting to enjoy more time hiking we decided to take the forested trail along the shore of Swift Current Lake, rather than the Chief Joseph boat ride back to where we had begun our adventures. This was much less traveled and gave great views of the Many Glacier Hotel. The hotels built by the Railroad in the Glacier National Park have a Swiss Chalet style of architecture. This hotel has a dramatic and beautiful lobby with sweeping lake front views. Very charming!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We saw a Grizzly in the meadow on our drive out of the Many Glacier area. It was a fabulous day, and a great way to finish up our time here at Glacier National Park! 

Our next 10 days are a bit less planned than the previous portion of our journey. We need to arrive in Salt Lake City for a flight back home for a long weekend on July 28. We are looking forward to joining the Married Couples event on Saturday at Church and Steve will be speaking at church on the last Sunday in July. After that we will return to our trailer in Utah and spend a month of travel through Utah, Colorado and down to visit with our son Brent, his wife Abbie and our two granddaughters in Arizona before heading home.

O Canada! The Grand Finale

 On to Calgary

A little wisdom from Pooh and Piglet as quoted in the coffee shop we went to this morning on our drive from Banff toward Calgary:

 

"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,” said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"

"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh.  "What do you say, Piglet?"

"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.

Pooh nodded thoughtfully. "It's the same thing", he said.

Being on a long RV trip I can relate to Piglet. Every day brings something new and exciting! It’s part of what we love about this extended travel. "What's going to happen exciting today?" We would soon find out!

As we drove toward Calgary we received warnings from our map program of severe thunderstorms en route. We had some heavy downpours along the way but we didn’t see any lightning or hear any thunder.

 

As we pulled into our new campsite in Calgary, the man in the site next to us advised us that we were now under a Tornado warning! We had another very heavy downpour with thunder and lightning just after we finished setting up our new campsite. After about an hour there wasn’t a cloud left in sight! Really strange weather!

 

Calgary Stampede 

While planning our trip, we added Calgary to our Canadian itinerary because the Calgary Stampede would be taking place just after our planned time in Banff. This is an event I have heard about and had hoped to experience at sometime. The Stampede is a really big event in Canada, and this was the first time since Covid that it has been held without being scaled back or restricted. The midway carnival rides and games have the feel of a county fair, complete with all the unique foods. Livestock are on display and of course there is a building filled with vendors. 

We reserved tickets for the Night show which was a spectacle almost beyond description! Steve describes it as being on par with an Olympic Opening Ceremony. We were there on the first night of Stampede, but they put this show on nightly. A stage has to be pulled into the arena where Chuck Wagon races  were just completed. The backdrop of the stage becomes a light show while hundreds of dancers from the Young Canadians group sang, danced and performed flawlessly. Part of their act even involved every member of the ensemble twirling lassos in perfect syncronization. WOW! Fireworks exploded from the top of the backdrop and during one song a water show filled the front of the stage. 100 or more drones created synchronized shapes in the sky above the performers. Oh, that was only one performance of many equally fantastic acts. What an amazing and breathtaking show! Even if you aren't interested in rodeo, this show was worth coming to the Stampede.

 

We came back for an afternoon Rodeo a couple of days later. I couldn’t believe how crowded the Stampede was. More than 164,00 people came that day, according to the internet. The grounds are about the size of the Orange County Fairgrounds…yikes! It was gridlock!

 

 

The GMC Theater  held about 20,000 spectators, with very few open seats. All of the cowboys and cowgirls were amazing athletes. Typical rodeo events followed a well organized schedule…bareback riding, barrel racing, calf roping, bull riding.

 

An event for the youngsters was new to us, Wild Pony Riding. Teams of three kids tried to get one teammate up onto a wild pony for a couple of steps. One person tried to hold a rope tied to the halter, another tried to restrain the pony from the rear while the third teammate tried to mount and ride the pony. These ponies looked as hard to handle as any bucking bronco that the adults rode. It may be a kids event but it looked incredibly difficult! Those kids were determined though, one contestant was dragged on his stomach across the arena but he didn't let go until the buzzer indicated their time was up!

Calgary Stampede Ranch, which raises horses for the Stampede, brought a herd of mares with their babies for our enjoyment. The six year old daughter of the ranch manger drove the herd around the arena from the back of her horse like a pro! They start kids out young in the rodeo here!

 

 

 

 McHugh Bluff Park

 

 

 

Driving from our campground to the Stampede we had glimpses of the downtown skyline. The Stampede is actually right in downtown Calgary. We managed to find this great park with a two-kilometer escarpment north of the Bow River with a delightful walking path which gave magnificent views of the skyscrapers of Calgary, and the mansions whose residents enjoy this outlook daily! What a great way to enjoy the city views and a 10:00pm sunset!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

High River, Home of Heartland

 

 

A little drive-day surprise en route from Calgary to Waterton! We stopped off for lunch at the town where “Heartland”, my favorite TV series is filmed and took my picture at “Maggie’s Diner.” We had a great lunch at Evelyn’s Memory Lane Diner, which is also the site for some films. Cool little town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Waterton Lakes National Park

 

Leaving Calgary we headed south to enjoy 2 nights in Waterton, a small town within the Waterton - Glacier International Peace Park. After setting up camp we packed a picnic dinner and headed to a nearby trail for an evening hike.

 

 

Bears Hump Hike

With an elevation gain of 698 ft. over a 1.5 mile trail, this was a steep climb with a LOT of stairs up the rocky hillside.  

 

 

 

We took many little breaks on the way up, but at the top we had fantastic views of the Prince of Wales Hotel, the beautiful lakes and our campground far below. We sat on a bench to enjoy our dinner with a view!

 

 

After completing a trail such as this Steve and I both give thanks to our Lord that we have the health, strength and endurance to enjoy hiking together. Although this is only considered a moderate trail and we saw people actually running the trail, we rejoiced in completing the trail at our own pace. 

 

 

 

Prince of Wales Hotel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prince of Wales hotel serves afternoon tea daily in the Royal Stewart dining room. Tea service was a traditional high tea with a three tiered server filled with finger sandwiches, scones and pastries. All that with a gorgeous view of Waterton Lake and live piano music made for a relaxing and enjoyable tea time.

 

We had a short tour of the hotel after tea, given by one of the bellmen who dress in Royal Stewart Tartan Kilts! Joe filled us in on the history and architecture of this iconic hotel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Built in 1927 by the Great Northern Railway, the Prince of Wales is one of the most photographed hotels in the world. The lobby, with a full wall of windows with views to the lake, is open to the sixth story roof which is held up by magnificently carved wooden beams that go from floor to roof! An elevator that goes to the fourth floor is original and operational.

 

 

 

Red Rock Canyon

From research we had done we knew we wanted to see and experience Red Rock canyon. This was a popular spot for families to allow their children to play in the cool water in the beautiful canyon. Flocks of small black and red butterflies were also enjoying the stream, their quick erratic flight enchanting in the sunlight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remington Carriage Museum

In the last few kilometers of Canada we discovered this museum. As we had a short drive day we decided it would be a little diversion on the way. It turned out to be a really great museum displaying all kinds of horse drawn conveyances, each one beautifully hand restored. There was quite the variety of vehicles, from work wagons to elegant carriages. A docent provided a great tour, explaining the types of vehicles, their uses, and famous Royal or Rich dignitaries who had ridden in them or owned them.

 

 

 

 

 

Our Canadian Adventures on the Road have brought us safely back to the United States after 1,077 miles of travel through Canada, enjoying 5 National Parks, fantastic hiking, friendly people and a Stampede! Yahoo! The next part of our trip will bring us to Montana where we visit Glacier National Park on the east side! See you soon!