Crown of the Continent, Backbone of the World: Part one, West Glacier

Glacier National Park.  I've wanted to visit since I did that project back in elementary school. Very happy to finally get here, as it did not disappoint.  The park  is big, not quite Yellowstone, but still rather large. One road bisects the park in two, but  it doesn't fully open until  later in June, sometimes July.  So we started on one side, and went the long way around to the other. Here, we start with West Glacier.

Glaciers hikes are awesome in their approachability and variety. We started with the Hidden Lake Hike up at Logan Pass. Yes, there's  still at least a foot of snow on the ground here.

And the trail is straight  up this slippery hill, see those tiny people, center left?

But this awesome glacial lake view is the pay off

And so is this, the mom and baby mountain goat who followed us for a little while

To get to Logan Pass, you travel that road that bisects the park. It's  called the Going to the Sun road, named for the mountain at the center of the pass. You can only get to Logan Pass because the rest of the road has not been plowed yet. And yes, it's the first week in June. This plow crew sometimes moves drifts up to 90ft thick. And take a look at that view, a minor retaining wall, and a giant valley, I wouldn't want to be this plow driver.

Hike to Avalanche Lake, one of Jim's  favorite for its 3 waterfalls

The national parks service also provided us this haiku

Since the road opened in the 20s, one of the things you could do was take a red bus up the Going to the Sun road, since, when driving it yourself, it's a little tricky to fully take in all the scenery.  Though we had driven this road the day before, we opted in for the red bus tour, because you know, scenery plus history. The frame of the bus is orinially, a 1938 chasis built by White motor company Ohio. The engine is a 2000 Ford propane experiment. 

MacDonald creek, this  bright blue comes from "glacial flour" : the grinding of rocks into a fine powder by glacial movement. If you see this in the water,  you know you're around glaciers

The Lake MacDonald Lodge. Has a hostel in a refurbished 1920s log cabin. Since it gets below freezing at night,  we opted not to camp. The lodge, on the register of national historic places, was delightful. 

We added a few new stickers, and a hefty amount of dirt, to the Hamburglar.  Next stop, East Glacier.