Glacier National Park
Earlier this month, we packed up the family, headed for the train station, and spent nearly a week at Glacier National Park in Montana. As you can see from the pictures below (which don't do the park justice), Glacier is a beautiful place.
The main reason one goes to Glacier National Park is to see glaciers, and that's what we did. In the pictures below, (click on pic to see larger version) the snowy regions on the mountains are glaciers. Unfortunately the glaciers are retreating and breaking up. One hundred years ago, there were over 130 glaciers in the park, now there is less than 30 and those remaining are small remnants of themselves.
In the photo above, the glacier use to fill the whole basin and now is just a slash of ice across the side of the mountain. However to get a sense of how large these glaciers still are, the fat ice part on the left is nearly 300 yards wide.
Natural beauty abounds, the picture below shows what we saw from the window of our small cabin. The park is really geared for all ages. If you're elderly and like your creature comforts, you can stay in a lodge and view the park through red buses that travel extensively through the park. If you're a healthy 20-something looking for adventure, there are many back country trails (and campsites) that bring you right to the glaciers. If you're a family with kids, you can stay in a cabin, and take easier hikes to mountain lakes, waterfalls, and breathtaking scenery. That's what we did.
Wild life is also abundant. We were close to Mountain Goats, Deer, Eagles, Big Horn Sheep, and Bears. The bear moved back into the woods before we were able to snap a picture (don't worry we were in our car). Below is a Big Horn Sheep and Mountain Goat upclose.
All in all it was a great time and would suggest a similar trip for anyone who is interested. We went to Rocky Mountain National Park 2 years ago and our campsite was at 9,000 feet and a lot of hiking was at 10,000 to 11,000 feet. Glacier is at a more modest 5,000 feet and I don't we ever got above 7,000 feet so it was a little easier on the lungs.
Below, the Man and the Mountain....
