Glacier at a Glance

I need to start this with a special song of the day play list:

• Orleans - Still The One
• James Taylor - How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)
• Van Morrison - Jackie Wilson Said (I'm In Heaven When You Smile)

I heard each of them today and they made me smile. Happy 23rd anniversary Darc.

I started the morning with little clue as to where I would head. I drove out of the park to fill up the Jeep and get some coffee. There are little shacks nearly everywhere I have been . They look like nice fish houses in a parking lot. They are coffee shacks. I meant to drive up to one and get a cup, but I forgot and ended up with gas station mud. I'm not too picky about my coffee. I need to hit one of these before I leave this part of the country.

When I returned to the park I decided today was the right day to drive the Road To The Sun. I had high hopes, but really didn't know what it was like. WOW. That's all I can say. I took some pictures and ran a little video with the phone on the drive up to Logan Pass, but you really have to see it. The top was down on the Jeep all day and I feel that really adds to the experience. When the top is up I feel like I am missing part of the picture. Mountains, clear and aquamarine streams, snow, wildlife and trees everywhere. This drive was one of the highlights of the trip.

When I got to Logan Pass visitor center I started heading up a trail that went from the center toward a mountain. I walked up about a mile and returned. What I didn't realize was that I didn't need to go too much further and there was an overlook a the end of the trail. At that point I wasn't about to turn around an head back up. Next time I'll see what everything is about before I randomly start walking. There was quite a bit of snow up there, but it was still quite warm. I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt and I was sweating while walking on snow.

One of the things I had missed to this point was bighorn sheep. I finally got to see some as I was walking around up at Logan Pass. There were 11 of them resting and feeding not too far from where I was. I saw my first marmot today as well. They weren't on my list of things to see, but I saw one anyway. After my bighorn pictures, I started heading back down toward camp. Shortly after leaving the visitor center I saw several mountain goats near the road and was able to get some decent pictures of them as well.

I really had no plan at that point, but I passed a busy area with signs for a couple of different trails. I decided to put on the backpack and see what these were about. I ended up walking about 2.5 miles in, and it felt like nearly every step was uphill. It was an exhausting hike. When I got to Avalanche Lake I was greeted with this site. Each of the white ribbons running down the mountain is water. It was fantastic. I was completely gassed, so I just sat there for a while and took it all in. I ended up walking further in to the end of the lake, but couldn't get as close to the waterfalls as I had hoped. The walk out was much easier on the heart and lungs, but it was tough on the legs. The entire unplanned event took about four hours and after the hike at Logan I was pretty well spent for the day. It was physically exhausting, but worth it. I walked and climbed places today that I couldn't or wouldn't have a year ago. It was pretty neat.
I am going to drive the Road To The Sun again tomorrow and head to the east end of the part to spend a night there. I have no idea what I am going to do there or what I will do after that. Time will tell.

Song of the day:

• Paul Simon - Me and Julio Down By The School Yard - That one's for Ethan. Congratulations on your baseball success.

Thoughts/Lessons:

• Yes, I can do it.
• I've never tracked time by the moon, but every night I can see how long my trip has progressed. I started with a tiny sliver of a moon, and it should be full in the next night or two.
• Other changes showing to length of this adventure are my hat and my beard. The hat was new and white when I began, now it resembles white. I had no beard, now I do, and it is whiter than my hat.
• Doesn't matter what road I am on, it's under repair and there will be delays.
• I read back through a couple blogs. Damn, a lot of typos. Sorry.
• I've had far more conversations with people than I expected to. People from all over the country. It's been small talk, but interesting.
• I need to get home to watch Captain Phil's' last episode of Deadliest Catch.
• Pictures of water are pretty, but the sound it makes really needs to be experienced.
• I have some really great family and friends.

Some of the items I have found to be most useful on this trip:

• The Jeep - I can't say enough about what it has done for me.
• Window cleaner and a squeegee. Some days I use it 2 or 3 times.
• Loacable storage bin in the Jeep. Thanks Joel.
• My cameras. They are always on the passenger seat, just waiting for something neat.
• The cot. I had mixed thoughts, but it sure is better than sleeping on the ground.
• An understanding wife.

That's all I have in my tonight. Hope all is well with you.

Tom