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Published: September 8th 2009
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St. Mary's Lake
Peaks surrounding lake We spent the day today crossing Glacier National park via the famous Going to the Sun Highway. Thanks to all of you who recommended that we drive it from east to west - the views were amazing. However, the weather wasn't. When we left this morning it was in the mid-40's - with the raging wind, it felt more like the 30's. However, your intrepid travelers soldiered on - we weren't going to be deterred from our hiking and touring plans - or at least so we thought.
Going in the eastern entrance of Glacier from St. Mary's you quickly get a sense of the grandeur and majesty of the peaks surrounding you. St. Mary's Lake snakes its way into the park, surrounded by peaks towering many thousands of feet above it. Our first walk is to St. Mary's Falls at the top of the lake - a lovely 2 mile walk (albeit one that started with the sign saying "You are entering grizzly country) - and then to a gorgeous cataract of water rushing over the red and green variegated stone. The leafy trail provides some surcease from the whistling wind. I suggested that I sing in order to
Christmas colored rocks
The park is filled with sedimentary red and green rocks. alert any bears that we were coming but Steve suggested that would terrify them...and you know I can't hum. We surprise a mother deer and two fawn grazing in the woods.
On up to Logan Pass, the high point of the highway at the Continental Divide. It's blowing up a gale, the temperature is down to 39 and it feels like the teens. We struggle to get into the visitor center and give up on the nature walk. The scenery is awesome, surrounded by peaks and valleys - this is rugged, unforgiving terrain and yet it is populated with gorgeous alpine wildflowers.
Down through the narrow road leading into the western side of the park, feeling like you are barely scrapping by the cliff edges as you drive 15 miles an hour, peering over the barrier down thousands of feet. The vegetation is changing dramatically, from the dry eastern vistas to a lusher, greener scene. Driving by Heavens Peak, we see the effects of a forest fire about ten years ago, with the scars of burned out trees very visible and standing like injured soldiers. On down to Avalanche Falls and the Trail of the Cedars, which has
cedars and hemlocks 500 years old. Finally out to Lake Mc Donald, where we take an hour long boat ride, enjoying the greener and simpler vistas of the western side of the park. We're rewarded with a view of a bald eagle, perched on the burned out tree, surveying the lake.
On to the southern edge of the park tonight and then some more park exploring tomorrow.
Thanks to the public libraries of our country with their free wi-fi - I'm sitting in the Columbia Falls Public Library, out the western entrance of the park, right now - a bright, nice building,
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