{"id":1778,"date":"2013-06-17T14:35:24","date_gmt":"2013-06-17T14:35:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bucksurdu.com\/blog\/?p=1778"},"modified":"2013-06-17T14:35:24","modified_gmt":"2013-06-17T14:35:24","slug":"second-installment-of-vacation-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/2013\/06\/17\/second-installment-of-vacation-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"Second installment of vacation photos"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>
The entrance to Glacier National Park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The second phase of this year’s vacation involved two days in Glacier National Park. \u00a0Like many of the places we visit on these multi-state vacations, we could easily have spent a week here if we wanted to see all the sites and take all the hikes.<\/p>\n

\"We<\/a>
We drove through a LOT of Montana to get to Glacier National Park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We had to travel through most of Montana to get to the park from North Dakota. \u00a0We had accomplished most of the drive the day before, but we still had a couple of hours of travel the first morning to get to the park. \u00a0The picture (above) is just one of hundreds of long expanses of grassland we passed through. \u00a0It’s hard to capture in a photo just how far you could see into the distance.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The foot of Apikuni Falls<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Almost immediately upon entering the National Park we came across a sign for a one-mile hike to Apikuni Falls. \u00a0A mile? \u00a0How hard could that be? \u00a0Well, it was real mountain goat country, but it was quite impressive once we got there. \u00a0This picture (above) is just the base of the falls.<\/p>\n

\"Apikuni<\/a>
Apikuni Falls<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This picture is a wide shot that shows the full extent of the falls.<\/p>\n

\"Tall<\/a>
Tall timber<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is what we passed through to get to the falls. \u00a0All of these trees were over 40 feet tall.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A view of our hotel from the parking lot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is the Glacier Park Lodge where we stayed. \u00a0After our first hike, we continued to the lodge and checked in. \u00a0When the hotel was rebuilt in the 1930’s it was styled on Bavarian or Swiss architecture, because they were billing the area as “America’s Alps.”<\/p>\n

\"Redrock<\/a>
Redrock Falls<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We then took at four-mile hike to Redrock Falls. \u00a0It was a pleasant, mostly-level hike. \u00a0These falls (only partially shown here) might be my favorite of the many we saw on this trip. \u00a0The water churned in and around large rock formations, and you could get close enough to touch the water — which was quite cold! \u00a0You can see from this picture why the are called “red rock.”<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
An impressive view<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This picture is out of order. \u00a0It shows a view of Glacier from the Many Glacier entrance road. \u00a0This is how we were greeted upon entering the park. \u00a0The views were amazing.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The lobby of the Glacier Lodge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the appealing things to me about staying in the old, majestic hotels inside the national parks is that they do not have televisions. \u00a0People gather in these common areas. \u00a0This picture (above) is the lobby of our hotel. \u00a0There was always a fire in the fireplace in the center of the room. \u00a0The weather was in the 50’s and 60’s most of the time, but the fire was nice. \u00a0In the evenings people gathered here, on the expansive back porch, or other common areas to chat, have a snack, and enjoy the views. \u00a0There was an enclosed “breezeway” that connected this main building from another building of hotel rooms. \u00a0The staff had partially-assembled jigsaw puzzles on many of the tables in these common areas for people to work. \u00a0There was a cupboard full of board games for people to use.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A game of Dominoes at the Glacier Park Lodge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As is our tradition, we brought our dominoes with us. \u00a0We found an unclaimed table in the breezeway and played dominoes until the sun nearly set (probably 2200 hrs) while snacking on huckleberry licorice and sunflower seeds.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The view from the back porch of our hotel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Bears<\/a>
Bears spoiling our fun<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The next day we left Many Glacier and re-entered the park at East Glacier. \u00a0Driving up the “Going to the Sun” road to Logan pass, we stopped to take a hike that should have taken us to three waterfalls: \u00a0Barring, St. Mary, and Virginia; however, the path from Barring to St. Mary and subsequently Virginia, was closed. \u00a0Bears were on the trail feating on an animal carcass, so the park service closed the trail. \u00a0We did get to see Barring Falls, however.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
An unnamed waterfall deep in the valley below the road leading to Logan Pass from East Glacier<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The views on the Going to the Sun Road were as impressive as those from the Many Glacier area.<\/p>\n

\"Mountain<\/a>
Mountain Goats along the Going to the Sun Road<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We ran into some politicians along the way.<\/p>\n

\"Sam<\/a>
Sam "holding" Wild Goose Island<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another view on the Going to the Sun road was Wild Goose Island. \u00a0There can’t be five trees on this small island in the middle of water, but the brochure said that this is one of the most photographed spots in the park.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A view from part way up to Logan Pass<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Logan<\/a>
Logan Pass<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Logan Pass was still closed to vehicle traffic, but it was open to hikers and bikers. \u00a0They are still clearing snow and ensuring that there won’t be any late Spring rock slides.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A view of Logan Pass from where the pass remains closed from the Winter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We did hike a little beyond where the road was closed. \u00a0Since we couldn’t continue on Going to the Sun Road to West Glacier, we had to leave the park and drive two hours around the southern end to re-enter and see the other side of the pass and the areas around Lake McDonald.<\/p>\n

\"Stopping<\/a>
Stopping to cool our feet in the river\/creek feeding Lake McDonald in West Glacier<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While West Glacier was much more “woodsy” and much less mountainous, we took a hike from the northern end of Lake McDonald toward the Sacred Dancing Cascade. \u00a0Along the way, we stopped to cool our feet in the numbingly cold water.<\/p>\n

\"Our<\/a>
Our cabin in Lone Wolf Resort<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As is our tradition, we generally avoid chain hotels and opt instead for mom and pop places. \u00a0Here is our cabin in Lone Wolf Resort about ten miles outside of Glacier National Park. \u00a0The cabin had electricity but not much else. \u00a0We used shower and bathrooms in the nearby comfort station. \u00a0Amusingly, you needed to put $0.50 into a coin box to get 10 minutes of water in the showers. \u00a0The women’s showers worked fine, but when I put my two quarters into the box, my shower didn’t turn on. \u00a0As I had no more quarters, Tom and I split 10 minutes.<\/p>\n

\"Tom<\/a>
Tom helping Sam into the upper bunk in our cabin at Lone Wolf Resort (yes they knew there was a ladder!)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The kids enjoyed the upper bunk, particularly finding novel ways to get into it without using the provided ladder.<\/p>\n

Off to Washington State via an 1880’s gold mine in northern Idaho tomorrow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The second phase of this year’s vacation involved two days in Glacier National Park. \u00a0Like many of the places we visit on these multi-state vacations, we could easily have spent a week here if we wanted to see all the sites and take all the hikes. We had to travel through most of Montana to … Continue reading Second installment of vacation photos<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1778"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1778\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}