Glacier

My Dad came up to meet me in Glacier. We spent a week looking at waterfalls, glaciers, flowers and goats. I was supposed to meet up with my Dad when I got out of the Bob, but it took a little longer then I expected to get to East Glacier and cell phone coverage being what it is, we missed each other. Not a big deal we ended up meeting up in East Glacier the next day over breakfast. He already had a campsite at Two Medicine Lake so we went back there to do some exploring. In the bogs of the valley floor, a moose walked right past us. Moose can have tempers and I'm surprised this one was so relaxed, considering how agressive a few of the photographers around us were. I saw a tadpole in a pool in front of a waterfall. Then we went over to Running Falls, which wasn't talked about in any literature, but it was amazing. It was a waterfall that seemed to just pour out of the rock. In the picture on the sign it looked like during high water, it would pour over the top as well, but the effect was so much neater watching it come out of the rock. The next morning was a little grey and cloudy. We got out early to get over to Manny Glacier and get one of the limited camping sites available. We got in and found a place easily, but none were left an hour later. From the parking lot we could see mountain goats slowly grazing the high cliff walls. It was a perfect day to make the hike up to Iceberg lake. It was a whole different world up there. Flowers were blooming everywhere, it was chilly and the lake was full of broken glaciers. The water was so smooth the reflections made some great photos.

When we got back from the hike, people were still looking at the goats on the hillside. We went over to check out the Manny Glacier lodge. Quite the structure that used to be accessible only by horse back on multi-day tours. It sits right on Swiftcurrent lake looking across to monolith rocks rising straight up. There were a few grizzles just off the road at Manny Glacier, but not in a place to make a decent picture. The next day we were back at Swiftcurrent lake to hike around to Grinell Lake and Glacier. It is one of the more popular hikes in the park. Rightfully so, because it was gorgeous. The water gets that turquoise because of sediment suspended in it from the glacial ice that feeds it. It is truly stunning to look at. That was a long hiking day, so the next day we took it easy and did a little more auto touring. We drove the going to the sun road. We stopped at Wild Goose Island overlook, and a few waterfalls. Then over Logan Pass where there were some mountain goats just hanging out near the trail. We followed the road down to Avalanche Lake and around to West Glacier. There were more and more tourists and the mountains weren't as dramatic. We decided Manny Glacier is the place to be. We were back on the Going to the Sun road the next day to hike the Garden wall. It was truly extraordinary covered with wildflowers. There seem to be two phases of summer in Glacier. Either waterfalls or flowers. I'll have to come back another time for the waterfalls. We stopped by the Wild Goose Island view point again at sunset and it looked pretty nice. We decided we needed to come back for a star shot and the sunrise. We weren't alone for the sunrise shot... After the sunrise, we went back to camp and packed up. I broke down my bounce box that had taken several flights and been mailed around the country. I was all packed up and heading towards canada, Dad was heading back to the airport. It was great to have some company for awhile, and it's always fun to go on photo safaris with my Dad.
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