Glacier National Park

The mountains and Lake McDonald as you drive into the park.
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It only takes about an hour to drive across the panhandle of Idaho. The scenery reminded me of A River Runs Through It, although Im not sure if that was filmed in Idaho or Iowa. Anyway, there are rivers all over the place. You dont even have to blink to miss the tiny towns here. But anyway, northern Idaho was really beautiful.

As is Montana, the next state east. The state has always been a place of intrigue to me. I think of cowboys, wild animals, huge mountains and prairies. I actually saw all of these yep even the cowboys.

Idaho and Montana

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Along the highway, there are little signs that say Historical Marker 500 feet. I finally pulled over at one, which turned out to be Kootenai Falls. I wonder what else I passed by. The falls were so powerful you could here their crash from the highway turnout. Its a quick hike down, but then coming back up involved a little more work. There were some older couples waiting for me to get back to see if it was worth the hike down. It was a nice bit of scenery, but not nearly as spectacular as Glacier National Park, where I headed next.

A waterfall along the road. These are all over the place in the park.
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There are waterfalls all over the place in Glacier National Park. I drove the Going to the Sun Road, at least to the Logan Pass, where the road was closed. Its an amazing drive. I keep reading that Teddy Roosevelt called it the most scenic 50 miles in the country, although Ive also read that about Apache Trail in Arizona, and Yellowstone, of course. At first you drive along Lake McDonald, which is framed with huge, huge mountains. Then the road goes along a river. I kept looking for bears or other wildlife feeding by the river, but only saw some elk, which were huge. Its probably a good thing I didnt see any bears, since I have no idea what to do.

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As the road winds up the mountains, you start seeing the most breathtaking vistas. Every twist and turn of the road reveals another spectacular mountain. The weather was beautiful, so I put my top down to enhance the view, but there were so many bugs landing in my mouth and ears, however, that I had to put it back up.

As you get higher up the mountain, driving requires a lot more concentration, with fewer pullouts for photographs. I stopped where I could, and tried to capture the magnificent scenery. Wow.

At Logan Pass you have to turn around. I was a little disappointed that I didnt get to see the entire park, but the views are just as stunning heading west through the park. I was really sad to leave.