955 June 13, 2023 Crown Of The Continent

I took a short and gentle walk this morning. My view was outstanding.

We packed a cooler and went to see Glacier National Park. As we turned out of the campgound, we saw this fox…a good omen!

We arrived at the St. Mary Visitor Center. We overheard a ranger talking to a couple. She said that as of 7am today, Going to the Sun Road was fully open!!! Wow!! My heart leapt and Tim was excited. We were going to get to see the whole scenic road today! This was an incredible gift.

The drive was jaw dropping, breathtaking, awe inspiring. Actually, there are no words to describe this place. The pictures are gorgeous but they don’t capture the vastness, the height of the mountains, the fragrance of wildflowers and wintergreen and pine, the cool and pleasant breeze, the brilliant sunshine, the perfect weather, the roar of the rushing water…everywhere! Because it is so early in the season, the snow is still melting. The waterfalls are stunning!

Lots of pretty pictures!

For about 10 miles we rode along St. Mary Lake, a glacial lake.

The squirrels were having a party!

We spread a tarp and ate our lunch along Lake McDonald…just us.

We were joined by this mule deer.

We walked up to this waterfall. This was the site of an avalanche this winter. We walked on the packed snow and remnants of pine trees. The fragrance of pine was sharp and overpowering; almost peppery.

This road is truly an engineering marvel.

My favorite picture of the day.

Jackson Glacier. There were 100 glaciers in the park when it opened over 100 years ago. Now, there are about 25 and every one of them is receding.

We went back to the RV for some quiet time and a fresh camera battery. We repacked the cooler and went back to the park for a picnic dinner. We saw a fox running across the meadow. We then drove to the Red Eagle Trailhead. We hiked about a mile before turning back. There were some dense gray clouds and then some thunder. It chased us back in a hurry but it never did rain.

Today was a very special day, one that we will never forget.