More of Montana

Let’s just get this photo out of the way first:

This is the Highline Trail, which runs above Going To The Sun Road. More on that later – but I stitched this together from 3 separate photos using the magic of Photoshop. That’s how big the views are here!

But first: the cabin.

Our friends Steve and Melissa own a cabin on Flathead Lake, and they offered to let us stay there. I thought it would be the perfect place to hang out over Labor Day weekend. It’s everyone’s last grasp at summer, and most campgrounds and outdoor-type places tend to be crowded. So a cabin sounded perfect. We arrived on August 30th.

It’s a summer cabin, and small, and perfect. Steve told us we wouldn’t want to leave, and he was right. I love being so close to the water. I love the small space. I love the views from the deck and the fire pit… Steve and Melissa, you are a lucky couple.

 

 

Michael went for a swim almost immediately. After taking this picture I joined him, and let me tell you, that water was cold. Do-able, but definitely cold.

 

 

 

 

The mountains on the east side of the lake were hazy from fires further south, but it still made for great sunrise pictures the next morning.

We spent a (very long) day at Glacier National Park. The cabin is about an hour from the West Glacier entrance, and lucky for us we got a pretty early start, arriving around 9am.

I really didn’t know what to expect here. I’ve seen a few pictures, but we entered the Park at a low elevation, alongside McDonald Lake, and I was happily surprised at views even here.

The water is so clear, and so blue/green. It’s amazing. I could have taken pictures here all day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But the climb awaited. We did see a black bear along the way, mostly because we were behind a tour bus and they stopped in the middle of the road.

 

 

 

There are no pictures of the climb, because I was driving. But let me tell you this is one narrow flipping road. A few spots seemed like maybe a car-and-a-half wide. And everyone, it seemed, wanted to drive right on the center line. Also, not every cyclist heeded the “No bikes between 11am and 4pm” rule, which made the drive even more interesting.

We planned on stopping at the Logan Pass Visitor Center… but the parking lot was full. So we continued on to Saint Mary Lake on the east side of the Park. And this photo opportunity:

It’s funny but I’ve seen this image before, and for some reason I always thought this was from Banff. Also, the images (like on Pinterest) were a LOT better than this picture, and I knew it. But this is a morning picture. Meaning, we were facing almost due west and this point, and it was 2pm so the light was terrible. Best light here would be first thing in the morning. If I were a better photographer, I’d plan to get up at something like 4am to get over to this spot on time for the best light.

But I’m not a better photographer. I’m a lazy photographer. So I went to the Visitor Center and bought a postcard instead.

By the time we got back to Logan Pass, it was after 4pm and the parking lot was finally starting to empty out. I took this awesome picture, looking east from the parking lot:

 

 

After a shameless picture, we headed out on the Highline Trail.

 

 

 

Yeah, that’s a handrail set into the rock. This trail is narrow and the dropoff looks lethal.

I thought this trail was awesome.

That’s Going To The Sun Road below us. We hiked for a bit on this trail – I can’t say how far exactly, but I’d guess at not very far. How can you make any distance with me stopping every 30 seconds to take a photo?

This may be our only visit to Glacier, which makes me sad. But what a visit!