August 7 - Day 55 - Glacier National Park

The day began with a beautiful, albeit hazy, sunrise rising directly in front of the coach. Unfortunately, the haze would last all day into late evening. Nonetheless, I got a couple of good shots of the surrounding mountains.

Suz arose when I promised breakfast around 8:45. I put some ham and eggs on the grill - overcooked the ham and burned the eggs (she should have told me to put Pam on the griddle plate on the grill!). The re-do using a skillet was much more successful - for the eggs. The ham was - well .... After giving the interior of the coach a good cleaning, we departed for the Park. Upon entry onto the "Going to the Sun" road, you see St. Mary's Lake and the pass through the peaks. The further you go, the more spectacular the scenery. The road is "under repair" and is in rough shape in some places, but it was worth the slow-going.

I got a reasonable photo of Johnson Glacier, one of the last remaining glaciers in the park and one of the few you can see reasonably close up from the road. In 1850, at the peak of the "mini-ice age", there were many glaciers, today there are only a few remaining and the park service forecasts that all the glaciers will be gone by 2030 at the latest - more likely 2020.

We reached Logan Pass (6,686 feet above sea level) after 45 or so minutes. The parking lot for the visitor center was filled to overflowing so we headed a short ways down the West side of the pass, then made a U-turn and started back East and down to St. Mary's - after snapping a few shots of the upper West side of the pass. At the bottom, we stopped for lunch at the "Two Dog Flats" restaurant. As you can see, Suz is anxious for food after my breakfast! I also took a shot of one of the tour buses that run back and forth to the upper visitor's center. There are 33 such buses, all built between 1937 and 1939. They were recently upgraded to propane power with the help of Ford Motor Company. Both the Going to the Sun road and Highway 49 to East Glacier are closed to all vehicles over 21 feet in length - no motorhomes!

Tonight, we will enjoy Happy Hour, put a steak on the barbie and enjoy the mild weather. Tomorrow, we may try for better photos if the weather improves. If not, we will loaf! Until then, Cheers!

John, Suz and Dixie the Wonderdog