We packed up at the St. Mary/East Glacier KOA and traveled along the southern border of Glacier National Park through Marias Pass to West Glacier KOA for our last night near the park. We said goodbye to Glacier National Park by taking two final hikes – Avalanche Lake and Fish Lake. Avalanche Lake was beautiful […]
Siyeh Pass and Two Medicine
Today’s big adventure was hiking the Siyeh Pass Loop, which is actually completed as a point-to-point trail (10+ miles in length and 2,000+ feet elevation gain), starting at Siyeh Bend and ending at Sunrift Gorge. We were originally planning on doing an out-and-back trek to Siyeh Pass, but when we got to our destination, the […]
Ptarmigan Tunnel and Iceberg Lake Trail
Today we logged another 16+ miles with probably 2,500 feet elevation gain hiking in Glacier National Park. We went up to the Many Glacier region where we started with the Ptarmigan Tunnel trail. It was basically uphill through forest and meadows to a lake. From there, the trail turned *more* steeply uphill with switchbacks across […]
Highline Trail, Hidden Lake Overlook, Polebridge, Going-to-the-Sun Road
Following up from the Highline Trail/Granite Park Chalet adventure on Thursday, we decided to take the Highline Trail back to our vehicle on Friday morning. The original plan was to take the Loop Trail, which is only about 4 miles all downhill, to a shuttle stop in order to get back to Phil’s truck. However, […]
Granite Park Chalet via Highline Trail, Grinnell Glacier Overlook, and Swiftcurrent Lookout
Yesterday, we had the adventure of a lifetime. At the suggestion of my aunt Kim, we booked an overnight reservation at the Granite Park Chalet, which is basically a glorified hikers’ hostel in the middle of Glacier National Park. In order to get to the chalet, we hiked nearly 8 miles out via the Highline […]
Glacier National Park – Grinnell Glacier Trail
Today’s big activity was hiking up to Grinnell Glacier in the Many Glacier region of Glacier National Park. Altogether the hike was about 12 miles round trip and about 2,000 feet elevation gain – so a really good workout. In addition to Grinnell Glacier, the hike had spectacular views of Swiftcurrent Lake, Lake Josephine, and […]
Glacier National Park!
Today was mostly driving through wide open land with A LOT of fields – corn, wheat, sunflowers, soybeans – and a lot of prairie with nothing on it except maybe an occasional cow or fence to mark property boundaries. There are historical markers along the highway across Montana. We stopped at a few, but mostly […]
TRNP North Unit & Fort Union Trading Post NHS
Today (Monday) was a mixture of driving and sightseeing, beginning with Theodore Roosevelt National Park North Unit. The North Unit is less visited than the South Unit and, therefore, seems quieter and more secluded. The scenery was (nearly) as beautiful as its southern counterpart, but with the exception of some bison, we did not see […]
Theodore Roosevelt National Park – South Unit
Today we left Downstream Campground and headed to Theodore Roosevelt National Park South Unit. (It’s quickly becoming more difficult to keep track of the day, since we’re out of our usual work schedules and daily routine. Phil and I often ask each other, “What day is it again?” I’m a creature of habit and live […]
Lewis & Clark Expedition and Knife River Indian Villages
Today we headed over to Fort Mandan Historic Site and the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center here in North Dakota, which presented a lot of well-designed, interactive exhibits and historical replicas with information about the Lewis & Clark expedition (particularly the winter from November 1804 into February 1805 spent here at Fort Mandan). One interesting […]