Glacier NP

Another surprise stop along the way  

Almost every family member at the reunion asked if we were going through glacier on our way home, and we finally broke down.  The park was less than an hour north and it just didn't seem fitting to miss it.  So very excited that we made the right decision.

We drove away from the reunion still laughing and talking about the good times had, but the second we passed the ranger station and entered the park we could talk of nothing else but the sheer magical beauty of our surroundings.

This place is simply impossible to describe in words and I'm not certain our photos do much of a better job.  I regretted not begging brock to borrow his camera almost immediately upon entering the park.   It’s probably for the best either way… If I has a decent camera we probably wouldn't be able to leave the park for a few months.

The big-ness is just jaw dropping.  The massive walls fly straight up beside you to a point where you cant help but have a sore neck before lunch.  We couldn't stop ourselves from stopping at every single pullout in the road, from walking in both directions and gawking at the view and/or snapping more photos with the phone or gopro every few feet.  Im not sure if others get through the park in a day, but it felt like we should have bought the year pass less than an hour in. 

Every waterfall with its bluegreen glacier waters is perfect and out of a photo book.  Every snow covered peak is more beautiful from the next vista than from the last one.  The road itself seems an architectural and engineering marvel even without considering how long ago it was built and what technology was available to them at the time.  Jaw dropping the entire stretch of road.

We stayed on the Going to the Sun road and seemed to have gotten pretty lucky without tons of traffic most of the way.  Between our short hikes and scrambles for better views, we only had to pull over a handful of times to allow more eager vehicles to pass us by on their way to see how quickly they could check the park off their list.

Nearing sunset we finally tapped out and left the park momentarily to hop online and grab a bundle of firewood and some protein for dinner and then returned to a campground within the park.  The campgrounds themselves seem to be the least beautiful part of the park but did afford us a nice, quiet and relaxing fire and a great place to sleep with easy access to the park.  Turned out that was a good thing as we were awake before sunrise and headed back to a few of our favorite spots to see if we could catch them in the glow of morning light and low shadows.

Our efforts were certainly rewarded as we were almost the only ones in the park, we could stop right in the middle of the road as needed and could readjust both our position and the vans as needed for the best shots (though once again cursing myself for not having a “real” camera).

While we didn't want to miss the great light we eventually needed breakfast and pulled out so jen could cook up some breakfast quesadillas.  We ate on the bed looking out at the best possible vie of any lunch spot on the planet.  So Good.  So Good.