Travel Update... Glacier National Park

It's been 2 weeks and 2 days since leaving Indiana... Thankfully it was a rather uneventful drive through Illinois, Iowa (though I did get a chipped windshield while driving through a construction zone - a "nice" star shaped chip with many tendrils that glitters in the sunshine - my Iowa souvenir), Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota. Then there was that 600 mile drive through Montana on US 2 - a long, rather lonely, stretch of highway with a lot of small, bleak looking towns. It took me a week, but I made it to Glacier National Park on Sunday, July 19th.

First thing on the agenda was getting a spot at the Rising Sun campground on the East side of the park. I lucked out and got a good site on the first pass through! The "plan" was to stay until the next Sunday morning.

About 11:30 I took off for a hike along the 2.5 mile Beaver Pond Loop on the Red Eagle Lake Trail. It went along the south side of Saint Mary Lake but the lake was only visible for a short distance then the trail went uphill, away from the lake.

Saint Mary Lake, looking toward the South.

The trail narrowed to barely a foot path through these waist and chest high plants. I don't know what they are though. Someone at the campground told me they were native to the area.

Following a brief respite after the hike I drove north about 30 minutes to the Many Glaciers area of the park. I stopped at a pull-out to follow the trail along the lake and to get a picture of the Many Glaciers Lodge across the lake.

When I first saw the moose, its head was fully submerged in the lake and I had no idea what it was. Quite a surprise when it lifted its head out of the water!

Rather strange looking, indeed!

It "browsed" along the lake pulling up vegetation as it went.

It was fascinating to watch as it moved closer to shore then further out, apparently seeking the best morsels. It was a good start to my visit at Glacier National Park!

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Becky Wiseman, "Travel Update...Glacier National Park," Kinexxions, posted July 28, 2015 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2015/07/travel-update-glacier-national-park.html : accessed [access date])