Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park proudly (and legitimately) boasts some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in the world.  Even with all the fabulous scenery that we have been fortunate to see - Glacier is still AWESOME!  

The key attraction is "The Road to the Sun" which goes up over the Continental Divide (at 8200 ft) at Logan Pass.   The road starts out past a lake backdropped with still snow-capped peaks.

True to it's name There are glaciers to view along the road.  However, they are disappearing fast - of 150 glaciers in 1850 there are only 26 remaining, and they are receding rapidly.  It is estimated they will all be gone by about 2030.

The views from the top of the pass are dizzying!  It's a very long way down to the valley

You can actually see the road running along the river far below.

At the other end of the road is Lake MacDonald this is looking back towards the park over the lake.

Waterton Lakes International Peace Park

We make a brief stopover in Calgary to visit with  nephew Doug MacLeod wife Jackie and their family at their lovely home.  The weather is warm and summery, although the day before they had golf-ball size hail!!!

We head on south to Waterton Lakes - "Where the Mountains meet the Plains".    The campground where we stay outside the park is rural and rustic and has a delightful little lake.  Yes, that's Patches in the shade of the tree - it was quite warm.

And nearby, a juvenile Osprey surveys his surroundings!  Mom was flying nearby but could not catch her in flight.

Upper Waterton Lake has the most dramatic setting, nestled between towering Rocky Mountain Peaks.  This lake actually crosses down into Montana and neighboring Glacier National Park in the USA.

And, as much gorgeous mountain scenery that we have seen, I am still awed by the majestic beauty of these mountains.

We drive up a side canyon to take in the remarkable beauty of Cameron Lake.

And, while walking through the park where we had our lunch, we met one of the local residents.

On our return trip to our campground we take a loop trip which takes us across the border into USA and  the northern portion of Glacier National Park  to view more of the fabulous rugged mountain scenery.

Beautiful British Columbia

The next stop on our way south is to visit with family in Kelowna BC.  Kelowna is situated on Lake Okanogan, amidst low mountains.  It is a major fruit growing area and we were able to partake of fresh cherries, peaches, plums etc. from  roadside vendors.   The Okanogan is also noted for its grapes and is home to almost one hundred wineries - so of course we had to sample a few!!!

We visit with brother-in-Law Danny MacLeod and two of his sons Don and Doug - a rare get together.  It was realy great getting to see them all again.

Then back into the Canadian Rockies. We travel under snowsheds that protect the highway from winter avalanches.  Also on 4 lane sections of the highway we pass under overpasses built specifically to let wildlife cross the highway in safety.  They have these overpasses about every 10 miles or so.

And of course, along the highway are more examples of the sheer faces of Rocky Mountain splendor.

 We are camping for a few nights at Fantastic Lake Louise.  When we were here in May everything was still frozen and covered in snow.  Now it was at its peak of summer splendor.   One of first stops is to visit Morraine Lake and "Valley of the Ten Peaks".  Morraine Lake is a beautiful aquamarine color.

The pristine beauty of Lake Loise is hard to match anywhere.

Although the snow is pretty much all gone from the mountain tops, Along the highway  can still be seen majestic snow and glacier covered peaks even in Late August.

And let's not forget the pristine Mountain Lakes

Bear viewing Extravaganza in Hyder Alaska

From Whitehorse in the Yukon we head down the Alaska Highway towards Watson Lake,  but no side trip to the Signpost Forest this trip.  Before getting to Watson Lake we head south down the Cassiar Highway through west central British Columbia.  We discover that travel is restriced as a major forest fire is burning just south of the Alaska Highway.  Fortunately, we are able to travel through the burn area , being led by a forest service pilot truck for over 30 miles.  There is a lot of smoke, burned out trees, still smoldering and lots of gravel on the highway.

The drive down to Stewart/Hyder has some spectacular scenery - many hanging glaciers on the peaks towering above us.  And some coming quite close to the road!

Stewart is a contemporary town right on the BC/Alaska Panhandle border.  No customs here.  Crossing into Hyder is like moving back in time 75 years!  No pavement, pretty much ramshakle buildings.

However, Hyder is home to Fish Creek where bears come down to feed every morning and evening.  There are currently 4 bears that freqyuent the area, and we managed to see them all over the course of two evenings.  We each took hundreds of bear pictures over our 2 visits

A momma bear and her cub put on a show for us that lasted over an hour!  Some of the cubs antics were hilarious - like trying to eat a fish that was as long as he was.

The bears are viewed from a walkway that runs a considerable distance along the creek, which is filled with large salmon migrating upstream.  Sometimes the bears are as close as 20 feet - they just don't seem to be the least concered about all the humans gaping at them.

A bald eagle and her adolescent offspring were also feeding on the feast of fish.

On our second day we drove up a 4 wheel drive road high up a canyon to an overlook of Spencer Glacier - pretty spectacular - even looking back down the canyon!