Road Trip: to Glacier: Into the Mountains at Glacier Park

We had a leisurely morning with a good workout and a nice breakfast. Then we drove to Glacier. We learned that the haze we could see was not a storm cloud or morning fog, it was smoke. The large fire in Utah and two smaller fires in Montana have thrown a haze of smoke over the whole area. Even when the sun came out this afternoon, we could see the haze when we looked toward the mountains. You may see it in some of the pictures we took this afternoon.

As a splurge, we are staying one night in Glacier Park Lodge, one of the great lodges built in the National Parks during the railroad boom. This hotel was built 100 years ago. It is lovely and rustic. The rooms have no TVs (but there is wireless internet as you can see). The hotel has two restaurants and a lounge, a large hall, and several gift shops and it has balconies on every side. Here are some pictures.

Our room.

Our shared balcony.

The great hall - note the huge logs that are the main structure!

After we settled into our room, we went down to the lounge for a snack and a local brew. We took our maps and were discussing where we would go. I wanted to go to Running Eagle Falls. It sounded like a nice walk and was relatively short (.3 miles). Our waitress, Jillian, brought us a map of the Two Medicine Rivers area (where we were headed) and showed us where to park for the walk. She also told us about another relatively short and easy walk to Paradise Point. She said it was good for sunsets.

With map in hand we set out. It was a 12 mile drive to get to the park entrance. We found the trailhead with no problem and got out our cameras and walking sticks. It was a short and easy walk as promised, but we wandered off track to get some different pictures. Here is what the falls area looked like.

Running Eagle Falls from a distance.

Falls up close

Bittersweet berries

Panoramic view of area

Since that walk wasn't too strenuous, Dennis agreed to go see Paradise Point. When we got to the hiking site, the legend on the map indicated that it was .6 miles to the Point. Dennis didn't like the sound of that and when we began the walk, we saw that much of it was hilly and on rough terrain. We persevered and the view was worth it. After that vigorous walk, we decided that we could eat as much as we wanted for dinner and headed back for a very nice meal in the hotel dining room.