Over the five years that I have been researching and reading RV blogs,many say that Glacier National Park is their favorite. Thusly, I made Glacier my goal when I started on this journey. And here I was…in Columbia Falls for two weeks, just outside the park. I couldn’t believe it. I made it all the way from the bottom of Arizona (Bisbee) to the top of Montana! Even I’m impressed! 🙂
My friends, Mary Ann and Gerard, were still traveling with me. Ralph rode up on his new motorcycle, and our friends, Chris and Bill, along with their dog, Hank, joined us for the second week. We did a little site seeing, played 31 and Mexican Train every night, and had a lot of laughs. Chris and Bill, Ralph and I took a ride around Kootenai Lake before the smoke got so bad that we couldn’t ride.
Unbeknownst to us, August in Montana is fire month. This year was particularly bad due to 70+ days of no rain. Fires were burning all around us. When Mary, Gerard and I arrived, the wind was blowing the smoke away from us. We were able to explore the park for three days before the wind changed direction and filled the area with choking smoke. I’ve never experienced this before. By the end of the day, my chest hurt, my eyes burned and I had a sore throat. I was disappointed that I didn’t see the park as it was in photos I’ve seen in the past.
We visited McDonald Lake, St Mary and Many Glacier. We were up and down the Going to the Sun Road many times. The last time was at 10 pm and I’ll tell you that was a little scary. Ralph did a great job driving.
Glacier is a beautiful environment carved out during the last Glacier Age. The name is actually Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park and represents a vision of a world in which peoples set aside their differences to work collectively in the interest of all life, for all time. Waterton is the Canadian part of the park. The park has old-growth forests, wind-swept prairies, ancient glaciers and deep lakes.
The Going to the Sun road is 50 miles long and bisects the park east to west. It is a spectacular road that traverses the park’s two largest lakes, hugs the cliffs below the Continental Divide and peaks at Logan Pass.
The glaciers are quickly disappearing, so if you want to see them, don’t wait too long to go to the park.
I was disappointed by the smoke and even though Glacier NP is beautiful, my favorite is still Yellowstone.
Another bucket list item checked off!
Where to from here? Somewhere where there is clear air!
O-Solo-Meo.blog 
Great story Rochelle. You are my hero.
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