Exterous' vacation to Montana

[Exterous]

Back in June we went on a vacation to Glacier National Park. We arrived just as the days of huge rainfalls that caused so much damage to the Yellowstone area were ending and, even in the Glacier area we could see river and drainage levels at level high enough it was almost over some of the roads and driveways. The river levels were clearly much higher than normal

American Airlines had some great saver level first class awards to Montana from Detroit with bad routings. But I booked them anyway as schedules were changing so often we were pretty much guaranteed a schedule change which allowed us free rebooking options to any of the flights instead of those just with saver level award space. Sure enough the schedule changed and we were auto rebooked on perhaps the worst auto-rebooking itinerary I've every seen. DTW - DFW - PHX - LAX - SEA - MSO. An agent quickly realized the issue when I called and got us on the best route available - something that would have cost me an extra 40,000 miles or so had I booked that in the first place.

In any event we had great weather in Glacier for the rest of our trip. Sure a lot of the hikes weren't open yet but the crowds were much lower so we were ok with the trade off. Our second day there we headed over to the St. Mary's entrance which was even less trafficked than the West Entrance although we did find ourselves having to find some ways to help cross some of the trail areas

 

[Muadib]

I love your vacation pics! Always a guaranteed feast for the eyes.

 

[BoomerD]

Glacier is fckn spectacular. We used to go there every 3-4 years when I was a kid/ early teens. Going to the Sun road used to be quite the adventure. Nearly no guard rails on the sheer drop-off side save for a few tight corners. My mom spent half the drive with her face under a blanket so she couldn't see.

 

[NuclearNed]

I've been to Glacier a few times, including last summer for a week of backpacking in the remote western area of the park. It's one of the greatest parks in the NPS.

 

[purbeast0]

Nice pics.

You do any fishing?

 

[Captante]

Looks beautiful!

I have a good friend in Corvallis MT (south of Missoula) who I have not seen in a few years.... those pics are really motivating me to go visit her!

 

[Exterous]

I love your vacation pics! Always a guaranteed feast for the eyes.

Thanks!

Glacier is fckn spectacular. We used to go there every 3-4 years when I was a kid/ early teens. Going to the Sun road used to be quite the adventure. Nearly no guard rails on the sheer drop-off side save for a few tight corners. My mom spent half the drive with her face under a blanket so she couldn't see.

I've been to Glacier a few times, including last summer for a week of backpacking in the remote western area of the park. It's one of the greatest parks in the NPS.

Yeah its pretty dang awesome. I will say the reservation system this year was a PITA though. They randomly increased how far in advance you could book after they set the policy for the upcoming year. So when our calendar alerts fired to remind us to buy a pass they had already been snatched up weeks if not months prior. Due to timing I had to walk down the jet bridge for our connecting flight on my phone to be able to get one of the 3 day passes they held back. And you needed a different pass for the Polebridge ranger station which was only valid for a single day for some reason

Nice pics.

You do any fishing?

Thanks. TBH fishing isn't my thing so I rarely do it

 

[NuclearNed]

Yeah its pretty dang awesome. I will say the reservation system this year was a PITA though. They randomly increased how far in advance you could book after they set the policy for the upcoming year. So when our calendar alerts fired to remind us to buy a pass they had already been snatched up weeks if not months prior. Due to timing I had to walk down the jet bridge for our connecting flight on my phone to be able to get one of the 3 day passes they held back. And you needed a different pass for the Polebridge ranger station which was only valid for a single day for some reason

The backcountry reservation system is ridiculously bad. Last year we couldn't get any of the itinerary that we would like to have had. Instead, they drew up an itinerary for us... which was completely stupid. For instance, they had us backpacking 18miles on 2 separate days. That's the reason we ended up backpacking in a very remote part of the park - it was all that was left that was practical.

 

[KB]

Glacier National Park is stunning. Reminds me of Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado

 

[Exterous]

For got one of the St Mary's entrance:

We also spent some time in the Two Medicine area:

 

[Aharami]

came here for the pics. wasn't disappointed

 

[Captante]

Yep.... next two weeks of wallpaper covered!

 

[IronWing]

Did you hike up a glacier?

 

[Exterous]

With a chunk of the Going to the Sun road closed still due to snow we walked up some of the road. After the first mile it grew quite peaceful

My favorite pictures of the trip came from Bowman lake though. I could have spent a lot longer in this area of the park

 

[Exterous]

This was our first trip to Montana and I have to agree with the others in this thread about how great Glacier National Park is. And we felt that way even tough many of the more well known trails and sites were still inaccessible

Yep.... next two weeks of wallpaper covered!

Added some more

Did you hike up a glacier?

Not this trip but we did travel to Alaska a couple of weeks later which involved some glacier hiking

 

[Muse]

Was in Montana when I was 14. Witnessed by far the most spectacular lightning storm of my life. Thrilling for must have been 1/2 an hour.

 

[Exterous]

Was in Montana when I was 14. Witnessed by far the most spectacular lightning storm of my life. Thrilling for must have been 1/2 an hour.

I can see that - especially if you were on a hill our mountain. Nothing like watching the storm clouds roll in from an elevated position

 

[Muse]

I can see that - especially if you were on a hill our mountain. Nothing like watching the storm clouds roll in from an elevated position

I was inside a common area of a rather large very old resort hotel, not outside. Even so, it was spectacular! The lightning flashes and thunder claps were never ending.

I downloaded all the Montana photos you posted and will set up a rotating desktop background with them. My current one is of your Canadian Rockies shots! You've got some talent with a camera. I figure you're using some filters... my guess would be a yellow one? Thank you!

 

[Muse]

I downloaded all the Montana photos you posted and will set up a rotating desktop background with them. My current one is of your Canadian Rockies shots! You've got some talent with a camera. I figure you're using some filters... my guess would be a yellow one? Thank you!

Oops! I forgot that I was working almost exclusively in black and white in those days when I would use a yellow filter when photographing outdoor scenes with clouds against blue skies. That works great in B&W but I suppose would not work in color.