Many Glacier Hotel Panorama

Moose

After the pit stop for the moose photo, we started on our hike for the day. We originally planned to head up to Iceberg Lake, however there was a grizzly bear with her three cubs on the trail the day before, so they closed the trail past Ptarmigan Falls. We actually met the couple that had their trip interrupted by the bear; they were waiting for the boat with us on our first day in the park. She told us all about her encounter, which ended safely.

Quite a bit of the park was closed off due to bear activity. This day’s hike was along the edge of an area that was all closed off, we were not supposed to go uphill, ever.

Bear Warning Board

Bear Warning Trail

Deer

Mt Grinnell in the Clouds

After a while, I decided it was time to take some macro photos. I have a special lens (5o mm f/1.8 Canon fixed length lens), that I mount backwards with an aluminum ring, after I force it to lock at f/11. Since our walk was cut short by grizzly activity, there was plenty of time for me to take photos along the way. Many of these photos are focus stacked, and even panorama stacked, to get them to fit in the frame and have more in focus than a small sliver. Feel free to ask me sometime how to focus stack. If you ever take macro shots it can be a neat tool.

Fire Weed

Berries

Purple Flower

Hover Fly

Hover Fly Eye Crop

Hover Fly

Another Purple Flower

Indian Paintbrush

Thimbleberry

Thimble Berry

Service Berries

Bee on Thistle

Bee on Thistle Leaf

Ptarmigan Falls is the half way point to Iceberg Lake, and was our turnaround point for our hike. We sat above the falls and ate a snack, and then I took a photo of an Ichneumon wasp while everyone else taking a break gave me funny looks. Ichneumon wasps are very small and don’t sting, they are quite different than yellow jackets.

Ptarmigan Falls

Ichneumon Wasp

We then headed back down the mountain, but I kept my macro lens in my pack. All of the rest of these photos are taken with my telephoto lens. I’m really happy with my chipmunk photo; it was fun to watch him climb around and eat those seeds.

Columbian Ground Squirrel

Chipmunk on Cow Parsnip

Megan on the Way Back From Ptarmigan Falls

Unknown Flower

Vine

Dragonfly

Dragonfly - Red

We got back from the hike and ate lunch. Then we went on a short ranger led hike to nearby Fishercap Lake, and got another chance to see another moose, as well as some deer.

Moose and Mountain

Deer

Moose are Ugly

Mayfly Emergence

Not a Bee (Hover Fly)

After the tour, we did a little laundry. It was fairly cold most of the trip, so Megan wore most of her clothes just about every day. While the machines were running, I went out and took more macro photos. Unfortunatly, I didn’t notice that the lens was set to f/1.8, so all of these photos have an extremely narrow depth of field (focus range). It gives them an ethereal effect, but I had to toss almost all of them because they weren’t what I wanted.

Wasp at Narrow Depth of Field

Mossy Succulenty Thing

Caterpillar

Bee on Purple

Bee on Purple

That was an early night for us. We enjoyed fondue at the “Swiss Lounge” in the lodge, and then just sat outside on the back deck for a while. As promised, I took a photo of the interior of the lodge.

Many Glacier Lodge

Megan in our Many Glacier Hotel Room

The next morning we headed out towards Logan’s Pass. The drive up was enjoyable, and we stopped frequently to go on short hikes. This time we were going to drive up, park at the top, and go for a hike in the alpine meadows. Little did we know that when we got there it would be completely covered in fog. We ate lunch up there, but the fog never left, so we just continued on down to the western side of the mountain.

Little Chief Peak in the Clouds

Baring Creek Cascade

Megan on the Path Near Baring Creek

Sunrift Gorge

St Mary Valley (or so the map says)

Tunnel Before Logan's Pass

Two Asses at Logan's Pass

Bighorn Sheep at the Pass

Baa

Foggy Drive

Once we got down to the western side, we went for a hike up to Avalanche Lake. This was an absolutely stunning alpine glacial cirque. These photos do not do it justice at all. The best part was the black bear feeding on the mountainside across the lake. We enjoyed lunch number two while watching the bear munch on berries.

Mountain Cottontail

Avalanche Lake Mountains

Charles at Avalanche Lake

Charles at Avalanche Lake

Black Bear

Lichen

Forest Below Avalanche Lake

The western side of the mountains in Glacier National Park are actually rain forests, so they are covered in moss, lichen, and mushrooms. Not the place you would expect a rain forest, and it looked fairly similar to Olympic National Park.

Small Mushroom

Mushroom Gills

Fungus Stalks

Lake McDonald is quite large, and our cabin for the night was right next to the lake. We stayed at the cabins next to the Lake McDonald Lodge.

Somebody Needs Orbit Gum

The next day we drove back to Logan Pass, because we really wanted to see the views from up there. Megan grabbed a quick shot of some deer that were crossing the road on the way up. The drive was a lot of fun, because we went up so early that there were not very many cars on the road. When we got up there, we ran into the same problem of everything being covered in fog. Just so we are clear, I’m calling it fog, but really it is just cloud cover. After eating a snack, we decided that we might as well go for a hike to Hidden Lake Overlook.

It ended up ok, as there were some breaks in the fog once we left the area of the pass, but it was very cold the whole time. There was one sharp rise up, where once we passed the ridge, the fog just rolled back and left a nice area that was open. As we continued on we walked in and out of the fog, but once we got close to Hidden Lake, it was all just covered in fog. We met some people traveling back, and they told us if we waited 20 minutes, there might be a short break where we could see the lake. So, when we got there, we waited around.

We took some photos, and eventually met a couple that were also risking the fog, and found out they were from University City, and she grew up in a house two blocks from where we live. Then, finally, after about 25 minutes, there was a break, and we could see part of the lake.

Megan's Deer Photo

Megan at Logan Pass

Columbian Ground Squirrel

The Trail to Hidden Lake

Path to Hidden Lake

Megan on the Path to Hidden Lake

Megan Looking at Hidden Lake Overlook

SolidWorks Backpack

Charles at Hidden Lake Overlook

Trees at Hidden Lake Overlook

The Most We Saw of Hidden Lake

The Second Showing of Hidden Lake

Charles and Megan After Hidden Lake

Bridge, Clouds, and Megan

It did drizzle off and on the whole time we were hiking. Really, it drizzled off an on our entire trip. The weather took an interesting turn on the way back from the lake when it started to hail on us. It was not quite hail, which recirculates, really it was just ice pellets. Once that cleared we actually got a hint of blue sky, almost.

Megan Getting Hailed On

A Tiny Patch of Bluish Sky

When we got back to the car at Logan Pass, we decided it was not worth walking on the Highline Trail, as it gives a great scenic view of the western valley. Unfortunately, it looked like it was just going to be covered the whole time, so we just went back down to Lake McDonald. We went on a short hike north of the lake, and then went down to West Glacier to eat dinner at the diner in town. Again, the food was edible. We donated our bear spray at the ranger station, then went back to our cabin for the night.

Little White Mushroom

Single Blue Berry (not a blueberry)

Shelf Mushroom

Forest Panorama

Forest Rock

Charles Sitting

Lake McDonald Panorama

Lake McDonald Lodge Cabin Bathroom

Megan in Cabin

Cabin 3-5

The next day we just got up and drove to Missoula for our plane trip back. We had a great trip, I hope you enjoyed the photos!

Glacier National Park: Photo Set 1

Glacier National Park: Hike to Grinnell Glacier

Many Glacier Sunrise

Today was a hiking day, so we ate a quick breakfast and then headed down to the shore for our boat ride. We had to be there by 8 am, so we could take the first boat across with the ranger. The ranger led tour took us up to Grinnell Glacier. After a quick boat ride, a short hike, and then a second boat ride, we started on our hike. At the beginning I was able to get this fairly blurry shot of a Spruce Grouse.

Spruce Grouse

We started off on a bunch of switchbacks, but past that it was a fairly easy hike, and the views were amazing. The hikes were just as good as any that I’ve ever been on, and most of those required having a backpack that weighed over 40 lbs. All we had was lunch and water for the day in my regular SolidWorks backpack. We started wearing everything we owned; it was very cold in the morning. By mid-day all our coats, jackets, and sweatshirts were also in the backpack, and we even got a bit of sun!

Grinnell Glacier Trail Panorama

Megan Overlooking Cateract Creek

Hiking Path To The Glacier

Ranger Bob Explaining Geology

Megan Above Grinnell Glacier Lake

Steep Part of the Trail

Grinnell Glacier Lake

For our mid-morning break we stopped on a rock outcropping just below some feeding bighorn sheep.

Megan at Morning Break

Bighorn Looking Over the Herd

Bighorn Sheep

Bighorn Sheep Portrait

Bighorn Sheep

Trail Overhang

Steep Trail

We eventually made it to just below the glacier, and stopped just below the tree line for lunch. After lunch we continued on to Grinnell Glacier, after a stop half way for another speech by the ranger.

Ranger Bob and our Path

Grinnell Glacier Panorama

Charles and Megan at Grinnell Glacier

Grinnell Lake Panorama

The ranger gave us a tour of the Glacier (no, we did not stand on it, it is no longer safe), however it was covered by snow that day, so there is not much to see in the photos. It may look small, but that is just perspective, it is about a mile long, before it falls off into the lake and creates icebergs. We then headed back down the mountain.

Waterfall Below Grinnell

Megan On Overlook Above Grinnell Lake

Megan The Hiker

Megan Walking Under Cliffs

Bee on Blanket Flower

It did drizzle off and on most of the way down, but about half a mile from the end it started to really rain, and we sped on down to the boat dock. After a couple boat rides later, and a quick stop by a moose, we were back at the lodge for the night. We at dinner at the nearby Swiftcurrent Motor Inn. The food was edible, but there was a ranger outside with a spotting scope. She was able to show us a black bear foraging on the mountainside, an elk, and some sheep and goats on a different mountain. They were all too far to be photographed, but were great through the telescope.

Swiftcurrent Boat Pickup

Many Glacier Hotel Across Swiftcurrent Lake

A Moose, Seen From the Boat

A Moose, Seen From the Boat

Other days from the trip:

Glacier National Park: Photo Set 1

Glacier National Park: The Last Set (including a bear)

We flew into Missoula, then drove up to Kalispell, where we spent the first night. The next day we drove to West Yellowstone and picked up some bear spray and hiking poles. I don’t know if you heard, but there are quite a few bears in Glacier, and we didn’t have any zucchini. I did get a chance to nab a photo of our rental vehicle, a Nissan Rogue. They ran out of the midsize car we paid for, so we got a free “upgrade” to a cross-over. Apparently some people have a different definition of “upgrade” then I do, but we took it anyway. It was an ok vehicle, but I’d never buy one.

Our Rented Nissan Rogue

Then we started over towards East Glacier, taking the southern Highway 2. We almost opted to stop in Essex, MT, however there wasn’t more than a small green sign on the highway, and we didn’t drive down the side road to get to the other buildings. We made it to East Glacier, ate lunch at Luna’s, and then headed out to Two Medicine Lake. We went on a quick hike up to Running Eagle Falls. Then the rain hit, and it would stay cloudy almost 95% of the time for the next 3 days.

Running Eagle Falls

Megan At Running Eagle Falls

We took a few token photos and then went out to the lake. We hiked half way around the lake while we wait for it to be time for the boat ride.

Charles At Two Medicine Lake

A Pond Skimmer

The Sinopah

Two Medicine Boat Tour

We took a boat tour across the lake and went on a hike up to Twin Falls.  Here are some photos from that short hike.

Gray Jay

Mayfly At Twin Falls

Flower Buds

Waiting for the Boat to Pick us Up

Sinopah Mountain from Two Medicine Lake

We got back from the hike and got a chance to sit and chat with the other people who were waiting for a ride back. Quite some interesting folks, including one man with a spotting scope. We got to see some birds, and even spotted some goats up on the mountain side. They were a bit too far to photograph, although I did capture them, but they were just white blobs. We got on the boat and then headed to dinner back in town. That night we spent the night at the Travelers Rest Lodge, which was a nice cabin, and probably our best accommodations the whole trip. It was even the cheapest place we stayed in the park.

Outside Our Cabin at Travelers Rest Lodge in East Glacier

The next day we drove to Saint Mary Lake, and took a Red Bus tour over Logan’s Pass and back. It was great to take this all-day tour, because it mean that I got to see the scenery, instead of keeping my eyes on the narrow Going to the Sun Road the whole time. Also, we lucked out, as the next two times we drove up to Logan’s pass it was overcast the whole time, but on the day of the tour we got some clear skies, but only occasionally. Of course, first we had to stop at the World’s Largest Purple Spoon.

Worlds Largest Purple Spoon

Then we headed out on the bus tour. Our first stop was at the great view of Wild Goose Island in the middle of Saint Mary Lake. It is quite the view, and we still had clear skies.

Charles and Megan at Wild Goose Island

We then hopped back in #107, and continued on to Logan’s Pass. The photos I took on the east side do not do it justice, so I just suggest you visit yourself. When we got to Logan’s Pass we found it covered in snow, and then it snowed on us. It was very cold, and we didn’t have quite enough clothes to keep us warm.

Quick Megan, There is a Break In The Fog!

Charles At Logan Pass

Logan Pass Fog

Red Bus Tour Group

After we crossed the pass I grabbed a few shots on the way down the west side. It was a spectacular view.

Going To The Sun Highway

Peak In The Clouds

The weather cleared somewhat, so Evelyn, our jammer, tried to take the top off. That only lasted about 15 minutes before it started to rain again, but it was a good try.

Rolling Back The Top

Now That's What I Call A Road

Megan On Going To the Sun Ledge

Looking At Mount Oberlin

Going To The Sun Bridge

After our trip over the pass, and then back again, we continued on to the Many Glacier Lodge, where we spent the next few nights. Here are a couple photos of Swiftcurrent Lake, while standing just outside the Many Glacier Lodge.

Swiftcurrent Lake Panorama

Swiftcurrent Lake Sunset

Other days from the trip:

Glacier National Park: Hike to Grinnell Glacier

Glacier National Park: The Last Set (including a bear)

Speed Test with Charter

I am currently paying $32/month for my old plan with AT&T aDSL. They promise “up to 1.5 megabits/second.” Here is my results with AT&T:

AT&T Speed Test Results

I think that speaks for itself.

The day after my presentation, Megan and I drove up through Sedona and Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon. We ate well at El Tovar a few times, and stayed at the Bright Angel cabin for a night. We went on the usual drive along the rim, and stopped plenty of times. We also went out on the bus tour to the western portions of the canyon. On our second day, they had an early morning ranger tour. This was Megan’s favorite part, as we got to go to a special part of the park. There is a video tour of what we did on the National Park Service webpage for the Four Sisters of the Grand Canyon (watch the video for a full description of what they are). Ranger Pat did an excellent job with the tour, and we are some of the few (200?) people in the last few decades to get the chance to visit there. We finished our tour of the Canyon with a drive along the rim, and plenty of panoramic photos of the canyon.

That night we stayed at the Shooting Star Inn. This Bed & Breakfast near Flagstaff is hosted by Tom Taylor, who is quite the astronomer. Tom was both an excellent host, and also gave a wonderful tour of the night sky. If you are ever on the south side of the Grand Canyon, and enjoy astronomy, then I strongly suggest staying with him for a night, you will not regret it!

Norris Geyser Panorama

We ate lunch at Old Faithful Inn, then watched Old Faithful go off. We walked around the Upper Geyser Basin, and I took photos of all the colorful pools and streams. We then slowly but surely made it out the west entrance, and ate dinner at a BBQ place in West Yellowstone. Everywhere up there you can get “St Louis Style” ribs. I got something else. We ended the day in Idaho (just over the border) at an absolutely fabulous bed and breakfast called “A River Runs By It.” The hosts and the facilities were fantastic, and just look at the view!

Our last day in the park started off with a lot of rain. It  rained all morning. We went and visited some great geysers, like the Fountain Paint Pots. We even got to see the Fountain Geyser erupting, which was really neat. We almost didn’t get out of the car there was so much rain, but I’m glad we did. We ended up at Old Faithful Inn again for lunch, and on the way out saw the beehive geyser erupting. The rain did finally stop, so we went back to the Midway Geyser Basin so I could get photos of the Grand Prismatic Spring, and other geysers there. I also got an excellent photo of Megan. After the Grand Prismatic Spring, we went to Biscuit Basin, and I got some (ok, a whole bunch of) great photos there too. We ended our day with a drive out the south exit, and then through the Tetons again to Jackson Hole. We stayed another night at the Buckrail Lodge.

On our last day, we didn’t have to get on our plane until afternoon, so we went on a scenic drive, then went on a short hike up the mountains. I was raining early in the morning for our drive, and then overcast for our hike. We walked up the Tetons to Taggart Lake, but the fog was always just one step ahead. There is supposed to be a gorgeous view of the mountains from the lake, but all we saw was fog! By the time we made it back down (had to leave for the airport) it had cleared up, oh well. The weather cleared up and we had a great flight home, just barely missing the heat wave that lasted all week in St Louis.

We then made it North through the park, and ended our day in Mammoth. We spent the night at a bed and breakfast in Gardiner. The next day we got up and drove to Billings, MT. This was through the park, then on the Cooke City Highway and over the Beartooth Mountains on the Beartooth Pass. The road on the Beartooth can be very, well, curvy. If you enjoy driving, going on this road sometime is a must. After our lunch in Red Lodge (my favorite town), we spent the afternoon with my relatives in Billings. We enjoyed visiting my grandmother, and had a great dinner at my aunt and uncle’s house.

The next day we got up early for a longer drive. We drove west on the Interstate to Bozeman, then went south through the Gallatin valley to the West enterance to the park. We ate lunch at West Yellowstone, then went in the park to go on a hike  up to Monument Geyser Basin. It had been overcast, snowy, hailing, and thunderstorming the first 2 days, so we were happy we could finally get away from our car for a little while. You can see Megan was very happy when we made it to the top of Monument. We then went further north, and stopped by Norris Geyser Basin. We ended up having dinner at Mammoth (it was my birthday dinner), and then spent the night at the same bed and breakfast in Gardiner.

Hayden Valley Panorama

Yellowstone Grand Canyon Panorama

An Overlook Before Monument Geyser Basin