Glacier National Park

With it's glaciers, sparkling lakes, crystal clear rivers, rushing waterfalls, untouched forests, alpine meadows and rugged mountains covered in an abundance of blooming wildflowers and wildlife!...oh my! It was breathtaking! There are over 700 miles of trails within the vastness of Glacier National Park. We only had seven days, so we hiked just a smidge of those trails, but the miles we did hike were filled with incredibly awesome, breath-stealing wonders! 

WE HIKED ~

THE HIGHLINE TRAIL
We traveled the Going To The Sun road to Logan's Pass where our trailhead was located. This section of the Highline Trail follows along the Continental Divide and is filled with sweeping, awe inspiring views every step of the way! We did an out and back hike to Haystack Pass, where we took our lunch break while enjoying the amazing, breath-stealing, panoramic views of Glacier! 

There are numerous waterfalls flowing down the side of this mountain wall along with an abundant variety of blooming wildflowers! An amazingly beautiful, lush garden growing on the side of a mountain, very appropriately named the 'Garden Wall'.  

SWIFTCURRENT PASS TRAIL
This trail passes along Fishercap Lake, where we caught a far off look at a bull moose dipping his head in and out of the water, continuing on along Redrock Lake with Mt. Grinnell towering over it, to the beautiful cascading waters of Redrock Falls! It was such a warm sunshiny day that on our way back we went swimming in the crystal clear pool at the bottom of these waterfalls!...oh my gosh!...so much fun! 

The trail continued, lined with sweet smelling wildflowers, leading us under canopies of Aspens, which I'm sure are stunningly beautiful all dressed in their brilliant fall colors of yellow and orange!...over wooden bridges and through patches of huckleberry and thimbleberry bushes to our destination, Bullhead Lake. This icy cold glacier lake is tucked in at the bottom of Swiftcurrent Mountain and Swiftcurrent Glacier.

 
GRINNEL GLACIER TRAIL
The Grinnell Glacier Trail was filled with more beautiful rushing waterfalls, icy cold glacier lakes and stunning, breath-stealing views of mountaintops and lush mountain valleys!

Above is a capture of Grinnell Lake with Grinnell Falls rushing down the mountain side from upper Grinnell Lake. These lakes are fed by Grinnell Glacier, which makes their waters icy cold! Jan and I both wanted to plunge ourselves in a glacier lake. Crazy...right!? We did it though!...after walking for what seemed like forever in icy glacier water that numbed our feet and legs up to our knees, we were finally able to get past the shallows into deep enough water for a very quick plunge! Oh my gosh!...Oh my gosh!!...was that ever cold!...and exhilarating all at the same time! We laughed and celebrated as we made a mad dash back to shore! Talk about feeling 'alive'!...Wow!!