Fast Ponderings on GNP

So, now that I am on the road again, I figure it's time for a wrap-up on GNP. (That's Glacier National Park; try to keep up with the acronyms.)

GNP was yet another park that was worthy of its own trip. If I had another month, I wouldn't have seen it all. If I could spend a full year at GNP, it'd be different every day. It' very much the kind of place I could fall in love with (and, indeed, have). There are a couple of things that I should point out to anyone thinking of visiting the park. #1, if you don't like mountain roads, try visiting the National Grassland between the TRNP units. The Going to the Sun Road connects the two sides. The East-to-West route is less worrisome. You tend to be on the inside of the road most all of the way. West-to-East is a bit ... more knuckle-whitening. I now have fingernail marks in my steering wheel.

In the more people-frequented areas, some of the wildlife gets disturbingly familiar with humans. Up near Logan's Pass, at both the Hidden Lake overlook and the viewing area just to the West of the pass, mountain goats get so comfortable around people that I could have petted them, if I choose to. Needless to say, I now have some "Nature" shots of mountain goat kids. It's almost cheating.

Avalanche Lake is another popular destination. The trail is right next to one of the larger camping areas and is very well maintained. That is, it's well maintained right up to the point where it claims to stop. They even have a sign proclaiming that this is the "end of the trail, don't go any further." So, of course, there is a trail, and I did go further. But not too much. The US government may claim to possess the GNP, but it's really the grizzlies' property. The area just beyond the "end of trail" sign was decidedly grizzly territory. Brush about 6 feet tall, cascading streams, fresh fish supplies, plenty of places to make dens, etc. So, of course, I had to venture a little bit in, right? Just long enough to snap a couple of pictures (but I didn't even stay long enough to set up my tripod). Let's think about all of the things that were wrong with this idea: Lone hiker, hours getting long, no bear-spray, etc, etc. I made sure that I was one noisy hiker, and only went about 2 minutes into the end of the valley. For the next visit, I'm bringing at least one hiking partner, and at least one can of spray, and I am definitely going to return and head a little further in. Also, I did no backpacking. The Ptarmigan Path has my name on it, I think.

Time to get back in the car and get moving, I think. Sorry, no pics. They're still on the camera.