McCulloughver's Travels: They Don't Call it The Crown of the Continent for Nothing!

Let me tell you a little bit about our stay in Montana…

1.) IT IS HOT! I’m not talking just hot for the Northwest. I’m talking about a sweltering, South Alabama kind of hot. “But it’s a dry heat,” you might say. Yeah, yeah…whatever, it’s hot! For our first full day in Glacier National Park, Daniel had an “approximately” 10-mile hike planned for us. But when we found out the high temp that day was 102˚, we traded that hike for a shorter one, plus two scoops of ice cream, plus a motorboat on the lake. A very wise choice! During one of our short hikes, mystery of mysteries, we played in the snow. For the life of me, I can’t figure that out! Sweltering, miserable heat = crisp, cool snow?! The heat wave we endured on our 3-night stay there proved nothing of the notion that Montana is a cold state.

Avalanche Lake...Cadie's Favorite Place in the Park

2.) It’s absolutely gorgeous! Although Daniel disagrees, Glacier is definitely my favorite place of the trip…so far! (His favorite place is still Yosemite.) Of course, there are mountains and glaciers so numerous and majestic that it’s unbelievable. But then you have waterfalls draping the mountains literally EVERYWHERE! We even had to cross a few on our hikes. And as you hike, you’ll come around a corner, and all of a sudden there will be the most tranquil, crystal-clear lake you’ve ever seen. My favorite place was just that. Avalanche Lake is the most gorgeous place I’ve seen (so far). Four separate waterfalls met up at the base of the lake directly across from where we stood. Ya know how sometimes things (especially nature) look so ridiculously beautiful that it’s almost weird? It’s like someone is holding a tapestry of imaginary scenery right in front of your face that’s so awesome you know it can’t be real life! But then you get a little closer and touch it, and realize that it is, surprisingly, real life and so much more gorgeous than any man could think up, much less create. Unfortunately, that’s my best effort at describing what it all looked like…so I encourage you again, get in the car and go there!

Beautiful White Coyote We Saw On Our Drive

3.) We saw the most wildlife here. Supposedly Yellowstone is known for its wildlife though, so this status might not hold for long. During our 3 days in Glacier/Waterton Lakes (Canada’s side of the park), our wild animal count was as follows: 3 mountain goats, at least 12 bighorn sheep, 1 white coyote, 3 marmots, millions of ground squirrels, 1 black bear cub, and 1 giant grizzly bear! So, it will be interesting to see how this list adds up in a couple of days.

I’m writing this blog to pass some time during the multi-hour drive from Glacier to Yellowstone. We actually just heard a comforting news story on the radio about a man making a narrow escape from a grizzly bear at Yellowstone…where we will be sleeping outside for the next 3 nights!! So…you can understand why I’m a little nervous to say…

Next Stop - Yellowstone National Park!!!