Life on the High Plains

After checking into the beautiful Glacier Park Lodge we loaded into the car and made the 30 mile drive to the Many Glacier inside the park. Although it was only a 30 mile drive it took well over an hour because the road was narrow, curvy and along the side of a mountain.  We got our first view of Glacier National Park. My pictures do not do justice to the beauty of this place. The wildflowers were in full bloom. It took us well over an hour to reach our destination--the Swiftcurrent Pass Trail. Fully loaded with bear spray and hiking sticks for protection we started our journey. This tree was awesome. One thing you'll notice about Glacier National Park is that the glaciers have severely receded.  Of course global warming is fake news, but I suggest you get up there soon if you want to see any trace of a glacier. The undergrowth was just like a rain forest. We loved the rock walls. Beautiful aspens and streams a...

Our next stop on our trip to Glacier National Park was the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Great Falls, Montana. We met some really nice volunteers and rangers who are passionate about this center.  We looked at exhibits and listened to a presentation about the expedition and grizzly bears. The expedition apparently thought that grizzlies would be no match for their modern day weaponry, but they quickly learned differently. I have to admit that I didn't know much about the Lewis and Clark expedition other than it was to explore the northwest after the Louisiana Purchase.  Ask me anything about the expeditions into the Yellowstone territory, but I must have been absent in my history class when Lewis and Clark was covered.    Now I know more though.   The expedition was over 8,000 miles and took place in 1804-1806.The terrain was rough and the weather conditions were harsh.  We had followed the Missouri River on our drive t...

Last week Irv and I went on an adventure to Glacier National Park.  Our first stop was the Lewis and Clark Center in Great Falls, Montana.  Not long after exiting I-90 on highway 287 towards Great Falls we saw a large herd of horses on a hilltop. This is not an uncommon sight in Montana, but something wasn't quite right. Irv flipped a U-turn and we went back for a closer look. These weren't real horses at all.  This was art and someone put a whole lot of effort into it.  With my telephoto lens I was able to get a closer look. Absolutely amazing!  Horses of every shape and size in different positions. Of course my curiosity was peaked and I wanted to know who had created this beautiful scene.  Thanks to Google it only took a minute to locate the information about these horses. The sculptor's name is Jim Dolan and the name of the exhibit is Bleu Horses.  Some of the pieces are as high as 8 feet at the shoulder. ...

Today's Skywatch Friday shots are courtesy of Irvin Polyard who caught these great shots of a hawk bringing dinner home to the family.  These were taken at Hebgen Lake in Montana.   Linking with Skwatch Friday .

No exciting hikes in Yellowstone this week.  The statistics just came out and we had 800,000 visitors in June.  It was the second busiest June in history.  June 2016 had 830,000 visitors.  Have I mentioned that I count every person that comes through my gate?  With all those visitors Yellowstone is crazy busy.  The parking lots are full, the roads are crowded, the tourists are pushy and disrespectful of the features.  This week I chose to not endure the crowds. Then my friend Emily and her family who are vacationing here invited me to lunch at the Old Faithful Inn so I jumped in the truck and headed out allowing myself an hour and 15 minutes to drive the 30 miles to Old Faithful. It was great seeing Emily.  I worked with her for 10 years and she's a lot of fun and has wonderful kids and husband.  It was also her birthday. After finishing lunch I loaded up and headed south to my old stomping ground at Grant Village. I kn...