May 1st

A large percentage of the park is still closed, with the massive amount of winter snow being cleared from the roads and trails. But I don’t care – I was at Glacier National Park today and have enough photographs and memories to last me quite some time. One of the things to which I was most looking forward on this trip was taking pictures on the side of and hiking off of probably the best named thoroughfare in America: Going-to-the-Sun Road (and the sun came out a bit today, in my honor).

It was a four hour drive from Coeur d’Alene and I saw plenty of great scenery to whet my appetite (see the last three pictures below). The visitor center is only open on weekends now but a friendly ranger told me what roads and trails are open and I got to most of them.

The Sperry Chalet trail goes several miles from the Lake McDonald Lodge. I decided to walk 15 minutes up the quickly ascending trail and was rewarded by a clearing at the top of the hill with a great view of the forest and the lake below (the second row of photos). I bought a Glacier NP T-shirt at the Apgar Village general store and compared notes with the clerk who has been on a road trip similar to mine. Then I did a stroll from the village that followed the ox-bow (meandering) of McDonald Creek. In short, I was alternating taking pictures and hiking and enjoying every minute, in mostly comfortable 50 degrees.

I found a 2004 song by a Montana folk singer David Walburn called “Going to the Sun” that tells the story about how and when the road was built. Enjoy!