July 9, 2010, Glacier NP (West Side), Montana

We were going to drive the Inside North Fork Road and stop at several trailheads along the way but somehow we got on the Outside North Fork Road, which is out of the park. We did stop at the Forests and Fire Nature Trail (formerly Huckleberry Nature Trail). It had burned in 2001.

"Moose Fire" of 2001.

We drove on to Polebridge (25 miles but seemed much longer!).

Very nice bridge to Polebridge

Polebridge Ranger Station

We had forgotten to pay for tonight and we needed to be back early so we didn’t stop at any of the trailheads. Most of the road went through the area that burned in 2001. We did stop on the road several times to look at birds. We stopped at Winona Lake where we saw and heard Common Loons (with 1 chick). Even with the burned area the trip was very lush with wildflowers and re-growth.

Winona Lake

We saw fields of wild rose

After supper we went to the ranger program on trees. It was really good. We were given a card to ‘key out’ the trees around the amphitheater.

After the program we walked to the Village and had pie at Eddies Restaurant.

July 7-8, 2010, Glacier NP, Montana

We are in Montana. This is the 7th state we have been to on this journey and the first state we haven't been to before.
We arrived yesterday morning. About 2 hours later we saw our first black bear crossing the road! This is a beautiful area. There is still plenty of snow on the mountains.

Black Bear

Lake McDonald

July 8, 2010
We got to the Avalanche Lake Trail about 6:30 this morning. It's nice to get out early and beat the crowds. It's a beautiful hike that climbs through a forest of giant red cedar and western hemlock. The trail parallels the creek to the lake (round trip 5 miles. There is a cliff about 3000 feet above the lake that still has quite a bit of snow and many fabulous waterfalls including Monument Falls. Avalanche Lake is a beautiful blue color that comes from 'glacial flour'. The guide book says: "Glacial flour comes into the lake from Sperry Glacier”. It describes glacial flour as "rock which has been pulverized to a fine powder by the action of a glacier."

Avalanche Gorge

Avalanche Creek along the hiking trail.

Avalanche Lake.

Many waterfalls flowing into Avalanche Lake.

On the way back to the truck we took the Trail of the Cedars Nature Trail. The cedars are very large. The whole area reminded us of Oregon.

July 4, 2010, Yellowstone NP, Wyoming

Happy 4th of July!!
It was 32 degrees when we got up this morning!
We got on the road about 7:00 this morning. We wanted to hike the Cascade Lake Trail (5 miles total). It’s a very pretty, flat hike through forest, a couple of large meadows and some swamp areas.

July 3, 2010, Yellowstone NP, Wyoming

We left the RV about 6:00 this morning and drove to Wraith Falls. We were early enough to beat the crowds on the road. Yesterday we had stopped at an area where a black bear had been seen. We didn’t see her yesterday but we found her today.

Black Bear

Wraith Falls

Then it was to Slough Creek. We didn’t find any wolves but we did run into several people that said there was a den up on the mountain but no one was quite sure where it was.
On the Slough Creek Trail we walked 2 miles to a nice meadow next to Slough Creek where we sat for a while and had a snack. The trail is an old wagon road that is closed to cars now but they do use it for horse drawn sleigh rides to Silver Tip Ranch.

Silvery Blue Butterfly

Wild Rose

Wild Onion

Indian Paintbrush


Mule Deer

Yellow-headed Blackbird

Bison with Brown-headed Cowbirds

Bison using the bridge!

Bishon herd

Bighorn sheep

Sleigh ride to Silver Tip Ranch

July 2, 2010, Yellowstone NP, Wyoming

We had a lot of sites to see today so we got an early start. There was a bison right outside out campground that was scratching himself on a rock.

We stopped by a place called Roaring Mountain. It really did roar! We got to the Artist Paintpots very early and were the only ones there.


We went to a beautiful area called Firehole Falls.

We got to Old Faithful. There were a lot of people and we waited about 25 minutes for it to go off.

July 2, 2010 - Page 2, Yellowstone NP

After we watched Old Faithful, we had lunch then started out again.
We went to the West Thumb Geyser Basin. Some of the geysers were a beautiful aqua color.




Yellowstone Lake in the background.

Then it was up to LeHardy’s Rapids were the trout were suppose to be jumping up the rapids to spawn. We saw some very large trout but didn’t see any jump out of the water.
On to the Mud Volcano.


Churning Caldron at the Mud Volcanos

On the way to the Upper/Lower Falls (Uncle Tom’s Trail) we saw a lot of people standing pretty far out in a meadow. There was a mama grizzly bear with 3 cubs. We got out with the spotting scope and watched for quite a while. There were also 4 coyotes not far from us.



We walked the 328 steps (that is not counting the trail with all the switchbacks) to the Lower Falls. Then took a short walk to the upper falls.


It was a long 12 hour day but we enjoyed it and saw a lot of Yellowstone.

July 1, 2010, Yellowstone, NP, Wyoming

We got up at 5:30 with the idea of getting on the road early and avoiding the crowds. At 10:00 p.m. last night it was still pretty light outside and it gets light very early in the mornings. Just a few minutes after we got up it started hailing!

The white stuff is hail!

There were a couple of places we wanted to see today so we got on the road as soon as it stopped hailing. We stopped at the Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces. We were the only ones there. The sky started getting very dark and there was a lot of thunder, then, it started hailing again! We made a run for the truck and didn’t get too wet, it was mostly hail and not a lot of rain.


Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces

We stopped at Floating Island Lake where we saw several Coots, Mallards, and Canada Geese with babies.

American Coot

Canada Goose

Red-wing Blackbird

Ruddy Duck

The weather started clearing up. We drove on to the Roosevelt Lodge to hike to the Lost Lake Trail (4 miles). It was very steep at the beginning and end. We could see the Petrified Tree off the trail.

Lost Lake