Showing posts with label Going to the Sun Road. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Going to the Sun Road. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Waterfalls, Water, Mountains, Glacier National Park

Copyright 2017, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

JULY 2013

We have driven to the Logan's Pass area once more, this time from the eastern side of the park, and now, we must turn and go down the mountain again.  Reminder, we are driving the Going to the Sun Road.

Need to have a panoramic.  I wish you could see this one on my monitor!  SIGH




And, we need waterfalls, there is one, see it so far off in the distance?

Yes, let's zoom in on that one.


Nearby our turnout/parking spot, right on the road, is this lovely waterfall, people love to go stand in the mist.


And, here is one more water fall, which, if I remember correctly, I had to lean and stretch to capture.  These water falls, I believe, are along Reynolds Creek and Lunch Creek.


I cannot stop my awe, look at that upside down bowl affect, almost perfect in shape, Mother Nature is so awesome.  On Google maps, this is very near an area they call Big Drift.


You can see, it was quite overcast this day.  My new photo editing software has a "haze" removal tool.  I think I like it!  This is Saint Mary Lake.  Saint Mary Lake is rather long, this is at the western end (we are heading east).


We will see more on this long day.  I have previewed about half of the photos of the almost 500 I took that day.  We are a little over half way through them.  Lots more fun and interesting things to see.  Many more blog posts.




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Saturday, July 15, 2017

Going to the Sun Road, Saint Marys, Go West Young Man - -

Copyright 2017, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

JULY     2013


We arrive at the Visitors Center, Saint Mary.  Time for a walk, some photos, some learning opportunities.  One thing we learn is that we will experience some road re-construction, much as on the west side of Logan's Pass.  Standing in the parking lot. this is the view.  Not bad for a parking lot, eh?



It's not just the beauty of the mountains, it's the wild flowers, weeds, Mother Nature.


After some time spent learning, and stretching our legs, we head out, going from east to west, Going to the Sun Road.  Seems this creature was as well.  I am fairly sure this was a coyote, but, welcome corrections.


Having rarely, well, never, seen coyotes up close and personal, this was a bit concerning to me.  Again, having very little knowledge, this one looks quite thin, and was continually "yawning".  I have two photos of it yawning, running and yawning.  My camera recorded these photos over the time frame of about one minute.  No, we did NOT get out of Jolly.


This is a view of Saint Mary Lake.


Yes, there is construction.


Wild Goose Island, an extremely popular photo stop.


Many of the Red Bus Tours stop here for photo ops, one of the tour guides insisted we MUST have a photo of us in front of the island.  OK, here ya go!


A very popular and time honored way to travel the Going to the Sun Road is via a Red Bus tour, here is one.  It's a great way for the driver to get to gawk and not drive off the road.  It's on my bucket list for any future visit to Glacier.  (Please ignore Jolly's antenna on the far far right of this photo. Ooopsie, forgot to crop it out.  LOL)


More construction:


Of course, Man was quite interested in the machinery and such:


One last photo of the always gorgeous mountains.


We will stop soon for a visit to Sunrift Gorge where we would hike down and then back out.  It was so beautiful.  hat's our next post.




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Tuesday, June 6, 2017

Logan's Pass Back to Avalanche Creek

Copyright 2017, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

July     3013

Well, we drove Jolly UP to Logan's Pass from the west side of Glacier, and now, it is time to wander back down as our late afternoon/early evening hike possibility still awaits.

We spent a few minutes at Logan's Pass, taking in the splendor.


You can see the golden light hitting the sides of the mountains, the heavy clouds.


I shot off quite a few more shots of the Big Horn Sheep.  It was so far for Sony and I to see to get good photos, this one, not too bad:


Can't get enough of this view - -


But, alas, we finally must start back off the mountain:


MMM, shhhh, yes, we were driving in the midst of that yellow line.  No one coming at us, taking our half down the middle.  Shhhhh.  Don't tell on us.  And, yes, there are rain drops on the windshield (lower edge of photo) of Jolly.


Weeping wall.


The last three shots were trying to capture the sunshine streaming from the sky.  Our Maker was "spotlighting" the valleys.






I so enjoyed my "extra" drive up to Logan's Pass.  Thank you Man.




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Monday, June 5, 2017

West Side Drive to Logan's Pass, The Second Time

Copyright 2017, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

July     2013

After what to me, was a bit of a disappointing ride to Logan's Pass via shuttle, Man cooked up a surprise for me.  Go to the park in the late after noon and drive up there in Jolly. Jolly's size was right at the max.  He is 8 foot wide, not an inch more, not an inch less, the max vehicle allowed width, is, you got it, 8 foot.  Jolly is about 20 to 21 foot long (I thought Jolly was 22 foot, but, Man tells me nope).  Max length allowed between Avalanche Creek and Sun Point (on the east side of Logan's Pass/Glacier/Going to the Sun Road) is, you got it, 21 feet.  After seeing the traffic on the Going to the Sun Road when we went on the shuttle, there is no way we would have considered riding up to Logan's Pass earlier than, ohhhh, 3 or 4 in the afternoon.  But, it was later than that, and the folks/visitors were, for the most part, off the mountain and back in town having a drink and dinner, or naps, or all three.  So, we were off, and I was having a grand time.  I'll tell you that the light was a bit of a challenge, as you will see.  We had some rain, we had clouds, then, sun, then rain, back and forth.  I did get some different photos, that's for sure.

Road surface look a bit shiny??  It was wet.  And, it was dirt, this section of the highway was under construction while we were there.  Wet and dirt = mud, as you will see later.


Blue skies and a peak of the mountain.  Pretty.


Another peak, with more valley below.  That is the Going to the Sun Road at the very bottom center of this photo.  See the cars coming down the mountain?


You can see from the inside corner, there are places Jolly's 8 foot are not going to "stay within the lines".  Carefully, we proceed.


We are past the dirt section of the road, but, remember, we have to come back down. Seems Jolly is going to need a bath.


No blue skies, it was overcast.


Sony and I doing a panoramic. Man taking it all in.  When you can access the pull offs, it is fabulous.  And breathtaking.


Bird Woman Waterfall, thanks to Sony zooming.  The fall is reported at 492 to 560 feet tall.  It was originally named Oberlin Falls.


There is that water fall again.  Some fun reading about the name and history can be found here.


As we drove along, the sun rays cut through the clouds, the affects were amazing, and I have to tell you, Sony and I are gonna let you down.  We could not do this beauty justice. I wish you could see the glorious sites, almost religious in nature.


Yes, the Bird Woman water fall again, nope, I could not stop clicking.


Another panoramic - -


Here I did something different, I turned Sony on end and did a panoramic from the ground up.  Why??  Why not! This is Haystack Falls.


Water falls abound.  Hay Stack falls from a different vantage point.


Yes, it was raining.


More of the sun breaking thru the clouds, streaks of sun light.










Almost to Logan's Pass now, the sun breaks out, or, we break out of the cloud cover. The light is more favorable for photos, and water falls.


Hello, Mr. Mountain Goat - -


Just about at Logan's Pass, yes, waterfalls. (Sorry, I do not know the name.)


Hello, Bighorn Sheet, I think there are 8 in this photo.  Same place as we saw them during our first visit.


And, one stray bird, a crow maybe? Or a raven?  Sony did a nice job on the capture, eh?


We would not spend a lot of time this visit at Logan's Pass, as we still wanted to attempt to squeeze in a hike down around Avalanche Creek.  This ride proved what different weather can be found on the Going to the Sun Road, even in one trip up to Logan's Pass. I would have loved to have beautiful blue skies all the way, since we were able to stop as much as we wanted, but, I'll just have to do with the memories of those rays of sun peaking through the cloud cover.  It was stunning I tell you, stunning.




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