Going to Glacier!

We decided on Saturday to get a taste of Glacier National Park and came to the conclusion that the best way to do that was to take the shuttle bus to Logan Pass. Logan Pass is the halfway point between Apgar Village and St. Mary Visitor Center on the east side of the park. Actually, we had to take 2 shuttles. The large one took us to Avalanche Creek where everyone must get off and transfer over to a slimmer and shorter shuttle. Why you ask?! Even though we traveled on the same road (Going to the Sun), the second portion is much narrower and down to one lane each way. This is definitely not a road that I would want to drive on!

Don and Sandy check out the schedule while Jerry just stands nearby. I guess he knows sooner or later the bus will stop there! He was right!

This is a view of the mountain directly behind Logan Pass Visitor Center. I was grateful for the warm weather that day.
Jerry and Sandy took a moment to pose in front of a large field of various wildflowers.
If this picture was larger, you could tell Sandy is holding a map and Don is pointing out something on it. I wasn't close enough to hear what they were talking about. As usual, I was behind, taking various pictures before catching up to them.
Besides the flowers in the field, there were also lots of Yellow Bellied Marmots. These were fat little critters and were sharing a rock with some people who were eating their lunch. Cute as they may seem, I'm not about to have one of those things on my lap, begging for food!
This is a view out the shuttle bus window, going back down to the Avalanche transfer point. See the little ledge that runs across the mountainside? That is the road! Not only was it dirt and one way at points, there was road construction! To top it off, you add people who stop their cars to take pictures and cause a long backup behind them. It makes for an interesting ride!
We passed Haystack Falls and I got a pretty good shot of it, even though the bus window was up and we were bumping along at about 10 miles an hour.
Here is the beautiful Lake McDonald, which is near Apgar Village, and our starting point. We got back here and ate our lunch before walking down to the small boat dock.
Last year, while we were traveling on the eastern coast, we stopped several times and put our feet into the water. That way, we could say we were in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean without telling a lie. So, I cajoled Sandy into getting our tootsies wet in Lake McDonald, and NO, we weren't doing some kind of limbo dance!
The water wasn't too cold, but the rocks were sure slippery. Don and Jerry had the cameras ready, hoping one of us would take an unexpected dunk! Sorry guys! No wet bottoms today!