Saturated in Beauty

I convinced Gayle (after some debate) that this was not the morning to move slow.  I wanted to be up and out of the rental by 8 a.m.  We had a reservation to drive the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park.  The road didn't open for visitors until July 13, which is later than usual.  They had quite a bit of snowfall this year.  The number of cars that can use this road is limited.  We felt very fortunate to have landed a reservation.   We planned to avail ourselves of turnouts that didn't require too much walking to safeguard Gayle's back.

We entered from the west and our first stop was Lake MacDonald -- the largest lake in Glacier.  The water is crystal clear.  We went down to the water's edge and dipped our toes in the lake.  The reflection of the sky in the lake makes it look surreal.  There was a couple there with multiple fancy and expensive cameras getting the lake from every angle imaginable.  They may still be there.

At the eastern edge of the lake is MacDonald Falls. 

I had talked to a ranger at the Visitor Center and asked about how to navigate the park with a bad back.  She suggested we try the Trail of the Cedars (0.9 miles) -- a trail that wanders through cedars and hemlock and goes by the Avalanche Gorge.  We had seen photos of Avalanche Gorge and so we decided we would try it.  Gayle made it a short ways and went back to the car.  I promised her photos.

Avalanche Gorge is so beautiful.

Back on the road we pulled over every chance we got and took another amazing photo.  We kept sighing contentedly.

We saw hanging valleys, saddle valleys, weeping walls, many, many waterfalls, snow, mountains and glacial lakes with crystal clear water.

We both got teary at different times just being overwhelmed by the beauty.

It took us hours (because we stopped so often) to reach Logan's Pass, which is at the Continental Divide and around 6600 ft.  We got there right around noon.  There was no ability to park at Logan's Pass because the crowds were so dense. 

We started down the other side, looking for a place to eat our lunch.  We finally found an empty picnic table that had some shade and devoured the sandwiches we had brought with us. Back on the road we stopped at St. Mary Lake to take a boat ride.  As they were loading us on the boat an adolescent grizzly bear ran past the end of the dock.  I decided I need to be even more bear aware.  The lake was beautiful.

We passed Wild Goose Island.

We made one stop to walk to Baring Falls.  Gayle stayed at the water's edge and I promised photos.  

On the return trip a bear was swimming about 50 yards from the shore.  It turns out they are great swimmers.  The trip back to the dock was just as beautiful.

Back in our car we set off for the Canadian border.  We entered at Carway.  We had to use an app called ArriveCan to enter our vaccination status, passport numbers and then agree to follow customs rules.  When we made it to the front of the line we handed the customs agent our passports and promised that we weren't bringing any weapons with us.  She nodded us through.  

We arrived at Waterton Lakes National Park by 6 p.m.  We are staying in this beautiful, old hotel called the Prince Wales.  We were greeted by men in kilts.  That is when I knew I would love this place.  Our room is very small, with the sink at the end of the bed.  There is no air conditioning but I seriously doubt it will be a problem.  The high here today was 65 and the low tonight is 39.  

We have a balcony that overlooks Upper Waterton Lake.  This is the view from our room.

We headed downstairs to find food.  We were both famished.  You have to buzz the front desk to have a bell hop (in a kilt) come get you in the elevator.  We had a great dinner looking out over the lake.  There is one gorgeous view here after another.

I wanted to see the Waterton Glacier International Peace Park -- an UNESCO World Heritage Site.  These two National Parks (Glacier and Waterton Lakes) while located in different countries are connected.  They work together, under some guiding principles, to maintain the ecosystems of each.  We discovered that the Peace Park is very close so we hopped in the car and went to see it for ourselves.  It is a lovely little peninsula that honors peacemakers and cooperation between countries.  

At the end of the park are two red chairs.  Parks Canada puts two red chairs in many locations throughout Canada.  The message is rest, relax and discover the beauty Canada has to offer.  Maybe we need to work a little harder on the rest part!