Happy Place Part 6

Alright, it is time to delve back into some Glacier National Park just before the weekend kicks off. This will likely be the last Glacier post until next week. Over the weekend I'll take a break from Glacier and add a new mystery element to this blog taking it in yet a new direction.

 

Mountain goats and waterfalls! It can only mean one thing this time as I promised you guys in the last post that I'd deliver these things. Here they are for your viewing pleasure.



Looking north now as I make the curve. The mountains in the far back are part of Canada I believe. Heaven's Peak is at the left side of the frame.

The bend coming up and Logan's Pass in the distance.

Incredible layers of terrain. Someday I need to make it back and hike to the top of these mountains.

On the approach through Logan's Pass.

This was very cool. I found traffic stopping on the side of the road, a bottle neck began. This is what one could coin a "Goat Jam" - just as they have "Bear Jams" in Yellowstone National Park. I pulled over into a great open spot on the roadside to observe these goats.

Mountain goats doing whatever goat things they do best.

The visitor center at Logan's Pass. This place was packed with people the day I was here. About half the license plates here in the parking lot are United States and the other half are Canadian. It's a busy place.

The south arm of Pollock Mountain reaching out forming this big spectacular rock overlooking the visitor center.

Scenic backdrop on east side of Logan's Pass

Seeing the road on the other side of Logan's Pass, here I doubled back around just a little to go back and find the right spot to stop, get out to absorb the scenery and shoot some photos.



These are the mountains on the other side of Logan's Pass. It sort of reminds me of the mountain passes I've been on between Utah & Colorado. This is entering the east side of Glacier National Park from the west.

Here were go. One of the best small waterfalls I've encountered thus far in my life. The was just off to the north side of the road. I stopped at a pull off and hiked about 1000 feet to it. It was something just to stand right there watching it, feeling the mist from it, smelling the forest and basking in the mid afternoon sun.

 

This whole drive is quite the experience. Coming up in my next segment on Glacier, there will be another waterfall, some more amazing views above looking down at mountain valleys and St. Mary's Lake. On that note, have a spectacular weekend everybody.

Happy Place Part 5

 

Today has been a great day and thus it feels like another lucky day to reflect on some more Glacier National Park, I dunno November 28th is just a good lucky day to share more awesome scenery. It seems like it would take an eternity for me to get through what I've seen in that amazing park. This was just the drive through. I can't wait until I get the chance to go back someday and camp there for the better part of the week hiking through it's many trails.

 

To be frank about it. Glacier is one of the better places on this planet that I've seen that would be fit for wedding ceremonies, possible honey moons and even a place to scatter one's ashes (for those that choose that option) who would not want to be amongst one of the world's most pretty places? I suppose I'm reflecting very deeply on it and still overwhelmed by it's grandeur a whole three months after the fact. I totally understand the lure of tropical southern climates that people choose for important trips such as the first two reasons I listed above, but for those that yearn for something more out of the box different, maybe a northern climate woodland alternative, this has great, or better yet, EPIC potential. It's majestic beauty fits those occasions well. You don't need to take my advice, see for yourself.

 

 

 



One of the best drives in the world.

Mt. Oberlin, an outstanding landmark on the "Going To The Sun" road.

It's cloaked by the flowers but this area is ripe with plant life from stream running past the rocks at the upper left part of the frame. The fresh scent this place produces in August is as good as an outdoor flower shop. I'd stand here all day huffing on the Glacier mountain clovers and flowers if I could.

Perfection.

The grade of the road combined with the slope of the windshield produces a nearly perfect perpendicular alignment with the background mountain top.

I must say before I leave you here at this. The very next installment of Glacier photos will be mountains goats and waterfalls. I know it's a spoiler alert but it's the cherry on the mountain top so to speak of with Glacier. After that however, there will be a couple of segments dedicated to the east side of the park and the way out. What's coming up down the road, literally after the summit is the descent to the intensely pristine, surreal and gorgeous St. Mary's Lake and you don't want to miss it.

Happy Place Part 4

It's time to jump back into another awesome photo installment of Glacier National Park. Words don't adequately describe this place. If Glacier National Park were like a song it would be among the all time top ten along with Yellowstone in Wyoming. It would be really hard for anybody to cover it and fully do it justice at the same time. I suppose if there were a song that Glacier would be, it'd would be Stairway To Heaven. This is the place and song analogy I make because of the whole setting. I don't know about other times of the year but I know being there in August it felt like the Battle of Evermore playing in my head followed by Misty Mountain Hop. It's all very spot on as your jumping from mountain top to mountain top on the scenic "Going To The Sun" road. In fact I don't play Led Zeppelin everyday but if I have to open up the Led folder on my MP3 player you know something pretty epic is going down.. placing this on the play list is a requirement before entering Glacier- the rangers check you at the gates and say "Sir, are you carrying some really damn good tunes with you for this journey through the park? You better have an excellent play list, otherwise I'll have to deny you access until you come back with some suitable ear candy for the passage through the park."

Ok they don't really say that but they ought to. I'm gonna say that whatever music your into, whatever puts you at your spiritual high, your pinnacle favorite music, bring it. I love my Led yet there's other favorites I have, it's just that for whatever reason anything that's influenced by JRR Tolken and Hobbits fits this place. As I was cruising along I'd have expected small Lord of The Rings creatures to come running out of the woods. They don't have "Hobbit Xing" signs there and not like those things are real but a place like this seriously makes your mind run wild and imagine. I've been around many forests in my life, I've grown up near a forest and live near one currently but these woods are unlike (to me) any other North American forest I've seen. Something about it, almost has an old world forest vibe. It has a magical feeling, even if your not a Hobbit person which I'm not much you could still envision gnomes chillin' back there in the woods, maybe dragons or forest nymphs too. I guess gnomes are a European thing, I'd love to see European forests in my lifetime but in North America this is a very mystic place and will do nicely. Ok 'nuff of my yammering as I could talk all day about this place. Here's some more scenic eye candy.

 

From peak to soaring peak.

The river below forms below snow pack where McDonald & Mineral Creek meet. The water flows back to McDonald Lake.



Another view of Heaven's Peak.

The ridge above "Going To The Sun" road.

Looking north on "Going To The Sun" road.

Looking south on "Going To The Sun" road.

Lots of scenery ahead. The road is wrapping around Haystack Butte, Bishops Cap ahead on the left and in the distance on the left is part of Pollock Mountain and Piegan Mountain's reach. The road will move around that bend.

A good reason why this is the "Going To The Sun" road. You go way high up and you can really feel the sun's rays.



True majestic scenery at it's finest.

I'll leave y'all with this. As there's plenty more scenery to come. We will soon be getting into some Glacier waterfalls. It's one of the most incredible processes to witness. At this level you can see the snow melt and flow down forming streams that sweep past the road. Descending water feeding creeks, adding to the rich ecosystem and lush greenery found here. Amazing stuff, this all is.

Engine Cooking

 

 

Today I'm going to discuss a little about cooking food on an automobile engine. This is something I've been practicing more recently as I found on my last road trip just how effective meals on wheels are. I was in a precarious situation where towns were few and far between while roaming through hills and over large open stretches of prairie. I had a schedule to keep covering hundreds of miles and still reaching my destination. I resorted to old fashioned methods employed by people eons ago who lived in a by gone era. Picture the old days, folks out slapping an omelet wrapped in foil on small dish on the engine block of a 1955 Chevrolet pickup. Then they drive for about half an hour and then pull over to check and see if the food is done. Seems perfect, why not? The engine produces plenty of heat to act like an oven. When you pack your vittles for the expedition you are not just limited to snack food but you can even choose cooked meals, brilliant! To me this is efficiency at it's finest, especially if your already getting great MPGs from your engine. Now I know this ancient culinary technique will not always work with modern automobiles. So many have engine covers, there's ways around that though I should probably not recommend. I used to work in an auto garage and depending on what model it is there are ways to remove the engine cover but instead of doing that; which might upset your dealer, I recommend alternative heating positions without prying the cover off. I've begun experimenting on newer vehicles. The other day I found myself attempting to wrestle a burrito into a suitable position atop the engine of a Chevy Blazer near the firewall while squeezing it past all the hardware on the engine. It fit snug and cooked nicely. Engine cooking is not terribly popular in the modern but it sure is fun and rewarding. Expect segments in this blog to cater to the the culinary ventures of adventurous gear heads.

 

Chimmichanga baking in foil on Nissan 2.8 liter engine. Lightly seasoned with Wyoming road dust makes a savory delicious dish when your really hungry and on the move. It gives a whole new meaning to "fast food".

Happy Place Part 3

Okay, so lets jump back into Glacier. I'm feeling that way today as it's cold outside and some more summer road trip pics would do the trick.

Here I was ascending the mountains in Glacier National Park from the west side. I negotiated my way around many hairpin turns on narrow roads that increased with steepness and I could hear the engine in my car laboring to keep up. I dropped into lower gears on the steep climbs and enjoyed the scenery at a slower pace with nobody behind me riding my back bumper as I realize even the rest of the traffic was so far back trying to keep up with the grades. Then the road leveled in some areas and again went back to grades somewhat like a roller coaster but it was well worth it for the scenery.




Still in the low areas on the west part of the "Going to the Sun Road" - however I'll soon be climbing in elevation shortly after the road curves off to the left behind those trees in the background.



This is still very green and lush in late August with no hints of draught to be found here. 

Moving through a tunnel and ascending. This is the road beginning to narrow, take on the turns and grades, it makes for a fun and challenging driving experience.

My first glimpse of Heaven's Peak from up at a higher elevation.

Still some snow pack in late August.

Panning the camera to the left of the previous frame looking west from where I just came, the road snakes around below paralleling the river. The mountains in the background consist of Mt. Oberlin, that prominent one near the center/left side of the frame. Clements Mountain, just behind Oberlin at the center of the frame and Mt. Cannon to the right/center side of the frame in the back ground.

Camera panning back to the right, Heaven's Peak on the right side of frame and Mt. Cannon on the left in the far background.

There's more to come of the Glacier National Park adventure but like all good things I'm not going to spoil it for you. It would be like eating the whole box of chocolates at once, too much sensory overload. Glacier National Park must be enjoyed in moderation piece by piece to truly savor it's awesomeness.