Glacier is beautiful.  We're having a great time.

A very unique feature at Glacier is actually man-made.  The Going to the Sun Road is an

amazing narrow road that hangs to the side of the mountains.  Typically the road does not open

until June after the road crew has spent three months plowing, cleaning debris, and repairing.  I was

lucky to be able to join the crew.  The work they do is amazing.  Pioneering cuts in snow 50 feet thick.

There should really be some sort of Discovery channel-type documentary of the work they do. 

This shot shows the road going up the west side of the park towards Logan Pass.  The red box shows

the general area of the following shot where the west side crew is working.  The east side crew is working on the other side.

They meet in an area near the pass called The Big Drift.  In this area, the snow is currently about 50 feet think.

They send a survey team up to survey where the road is and then start attacking it from both sides.  Seems like

very dangerous work since they are working on steep slopes, avalanches can occur and rock slide also occur.

(05/26/06)

I had lunch with the crew at their worksite.  We grilled out burgers on the tailgate of one of their trucks.

After lunch we headed back down only to be stopped by a small avalanche.

We called the front end loader and they came down and got us out.

For Memorial Day weekend we headed up to Banff.  The weather was overcast and cool so the hot springs felt great.

(05/27/06)

Snow on Mount Rundle in the background.

We hiked up a small rock pile at the end of Lake Moraine in Banff National Park.  The lake was melting.  

Michelle also noticed little avalanches in the peaks.  After climbing down the rock pile (which was maybe 50-60 feet high)

Cooper looked at it and said "I climbed that!....I'm a climbing genius!"

(05/28/06)

Boathouse at Lake Louise

Mountain Goats in the Goat Lick area of Glacier National Park

(05/29/06)

Hiking the Snyder Creek trail near Lake McDonald.  The lake is in the background.

Cooper and Michelle tool a break here and Michelle heard a grunt near them and got out of there.

We think it was a moose based on feedback from other people.  

(06/01/06)

For the recent June 2-4 weekend we camped on the east side of the park in the Many Glacier Valley.

Incredible scenery.

Moose near the side of the road.

(06/03/06)

Hiking to Redrock Lake and Falls.  The peaks in the distance are the Continental Divide.

The road shots above were basically taken on the backside of those peaks.

Multiple unusual trees.  Not too sure what happened here to change the growth pattern.

Cooper took his first horse ride.  Really just a few loops around the corral.  When we were done Cooper asked if he could

come back with his cowboy outfit and hat and ride again.  This was at the horse operation behind the Many Glacier Hotel.

(06/04/06)

Wild Goose Island in Saint Mary Lake.  This was taken on the Going to the Sun Road on the east side of the park.