A Hikers' Paradise

Although its highest peak, Mount Cleveland, is less than 10,500 feet in elevation, Glacier National Park is nevertheless an alpine heaven for hikers. With over 700 miles of trails within the park to choose from, Tim and I traversed only a fraction of them. Still, the scenery we saw was beyond spectacular.

Dawn as seen from the KOA campground

We camped at the KOA campground in St. Mary, MT on the east side of the park.  That was best decision we made.  The east portion of the park is much less crowded than the western side.  Plus, we were only a quick drive to two sections of Glacier that are off the beaten path, the Many Glacier and Two Medicine areas.  

On our first day in the park, we jumped on the park's free shuttle and rode it up Going-to-the-Sun Road all the way to Logan's Peak.  That was a helpful introduction to the lay of the land.  

The early morning light at Logan's Peak

On the return trip, we bailed out at the trailhead near the St. Mary Falls shuttle stop so we could hike the Waterfalls Loop from St. Mary Falls to Virginia Falls and finally to Baring Falls.

St. Mary Falls

Virginia Falls

Baring Falls

One of the reasons I began this blog was to have a place where I could organize the photos I take on our journey by date and location and searchable labels.  With an Apple laptop, it's easy then to drag and drop the photos I need for any future projects. 

I'm afraid I got carried away with the camera on my iPhone.  There were so many incredible vistas that I kept snapping photos left and right.  I'm sad to say that behavior held true for the rest of our time in Glacier.  Too bad I don't have an editor to rein me in.