SUMMIT SOLSTICE TRIATHLON

Here we are at Foy's Lake, just west of Kalispell.
Amber and 2 of her friends have entered as a team.
Shannon will swim, Amber will bike, and Danni
will run.
We've never been to an event like this, and we really enjoyed it. Everyone has an air of determination, energy, and fun!
Amber's team is called Foy Femmes. Go team!

The first leg is a 1/2 mile swim....in 58 degree water! Wetsuits were definitely involved.

Amber takes off and returns from a 12 mile bike ride in 37 minutes...we figured she averaged about 21 mph

Amber and Shannon discuss their events.

Danni finishes her run.

The girls come back from checking their time...They made first in their category, and 2nd overall! Woo hoo!!!

Time to head home!

CHECKING OUT EAST GLACIER

It was another rainy day, so we decided to check out the east side of the park. This waterfall was a bonus, right along Hwy 2.

East Glacier Lodge from across the golf course. The flowers in front aren't quite in their prime yet.

An outlet lets the overflow leave Lower Two Medicine Lake. They had record snowfall here, more than the west side.

Tour boat crosses Two Medicine Lake, on its way to Upper Two Medicine Lake with a very small load of hikers. It was a little on the cold side.

The general store at Two Medicine Lake

On our return from East Glacier, we spied a family of bears on the side of the road...a mom and 3 cubs; one of them a cinnamon color.

This is a goat lick, one of the areas where minerals have deposited attracts mountain goats. We only saw one down by a tree....

Avalanche to Logan Creek on GTSR

Going to the sun road is not open beyond the Loop yet, they are still plowing and repairing. But there is a short stretch where no cars are allowed yet, and you can hike or ride your bike. This time we took our bikes, and it was so nice. We stopped several times to take pictures and enjoy the scenery, and have lunch by the creek. No worries about avoiding cars. The sun was out (most of the time), and we really did enjoy our day.

McDonald Creek in the foreground, growing
every day due to the snow up on the mountains.

As we rode along the creek, we spotted a pair of Harlequin ducks. We ran into a park biologist who was tracking something with his antenna...it happened to be these ducks! We showed him our pictures, and he said the female was one he was tracking, and showed us her anttenna. If you look carefully, you can see quite a long wire coming from her neck.

Melinda takes a break to watch McDonald Creek.

These are early spring flowers...in June!

Avalanche Gorge

After our bike ride, we decided to see
how the trail looked, and ended up going all the way to
the lake.

After all this time, we finally figured out why
they call this avalanche trail....

Our destination-Avalanche Lake

As we walked into the "bowl" the mountains
formed, we were hit with an icy wind coming
off the snow covered slopes and lake. I almost expected to see icebergs in it.

RAILS TO TRAILS

Montana has been converting old railways into
bike trails, and today we tried one out. The leg
we took went from Kalispell to Kila, only about 5
miles each way. But it meandered along a river, and we had lunch on a bench next to a bird
refuge. Very nice!

I'm gonna have to get a book on Montana
flowers. So many pretty ones blooming right
now!

The sun comes out as the clouds pass.

Someone has been creative down at the beach.
Not sure what they created, maybe a ceremony
was involved. I don't want to know. :)

THE WAVE

This is where we go almost every day to work out.
It has a warm pool, a lap pool, a pool for the kids
with a waterslide, and a large hot pool with jets
(for our aching bodies). It's especially dear to
us, as we can't do a lot of hiking yet. So, until
we can climb some trails, this is where we
climb the stairmaster!

RIGHT IN OUR FRONT YARD!

We didn't have to go hunting for morels, they were growing right next to the picnic table near our trailer.....In a bunch of gravel. I sent this picture to Amber to verify that they were the real thing, and they are. She said I should pick and eat them. I just can't. I checked in the woods here, but there weren't anymore. No wonder they're a rare delicacy!