FLOWERS ARE BIG IN WHITEFISH

We stopped at the Third Street Market, a local health
food store, and I couldn't resist capturing the
colorful flower baskets here. They are enormous.
With summers being so brief and cherished
here, people really enjoy their flowers.

MORE PROJECTS

Amber's fence progresses, as Kent works here. He really has put in a lot of time and skilled effort, as has Amber. Darrell and I will stain boards and screw them in. Our picnic table needed a coat of paint, so sanding, priming and painting was done while on duty at the park.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, AND PUT ON YOUR HELMET!

Every spring before Going to the Sun Road opens for the season, the park lets hikers and bikers have access from Avalanche to the Loop. Every time we went to make the ride, the road was closed only 3 miles up, due to construction. The day before the road officially opened, it was open clear to the Loop, so we spent our anniversary cycling.
It was a nice day, and after several trips through the parking lot, we found a parking place at the start point.

Not sure if this tunnel has a name....my name for it was thank God, we made it! The waterfall cooled us off after our trek.

Heaven's Peak is a notable landmark in the park.

Our trek took us 17 miles, with an elevation gain of 901 feet. My thighs felt every foot of that gain. We came upon a nice guy from Colorado who gave us energy to keep going.....told us about the tunnel just ahead, and the beautiful valley view from its portals.
My favorite part of the trip was going back....all downhill, and much quicker. The highlight was, as we coasted downhill, Darrell ahead of me looking up at a waterfall, I saw a grizzly standing in the middle of the road. My mouth wouldn't work for a minute, as he continued to coast toward the bear, not seeing it. Finally, I yelled bear, and we both stopped. I found new energy to fly back up the road to a safe point (I was told later, that's the wrong thing to do...). Did not get a picture of the creature, but it looked like a sub-adult (biology term for youngish teenage bear).

We celebrated our 42nd anniversary with dinner at a restaurant here in Whitefish, called Wasabi. I had never been a sushi fan, but this restaurant serves the most delicious food, I have converted. The photo is a little blurry, maybe it was the Sacred Power sake that Darrell had!

BROKEN SWIM PLATFORM AT THE PARK :(

We're not sure how old this platform is, perhaps it's been here as long as the park, about 30 yrs. Anyway, after the aluminum ladder broke, went to the shop, was re-welded, Darrell had to tie a rope to it, swim out to the platform, pull the ladder up, and re-attach it. He says the water was "fresh". Meaning cooooold.

HAVING TROUBLE WITH OUR COMPUTER CONNECTIVITY, HOPEFULLY WILL GET THINGS SOLVED AND BE BACK WITH MORE PICTURES!

AMBER'S FENCE

When we got there, we saw 3 people really hanging onto a single gas powered posthole digger. It was quickly decided to return that and get a hydraulic assisted, beefier posthole digger....even so, that darn Montana clay made it pretty difficult to dig 20 postholes, each 2-1/2 feet deep. Can you tell from the pictures which one of us is working harder?....me or Amber?

INSIDE GLACIER AGAIN

Our neighbors from Marana, Bonnie and Anson, have come up to Whitefish for a week. We're going to try and show them as much of the local beauty as we can.

A female Harlequin duck weighs her options. She has an antenna attached with what looks like kind of a harness. It doesn't seem to bother her movement at all.

The four amigos

Avalanche Gorge

McDonald Creek is totally full!

Bonnie and Anson pose at the edge of Lake McDonald.

Beautiful scenery on the east side of Glacier, en route to Waterton.

PRINCE OF WALES HOTEL ON WATERTON LAKE, CANADA

GOING TO THE SUN ROAD, EAST APPROACH

Due to all the snow, the road is not yet open from the east side either.

On our way back from Waterton, we came upon a "bear jam" .....cars galore pulled over, taking pictures of this oblivious guy.

GOATS!

Along Hwy 2, there is a turnout where you can look for mountain goats....they come down here to enjoy the goat lick that occurs naturally on the canyon walls. Lots of minerals and good stuff that they like.

DAY TRIP TO BOWMAN LAKE

We drove up the North Fork road that parallels the park along the Flathead River. First stop was Polebridge, kind of a little settlement that has a mercantile, a "nightclub/restaurant", and kind of a hostel. The food at the merc is....TDF! Homemade breads, pocket sandwiches, and wonderful baked goods. We grabbed some lunch and took it up to Bowman Lake for a peaceful picnic with a view.

BIG FORK

This is a cute little town located on the northeast
tip of Flathead Lake. Here is the Swan River,
running really high. That's a little power
station that was built in the early 1900's.

All the shops along the main street of Big Fork have beautiful hanging pots and flowerbeds. Makes me want to get my hands dirty!

HUNTING FOR CRYSTALS

Bonnie found some good information in a gem and mineral book that led us to an outcropping of limonite with pyrite. It's a greenish rock, and has pyrite crystals embedded in it. You just have to find it! After a series of turns on a couple of numbered forest roads, we found the location and went to work with our assorted hammers, pry bars and rock picks. We came away with some nice finds. It was so much fun searching through rocks and finding a treasure. We could tell we had the right place, due to the large array of rocks scattered about. One of many hiding places, we are sure.

KOOTENAI FALLS, WEST OF LIBBY

We took a day trip to visit Libby, the dam, and the reservoir built on the Kootenai River, named Lake Koocanusa (another name combination). The falls here are wide and split.

Darrell, Bonnie, and
Melinda try out the
Kootenai swinging bridge...it did swing a little in the middle, which was really spooky.

MARTIN FALLS

This waterfall is located off a remote road, somewhere north of Whitefish. It's at a pretty high level, as all of the streams and rivers here are. We just happened to see the sign and went for a look.

A TRIP TO KINTLA

This was a field quite crowded with lupine....
couldn't resist trying out the panorama feature
on my new camera.

KINTLA LAKE

This lake is located in the northwest corner of
Glacier. It is reached by a 15 mile long, really
bumpy dirt road. But worth the ride. There is
a primitive campground there, with 13 camp-
sites. You can hike from here to Boulder and
Brown Pass, and back to Bowman Lake. We did
not, as our sleeping on the ground, hauling 40+
pound packs, swatting away mosquito days are
probably over.....but.....ya never know.

First thing we saw were these two loons. They made quite a ruckus as they flew off.