West Glacier KOA - Glacier National Park

We broke camp in Lolo, MT this morning with on and off rain.  What was supposed to be a 3 1/2 hour drive to Glacier National Park took us about 5 hours because we had heavy rain most of the way.  Not a problem; however, because the scenery on the drive up was beautiful.  We have a great camping spot at the campground in the back of the park with mountains and trees all around us.  I'll be keeping a sharp lookout with binoculars for "critters."  We loaded back into the truck and went to the national park which is just a short distance away.  The glaciers in the park were awesome but I wasn't able to get photos of them because of low hanging clouds.  Naturally, we found our lonely one lane dirt road and started our steep climb up.  It was a beautiful drive; however, the forest had been burned here which distracted from much of the beauty.  We drove up 25 miles short of the summit and had to turn around because of impending darkness.  Stopped off at Glacier Rawhide, Inc and had a quick dinner.  Billy had rainbow trout with huckleberry pie for dessert.  I enjoyed a hamburger and fries and gave Maggie May the left overs.  She was a happy puppy. 

The gold to be found in these hills lies in the diversity in the plants and wildflowers.  I am itching to find a book to identify the varieties that I don't recognize.  My friend, Fran V. would be in awe.  Floods, fires, and storms shape the land today just like they have done over many years.  Recent fires continue the long history of the forest's dependency on fire.  One reason for the diversity of species in the parks is the differing ages of forests throughout the region.  I observed that the wild flowers were more abundant where there had been a recent forest fire.  Ice still carves the mountains, although the glaciers are fewer today than when the first explorers started to publicize this land. 

Billy is frantically trying to set up the satellite dish so he can have TV.  Think I will take Maggie for a walk to meet her new friends and then I'll call it a night.  Wearing shoes, socks, and coats all the time now.  It IS cold up here.   "Life Is Good Today!"

 (I got the satellite dish working by putting it in the bed of the truck.) - Billy
Note the last photo added.  It appears that Cousin Eddie has arrived.  Jane