Our day began early, as we wanted to be able to see everything before the park got too crowded. As we are staying just a short drive from the entrance to the park on the east side, we were on the Going...road by 8:15 am. It didn't take long to begin to see the beauty of the park. By the time we got to Logan's Pass at about 9 am, we realized many others had the same idea as the parking lot there was already pretty full. At Logan's Pass we enjoyed incredible views of the mountains around us and one of the largest glaciers in the park. The latest predictions say that those glaciers will all be gone in about 20 years. While that is sad, it is also part of evolution. These mountains will still be magnificent to see even without glaciers.
From Logan's Pass we decided to continue our drive down the west side of the park to Lake McDonald. The lodge there closed this week because of the smoke from the fires, but for now at least the lodge and surrounding area are safe from the fires. Our next stop was the lodge at Apgar Station where we enjoyed lunch and beautiful views of the mountains. Then, instead of driving back the way we came, we took Rt 2 which loops around the park from west to east along the bottom edge. As we got closer to St Mary, the smoke increased as the winds were carrying the smoke in that direction. We were thankful for that early start so we could enjoy the sights before the smoke took over more.
We have one more day here, but may use it to just relax as we have been going nonstop since leaving home August 10. Tomorrow we head south to Butte, Montana for a few days.
