Day Twenty-Four

The woman at the motel last night said that Glacier was like four hours from the motel, so when I woke up at 8:15 this morning, I kind of panicked and wanted to get out of there as quickly as I could. I mean, I set my alarm for 8:30, but that was because it was 1:45 and i was like, "I should get some sleep." But then I woke up and thought, "I should get going."

It turns out that Glacier was only about two and a half hours from the motel, so I wound up saving a lot of time anyway. Glacier is BEAUTIFUL. Maybe my favorite above-ground park that I've been to. (I'm still partial to Carlsbad, I think.) I'm a little bummed that the pictures I took don't really show the full beauty. I mean, i think they're good, but it was incredible.

Not too many more words -- took a two mile hike out to Avalanche Lake, then took the two mile trail back. That's where most of the pictures are from. I only went to about a quarter of the park because the middle half is still closed due to snow and the other quarter is on the eastern entrance, which is two hours of driving just to get there.

There are signs and warnings all over the park about bears, so I was more than a little scared when I heard something rustling and looked up and saw an animal six feet from me. It was only a deer, but still. EEK.

View from the end of the two mile hike. Probably the best thing I've seen on this trip.

Then, on the way back to the park's exit, there were a few turnouts to take some pictures from. More cool sights.

I'm currently in Missoula, MT, where I'm spending the night with a former professor's (and good friend) mom, who's feeding me all sorts of delicious things. I may never leave!