**The slideshow has been updated with pictures from Jackson Hole, Yellowstone National Park, and various pictures of the mountains and rivers along our drive. I added the new pictures first so you won't have to wait for the old ones to be viewed. I also believe there is a thumbnail file below the viewer that you can click on to view whichever picture you want to. When you get to a picture of the jeep, followed by a KOA sign, that starts the old pictures.**
Friday morning we left about 5:30 from our KOA in Yellowstone and drove towards Montana and our next KOA in Missoula. We had about an 8 hour drive. We checked in at our cabin and then headed another 3 hours towards Glacier National Park. The drive there was breath-takingly beautiful and I decided that after Utah, Montana is my next favorite state.
A little info about the park: It contains 2 mountain ranges and 130 lakes. Glacier Park covers 1.2 million acres of mountain ranges, deep valleys, and lakes formed by sixty glaciers that remain in the area. There are very few road-miles in order to maintain the primitive/unspoiled beauty of this very special area. The only exception is a 52 mile stretch called, “Going-to-the-Sun” highway. It cuts through the very center of the park, crosses the Continental Divide at Logan Pass.
At the beginning of the park we drove near a lake, with the mountains standing tall in the background. But we slowly began going up and up. I am not too fond of heights but since Jeryl was driving, I tried not to worry about it. We were on the "Going-to-the-Sun" road and we did not realize how high it would get. There was no place to turn around and so up and up we went, towards Logan Pass, which is about 7,000 feet and at the continental divide. I got real scared because of the height and the small road that followed the edge of the mountain. I think "frozen with fear" would aptly describe me at that point.
I couldn't even look up and had to put my head down and try to think of something else. Luckily Jeryl kept me real calm and didn't make fun of me. I was close to panicking and began to cry. We were right along the edge of the mtn and the road was not even a good one. They were doing construction in many places and the road was just gravel. In alot of places, the wall/barrier was missing or broken. And because of the height, the frozen snow left the road wet and slippery. Of course all those thoughts kept running through my head and I pictured us going over the edge. Jeryl later said she wouldn't ever drive it again. But she did stay calm and kept the jeep on the narrow road and I was thankful for that. We finally made it to the top and Jeryl got out to take pictures but I stayed in the jeep, head down. It wasn't too bad going back down since we were near the inside wall of the mountain but I still did not look.
Anyway, I was so glad when we got back down off that road. Jeryl did get some good pictures while I had my head hid, of the mountains and surrounding area.
I will be adding those on Sunday, along with a video I made of the river in the area.
This morning we again left bright and early and headed for Washington. We passed through Idaho for about 30 minutes and then into Washington to our ultimate destination of Port Angeles. We are real close to Seattle and went through a little section of it. Port Angeles was featured in the Twilight book, if you are a fan, and we took some pictures this evening of some places shown in the film. Tomorrow we are going through Forks and I will get some more pictures.
OK, well it's been a long day and we got to see Mt. Rainier National Park on our way here. Tomorrow we head to Oregon, with a stop in Portland to see an old friend of ours, Nat. Until then, happy trails.......R & J
No comments:
Post a Comment