Our Trip to Glacier National Park

Jim and I decided we needed a trip out of town so we decided to go to Montana. We have been wanting to see Glacier Park for a long time, so we packed up and headed out. It was a wonderful trip full of beautiful scenery and lots of animals. Seeing bears out grazing in meadows and trees was very unusual for me and I loved it. I didn't dare go walking for a week though, as I wasn't about to meet up with a bear. While we were there two men were attacked by bears, but survived. Needless to say, I stayed by the car!















This is the condo we stayed in surrounded by wildlife.
















The first bear we saw.











This is a video of him grazing. I could have watched him all day!




The pictures I took of the mountains cannot give the true picture of how huge those mountains are. They are so massive and gorgous, and in all shapes. It really makes one feel pretty small in the scheme of things.





Buffalo in their natural habitat

You can imagine the Indians sneeking up on them!
















A Black Tail Deer- a mighty interesting creature!
















Mountain Sheep
















We saw only two actual glaciers as we didn't take any hikes to see others. The glaciers are almost gone now. It is predicted that in ten years they will be all gone. However, the deep crevices and massive holes created by large glaciers moving down the mountains, are left to enjoy. It truly was one of the most beautiful parks I have ever seen. There were water falls flowing everywhere and the mountians, grass and trees were all decked out in different shades of green.























Mountain Goats laying on their rocks

















A brown bear, who was digging a hole
















Jim next to a waterfall















Mama Grizzly

One morning we were lucky to spot a large grizzly mama bear along with her cub. They were out grazing by a lake. She played with her cub and loped along the shore with it. She would stop and play with it a minute here and there. My camera's battery decided it was time to die about that time, wouldn't you know! It is a sight that I won't forget!







Ya think???

One big black bear gave us quite a show. We watched as he stood up and looked around a couple of times.


He then took off running and ran right up a tall tree as if it was the easiest thing in the world to do.

He sat on a large limb while it continued to snow. So, if you go hiking in bear country and you are watching for bears, be sure to look "UP" too. We were lucky to see 14 bears during our stay.





Wild flowers

















See how tiny the cars (the white speck)look next to the mountains?
















We were able to go on all the roads that go into Glacier Park - which stretches into Canada and Montana. There was one road (a shortcut) that went right through the park that was still closed off because of snow. They were working on it, but it didn't open while we were there. However, we went as far as we could on both sides of the road. We did leave plenty for us to go back again...
















Running Eagle falls
















One day it was snowing and cold. We left the mountain, had lunch and got warmed up. It cleared up so we headed back up the mountain to look for more bears.
















We took a couple of days and went into Canada to the Waterton-Glacier Park. It was beautiful country and a magnificent park! The Canadians sure have beautiful, clean farms on rolling land, with lots of animals.


This is a beautiful valley in Canada.


Van was in the Calgary Mission when he served his misson and spent six months in Cardston. He really enjoyed the area and people. He said he hiked in Waterton Park many times - and with the bears!





We stayed at a little Bed and Breakfast in Cardston. We were dressed to go to the Temple and after breakfast when we went to pay, the owner gave us 10% off of our bill, for going to the Temple. Now where do you get a deal like that around here? The people we met were wonderful!













Waterton-Glacier Park




















Prince of Wales Hotel





















The Cardston Temple is small, but very unique and beautiful. It was built in 1923. We were also amazed that the small town of Cardston had four LDS Chapels, all within blocks of each other. The community is definitely LDS.

The Cardston Temple


















Calling all Cowboys....We saw many types of churches along the way, but this one really caught our eye... I got a kick out of this one and just had to get a picture. There is definitely something for everyone!