Day 14-15: Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park, located in northern Montana was definitely one of the most beautiful national parks I've seen, quite possibly the most beautiful.  Unfortunately we only had 1 day to spend there so we did a hike to Avalanche Lake and then drove up Going-to-the-sun Road to Logan Pass.  Fortunately we were there the day before they close the Going-to-the-sun Road and shut up park services.  A day later and we would not have been able to go up the mountain.  Anyway not much to say except everyone must go there at least once in their life.  Must!

On the way we stopped for some jerky.  We walked in and they were literally cutting up the cow in the store (it was less like a store and more like a butcher shop).  There were 2 large carcasses hanging from hooks and when we asked if we could buy jerky there, they pointed to their one retail rack on which were hanging maybe 15 bags of jerky.  They didn't even have a cash register.  Outside was a trash can of meat scraps and bones.  I wanted to take some for Hachi but didn't.  Though it was a semi-traumatic experience, the jerky was pretty good. 

The cutest little pottery yurt.

The RV park we stayed at was gorgeous!  It's called North American RV park and I highly recommend it.  It didn't hurt that we pretty much had the park to ourselves.

Fall in Montana is amazing.

Next are pictures from our hike to Avalanche lake.  It was my most favorite hike of the whole trip.  Not a lot of effort, but a lot of great pictures.  Easy and scenic, just the way I like it.  

The clearest lake I've ever seen.  

After our hike, we drove up Going-to-the-sun road.

By the time we came back down the sun was starting to set.  So we stopped by the side of the road waiting for it to go down.

A beautiful end to a beautiful day.

Day 11: Yellowstone

Yep, I'm still going on about this trip.  Sorry for dragging it out but since I'm over halfway done and some of the best pictures come from Montana, I'm going to keep slogging on.  After Jackson and the Grand Tetons, we headed north to Yellowstone.  We only spent one full day here so we definitely want to go back and explore the rest of the park.

As you drive into the park, you start seeing clouds of steam on the horizon.  And as you get closer you start seeing how massive these steam clouds really are.

Because some of the hot water from the hot springs empty into the stream, the stream starts to give off a little steam as well in the early morning (looked super eerie).  This particular morning was COLD!  But since the streams were relatively warm, we saw some fly fishermen in the water without a lot of extra jackets.  If you ever want to go fly fishing in the water during the fall, do it at Yellowstone.

Looks like an alien planet.

Also during one of our hikes we had a close encounter with a bison.  I took this picture peering over a rock.  I admit I was a bit scared, this guy was massive!  (Though looking at the pictures now, he looks a little gaunt).

Here's a picture of all the people waiting for Old Faithful.  I've seen it before and wasn't that excited the first time, so this time I just people watched.  I couldn't actually find any photos of old faithful even though I thought I took a picture of it.  

Guess you'll just have to be satisfied with this (tried googling old faithful gifs and couldn't find any):

Day 7: Bryce Canyon

After we spent all day on our feet hiking through the Narrows, it was a nice change of pace to have someone hike for us.  And by someone, I mean some horse.  If you ever go to Bryce Canyon, riding down to the canyon floor via horse is the way to go.  It's the best way to get up close and personal with the formations that Bryce Canyon's famous for (called hoodoos).

The best part of Bryce Canyon are those colors!

hello hoodoo

And these were our horses!  My horse is on the left and his name was Vodka (of course I'd get the only horse in the yard named after alcohol!).  The cowboy tour guide who assigned us our horses took one look at me and gave me Vodka.  I'd like to think it's because Vodka was the prettiest horse in the yard and not because I look like an alcoholic.  And that's Vodka's BFF named Dollar on the right, and he was Brian's horse.  During the whole ride Brian and I kept yelling "Dollar Vodka" just because it was so fun to say.

Ah, that day was so much fun.  I miss you Vodka! (the best horse ever!)

Day 6: The Narrows

My only decent picture from the Narrows.

The Narrows, aka one of the toughest hikes of my life, started bright and early (got there at 8am) so that we could avoid the crowds.  It started with a close encounter with a couple of deer, less than 4 feet away, and beautiful if not cold day.  We rented hiking gear from a shop in the town right outside of Zion National Park after doing some research.  We rented neoprene socks, water sneakers, and some waterproof pants. I know we took a picture of it but I can't seem to find them now so here are other people's pictures:

And I'm glad we did since it kept us dry and warm for most of the hike.  It only failed us when we got to a point where the water was higher than the waistline and then the water leaked in (and that's the point we pretty much turned around to go back).  It also included the wood walking stick which looked goofy but was quite a life saver, especially when walking through places with rough currents.

But I'm getting ahead of myself here.  First off, what is the The Narrows?  It's one of the more popular hikes in Zion where you are walking through the Virgin River between large canyons.  Again here are other people's pictures:

On a busy day it can look like this since there are certain "optimal" spots in the river where you can cross from bank to bank, so those places become spots for traffic jams.  Don't they look like ants?

This is how it was like when we went.  Not too bad but pretty deep water, and we encountered places where the water was deeper than this.

You're basically walking in the river for a large part of the hike, especially the further you go (in the beginning you can cross the river and go from bank to bank).  And it's not easy.  First walking through water for hours is a good calorie burner but super exhausting.  Add to that slippery round river stones, freezing water, and mini white water rapids where the current is really strong and it makes me wonder why it's so popular.  Maybe tourists tell other tourists how it's a "must see" and dupe them into perpetuating the popularity of the hike.  Well to be fair it is gorgeous, but I think you get more canyon beauty per unit of energy expenditure with Antelope Canyon (see Day 5).  We went about 4 hours in and another 4 hours back, so about 8 hours of walking through water with a couple breaks in between.  We just turned around when we felt like it since the Narrows pretty much stays the same (same beauty) even if you go a short distance or a long distance.  But the Narrows hike can go for even longer than that!  Some people hike from the other entrance to the river with camping gear, camp overnight, and then get out via the main entrance to the hike (basically hike it in reverse).  2 full days of walking through water!  Eeesh

I only have that one picture up top since I kept most of my gear wrapped up in waterproof bags to keep it safe.  But that meant taking a picture was a 15 minute event of unwrapping everything and then wrapping it back up.  But despite the ordeal, that's pretty much my most favorite picture from the whole trip, or maybe it's because of the ordeal that I love that picture the best.  I had to earn that one.  But yea, if you're ever at Zion National Park you should hike The Narrows.  I promise you won't forget it ;)