Road trip, day six: tourist day!

What would be a better start than breakfast at Luna's (featuring eggs, bacon, toast and coffee - although I suppose a true American breakfast would have been supersized). My server, Ben, tipped me to Lunch Creek and invited me on a day hike Thursday with him and his girlfriend if I ended up staying around a bit longer than anticipated. Very nice guy.

Her Maj's namesake FTW

I headed to Going to the Sun Road mentally prepared for lots of tourists and that's what I got. First stop was at Wild Goose Island for some photo ops...

but first, a family photo

duck, duck...

... then I went up to Logan Pass.

the obligatory shot

Instead of just admiring Hidden Lake from the top like most folks were doing, I decided to hike down to the bottom at the recommendation of some ladies (who thankfully - and quietly - replaced the honeymooning couple) at the hostel. Great views...

... tons of wildlife.

hi! I'm not a bear

we're not bears fighting

I'm not a baby bear

also not bears

definitely not a bear (but my favorite wildlife shot of the trip)

It was spoiled a little on the way back thanks to a crazy German lady (I can say that - I'm German) and a guy with a very expensive video camera and improper shoes (hello, did you not SEE the warnings about the snow and slush?!) and spoiled even further with lots of traffic traffic traffic and construction...

But the views from the road were lovely, even on such an overcast day.

The sun finally came out and while I hadn't planned on stopping because of all the people, I found The Best Parking Space at Avalanche Lake so I decided to hike up to see what all the fuss was about...

okay, I get the fuss

... and then I meandered back to the car via the cedar walk along the river.

not seeing the forest

After a brief stop at the general store at Lake McDonald, I headed back to the hostel. Two short hikes and lots of driving meant almost 12 hours on this one road. It was pretty...

between Hidden Lake viewpoint and Logan Pass

... but worth a whole day? Not sure.

But hey, I was in Glacier National Park, so whatevs. Beats cubeland any day of the week.