Trail to Grinnell Glacier

 Progress was kind of slow because we had to stop so often to take pictures.  It was just stunning at every step.  The light was just great at this early morning hour.

Mixed Media Daily Postcards - October 13 - 20

On the Trail to Grinnell Glacier

The glacier is right above Joe's head in this picture.  We were about 3 miles away at this point.

Lake Josephine in the Morning

The trail to Grinnell Glacier began at Swiftcurrent Lake, where we followed the shore along to Lake Josephine (above).  We paused for a photo from the dock used by the ferry boat that takes passengers to the other end of the lake (saving them a few miles of hiking to get to Grinnell Glacier).  We chose to hike instead of taking the ferry.  We had the trail to ourselves until we got to the other end of the lake, where we met up with the tour group that had just gotten off the boat.

At the Trailhead for Grinnell Glacier

 We had beautiful weather for (part of) our trip to Glacier National Park, and we'd allowed at least one day for a hike.  We chose to go to Grinnell Glacier, 5 1/2 miles each way from the Swiftcurrent trailhead.  It was described in our guidebook and map as having breathtaking views, so that sounded great.  Here is Joe at the trailhead before we set out at about 8 AM.

Breakfast at Many Glacier

 Steam was rising off Swiftcurrent Creek, too.  We had our breakfast on the banks of Swiftcurrent Lake.  Unbelievable!

Swiftcurrent Lake in the Morning

 One of the rewards of rising early was the opportunity to watch the steam rise off the surface of Swiftcurrent Lake.

Many Glacier Hotel

 We spent the night at Many Glacier and got up early to get some early morning photos of the sun on the mountains.  We were not disappointed (it was chilly, though).

Mixed Media Daily Postcards - October 7 - 12

Going to Glacier National Park

 In September, we spent a week in Northwestern Montana.  Several of those days were spent in Glacier National Park.  There were some beautiful days and some days that were very wintery.  This beautiful day, we drove from the entrance at West Glacier to Many Glacier on the opposite side of the park.  Above, is Lake Sherburne.  Below is Saint Mary Lake.  Both pictures were taken late in the day with the sun dipping low in the sky.

Hungry Horse Dam

Adapted from Wikipedia:  Hungry Horse Dam is an arch dam on the South Fork Flathead River. 

The dam is 564 feet in height and was the third largest dam, and second highest concrete dam, in the world at the time of its completion in 1953.   The dam's spillway is the highest morning glory structure in the world.

 The Hungry Horse Project was built for irrigation, flood control, navigation, stream flow regulation, hydroelectric generation, and other beneficial uses such as recreation.  However, no irrigation facilities were built and the project has no irrigation obligations. Hydroelectric power generation is the primary purpose of the dam today. Flood control is the dam's other main purpose. The dam, reservoir, and surrounding area are used for recreation.

Road Trip.....

Joe and I decided to embark on an autumn road trip.  We headed North and made it as far as St. Ignatius before we ran into a little snag.  Just 1.5 miles from town, we could not get the spare to release from under the car (we Googled this apparently common problem).  Joe had to walk into town to purchase a portable air pump so we could pump the tire up just enough to get into town, where we made it just 30 minutes before the tire shop was scheduled to close.  Whew!  We made it to Whitefish, MT in time for the delicious dinner my sister, Jackie prepared. 

Fall Colors Along Rock Creek

There is a small window of time for these vivid fall colors in the Beartooth Mountains.  Winter comes early and fall is brief.  I feel really lucky to catch the color change just right - and before the snow makes the roads impassable!

Rock Creek Fall Colors

Neutral Colored Scrap Quilt

Finished piecing - it is a twin size. Too wild to sleep under? 

Mixed Media Daily Postcards October 1 - 4

Another Scrap Quilt

I am still working on using up scraps.  I am down to the neutral colored pile and here is what I have so far.

North Picket Pin Lake

 There are two small lakes just off the Picket Pin Road.  North Picket Pin and South Picket Pin.  Both are stocked with Yellowstone Cutthroat trout.  Both are very small and shallow, but contain a good population of tiny native shrimp, so the trout grow very fast.  We went to North Picket Pin Lake and I caught this nice Cut, which we took home for Joe's dinner.  In years of severe winter weather, the fish often die off - the shallow lake freezes solid and sometimes they don't survive (the lake is only 20 feet deep).

 

I enjoyed watching these clouds form over the lake while I fished.

Iron Mountain, 10088 ft elevation

 We drove our faithful 10 year old Honda Pilot to the top of Iron Mountain via Picket Pin Road.  We could see the Crazy Mountains far in the distance.

 Panoramic views in all directions.

The wind was blowing fiercely and it was very cold, but we spend time walking around on the top of this 10088 foot mountain.

Picket Pin Summit

 From the summit of Picket Pin Road we could see far in the distance to the Pryor Mountains, had a good overlook into the Beartooths and could see the Crazys off to the west.