Excitement churned inside me. This was to be our first time in Glacier National Park, located in Montana , but as we approached traffic was backed up 1/4 mile before we could show our senior pass and get in. I thought, not another Yosemite! I have seen many traffic jams in Yosemite Valley.

All we knew was that we needed to go on the Going To The Sun road that stretches across the park. Because we arrived late, we wanted to do something else for our introduction to the Park. Our friendly Park ranger kept telling us to either ride the tram or drive on the Going To The Sun road (GTTS). “You’ll see everything,” she said.

“But what about this area?” I asked, pointing on the map. She mumbled something about the GTTS road. I knew that conversation was hopeless. So we took our maps and literature back to the car. We mapped out a plan while we ate our lunch.

Since there was a 2 1/2 hour wait to get on the shuttle, we decided to walk to Lake McDonald and do the loop along  McDonald Creek. Well, we didn’t get on the right trail, but we weren’t alone. Two other couples were walking the wrong trail. It was pretty and moseyed along the creek.

We wanted to build up our walking/hiking legs slowly after sitting in the truck for four days. And this walk was the perfect distance. Tomorrow, we’ll get there early, hop on the tram, go all the way across the Park, and decide where to get off on the way back. I’m also thinking that if we wait until Monday, there may be less people.

We’ll decide tomorrow. At least for today we got our first glimpse of GNP.

Beautiful ferns along the trail.

Wildflowers

McDonald Lake.

The path along McDonald Creek.

McDonald Creek.

Some sort of bee?

Having fun on the creek.

More creek shoreline.

Another wildflower.

And another.

The ice cream cone was almost as big as their faces. No, they did not finish. Shot with permission.