Glacier National Park,
Montana,
United States
Thursday, June 19, 2008
This place is a hiker's paradise, full of tall trees, crystal clear mountain lakes, and snow-capped peaks. It's also full of bears. After warming up with a few minor hikes on day one, I set off the morning of day two, bear spray in tow, for one of the premiere attractions in the park - the Iceberg Lake. The trail to the Iceberg Lake passes through prime bear country. Wanting to avoid a nasty bear encounter, I followed the park service's suggestion and talked to myself for the first two miles of the hike. I'm sure it was a site to see, particularly the few times when I was singing to myself and happened to stumble onto another person, at which point I would slowly tone down the volume and pretend like I wasn't talking to myself. Yeah right. I would have liked to have seen a bear...from far away, but no such luck. After walking through some snow, the hike culminated at the Iceberg Lake, a frozen lake surrounded by snow-covered cliffs rising thousands of feet above. I finished off Glacier National Park with a fabulous chicken salad sandwich at a middle-of-nowhere roadside cafe. Glacier is easily a top five park. It's not as crowded as Yellowstone and Yosemite, but it's equally as beautiful.
