Rest Area

Truck, Rest Area - Canada  2024

Gravel pull out. There was an RV parked near my car that was idling the whole time I was there.

Signs at Rest Area - Canada  2024

Rain

Road, Rain - Canada  2024

Trees, Mountains, Rain - Canada  2024

Not only rain, but a smattering of hail. 

Canada Sightems

Lumber, Mountains, Snow, Clouds - Canada  2024

Road - Canada  2024

The road north went past pastoral rural scenes, then forested mountainous areas.

Canada

Leaving USA - Montana  2024

Welcome , British Columbia - Canada  2024

I had noticed that Kalispell was fairly close to the Canadian border, so I brought my passport along on the trip, just in case. I decided to travel to Fernie, a small tourist town not that far from the border.

The interrogation at the border was surprisingly robust! (Me: "Oh, I'm just going to drive north for a few hours and take some photos." Her (riffling through my passport): "Well, are you planning on selling any of the photos you take?" Me: "Alas, I don't think so."

Maybe there's some sort of copyright issues on photos taken in Canada. Don't know. In any event I was finally allowed to enter the country.

Monday Horse Blogging

Horse (Kalispell) - Montana  2024

Rural structure just outside the motel's parking lot. Interesting.

Two Medicine Lake

Two Medicine Lake, Mountains, Snow, Clouds - Glacier National Park  2024

Nice pull out spot! I'm pretty sure that, actually, that's "Lower" Two Medicine Lake. Also, I think that the mountain on the right is "Rising Wolf Mountain." Maybe.

Photo taken with a Nikon Z7II, converted to black and white in Photoshop. Click to enlarge!

Road, Aspens / Fritos & Beer

Road, Aspens - Montana  2024

It was threatening to rain, but it didn't . . . just a few large drops now and then.

I figured it was about time for lunch. Cheese, crackers, and, of course, Fritos and beer! (Korean beer from H-Mart.)

Fritos and Beer - Montana  2024

Aspens (iPhone)

Aspens - Montana  2024

My normal go-to camera for scenic shots was a Nikon Z7II. Sometimes I'd also take an iPhone photo of the same scene. Needless to say, sometimes the iPhone photo looked better, usually due to the composition. Above photo taken with an iPhone 12 Max.

Aspens

Flathead River, Aspens, Hill, Clouds - Montana  2024

Aspens - Montana  2024

The day turned out to be heavily aspen-centric. Some bare, some starting to leaf out.

No, not as spectacular as autumn aspens, but still quite nice.

Flathead River / Meadow, Aspens, Snow

Flathead River, Trees, Clouds - Montana  2024

Meadow, Aspens, Mountains, Snow - Montana  2024

So, the second day exploring the Glacier National Park area. This time I was driving east, away from yesterday's main entrance visit, on Highway 2, paralleling a fork of the Flathead River. 

Right away my route was way more scenic. Yay!

Downtown Kalispell

Cowgirls (Kalispell) - Montana  2024

Antiques (Kalispell) - Montana  2024

After my morning visit to Glacier National Park (the eastern entrance), which, to be honest, wasn't all that great, I decided to check out downtown Kalispell. Took some photos, but didn't see anything all that special. 

There's a nice modern Starbucks there, so that's something.

Monday Geese Blogging (Idaho Falls)

Geese (Idaho Falls) - Idaho  2024

Seen across from my motel enjoying themselves on manicured lawns, Snake River in the background.

Mountain, Snow, Lake McDonald - Glacier NP

Mountain, Snow, McDonald Creek - Glacier National Park  2024

Lake McDonald - Glacier National Park  2024

A nice view upstream towards this unknown mountain (unknown to me, anyways). 

Lake McDonald is pretty large, so it's puzzling why I had trouble finding it. I finally had to ask a traffic control person, who directed me down a paved road where the lake was visible through the trees. After a short walk I scrambled down an embankment to take this photo. A little hazy that day, but luckily Photoshop has a Haze Filter.

As I was leaving the Lake McDonald area I was able, once again, to run into a substantial traffic delay.

Aspens, Pine Branches - Glacier NP

Aspens - Glacier National Park  2024

Pine Branches, McDonald Creek - Glacier National Park  2024

Once I left the popular trailhead area I drove back down losing both elevation and the crowds. There were pull outs were one could enjoy the river on one side and aspens on the other.