Day 14 of 2019 Western US Tour, July 25, Sun Road
Our fifth day in Glacier National Park.
Today we were leaving St Mary Campground, and finally spending the night in the civilized city of Kalispell. That means we will be driving the entire length of Going-to-the-Sun Road from East to West.
We made our first stop at Wild Goose Island Lookout, which offered views of the only island in St Mary Lake, with majestic mountains as backdrop.
Wild Goose Island in Saint Mary lake
Judging by the size of waves, the winds were still high for the moment. Otherwise, I thought calmer waters and tranquility fits better into the composition of these shots.
After that, we followed Going-to-the-Sun Road and passed Logan Pass, that's where Sun Road got narrower and more twisty.
North of Logan Pass
For another brief moment, we stopped at a roadside overlook of Bird Woman Falls across the valley, which was created from molten snow water on the Northern hill of Clements Mountain.
Once descended from the mountains, Sun Road follows McDonald Creek and winds its way through forests, no longer dauntingly treacherous.
Red Rock Point
We made another stop at Red Rock Point, where McDonald Creek splashes its way through a few rocks.
McDonald Creek
Lake McDonald Lodge
After that, we arrived at Lake McDonald Lodge at 12pm. It's another historic hotel in Glacier National Park (actually built a year earlier than Many Glacier Hotel). But unlike Many Glacier, Lake McDonald Lodge was much smaller in size and fitted inconspicuously among trees.
By the way, parking at Lake McDonald Lodge was very limited. We circled around the parking lot for quite some time to no avail, and ended up leaving our car at the side of the road.
The hotel looked more like a zoomed-up version of townhouse, with a simple entrance.
Lantern
Compared with these works of art, the lanterns at Many Glacier Hotel seemed more like industrial mass-products.
Where everything seemed delicately approachable.
A warm and cozy feeling.
And once out of Lake McDonald Lodge, we were on the shores of the lake.
Lake McDonald
Lake McDonald
It's lunch time, and there were two restaurants in the vicinity. A pizza and grill restaurant off site, whose menu we somehow failed to comprehend for the moment. So, we ended up in the dining room of Lake McDonald Lodge.
And expectedly, we spent more time waiting for food than actually consuming it.
Kayak on Lake McDonald
With the absence of glaciers and snow patches that invite explorations up close, Lake McDonald was certainly the lay-back part of Glacier National Park, where activities were more leisurely centered.
So, when we reached Apgar after lunch, we decided to rent a kayak and have some fun on the waters of Lake McDonald. Winds had abated in the afternoon, meaning we were to enjoy a mostly smooth ride on Lake McDonald.
Here's GPS tracking:
It was a pleasant two hours spent on the waters. Though I was too careful to keep my phone from waters, that I took few photos.
Lake McDonald
And that gear rental was 100 meters from boat lunch, so we had to haul the kayak back and forth, which turned out to be heavier than what I expected.
Other than that, we left Glacier National Park at 4pm, merrily stocked up food and supplies at the Walmart outside Kalispell, and were so glad to be back with civilization.
END