Road to the Sun

We set out to go explore the Road to the Sun.  This is a stunningly beautiful corner of the world, and extremely popular.  We choose to come here this week because most American schools are back in session, and we were hoping for a quieter experience.

The road itself is a major engineering feat, that took 25 years to build.  The ruggedness of the mountains is awe inspiring, even shrouded in smoke.  We stopped at a bunch of the scenic pullouts.  Waterfall #1.

Waterfall #2.  Kent and the kids climbed over the barrier to explore a little more.  River guide Dad, was explaining some hydrology to them!This big overhanging rock, beside the waterfall, hid them from view.It was kinda embarrasing hearing fellow tourists exclaim and wonder ‘how they got down there’.  I just pretended I didn’t know them!

And as we climbed higher, we got more of a sense of the grandness, and how crazy and pig headed we people can be about getting a job done.  In this case, making a road up here!  Shame about the visibility!As we neared the top, the smoke thinned out a little and we could see the mountains more clearly.Wildlife sightings are always a highlight for us.

And then we got to Logan Pass.  Oh boy.  I like the outdoors.  A lot.  But sharing it with strangers?  Not so much.  The parking lot was full, and it was a mass of humanity.  It was my turn to be pig headed and I didn’t want to give up the idea of going for a hike.  So we joined the 4000 other people.  I avoided taking pictures with toooo many people in them.  Often, on these kinds of trails, people will walk a few hundred metres to a lookout or bench, and then go back.  Here people seemed a lot more dedicated to go the distance.The platform at the summit was chocka with people.  Are you getting the impression that crowds aren’t my favorite?!  We walked a little ways away to this rock, and had it to ourselves for at least a few minutes.  The kids were amuzed by any overgrown chipmunk.  Obviously he was very used to being fed by these crowds.

We stopped at a few more pull outs on the way back to camp, including finding a place to swim.

Lovely scenery.  But moral of the story, at least for me……find beautiful places in this world that the rest of the world doesn’t know about, or go in the off/shoulder season.  And ya know, in  general that is what we do!!!!