Yellowstone

Old Faithful

Norris Geyser Basin

Mammoth Hot Springs

Lower Yellowstone Falls

You guessed it - a bison

We just got back from Yellowstone earlier in the week.  Fantastic scenery.  I was thinking that Old Faithful must be one of the most photographed objects in the world, especially now that everyone carries a camera or cell phone.  In 1958, probably only dad had a camera and he could afford to take only one shot and hope it came out.  I probably took a hundred.  Anyway, the top photo is my contribution to the millions of photographs of Old Faithful out there.  Of course there are bubbling pools, steam vents, and hot springs (roughly half of the worlds visible geothermal features are here).  There are waterfalls but the mountains aren't that spectacular.  We spent a couple of days and saw a lot.  The one thing we didn't see that much of relative to my expectations was wildlife.  Anyway, here is a picture of a bison just to round things out.

Goose Island

It was rainy in Glacier National Park and part of Going to the Sun highway had been closed for maintenance so we didn't make it all the way to Logan Pass.

Chief Mountian

We were in Glacier National Park, just across the US-Canadian border for the afternoon.  This is Chief Mountain from the US side.

Blue Sky

East of the continental divide, looking into Glacier National Park

Goat Lick

The mountain goat is the symbol of Glacier National Park which is fitting.  They like steep mountain sides and higher elevations.  But every spring they come to this location close to the highway to lick minerals.  It's not the best photo because they were still several hundred meters away but at least you can see what they are.  There were five here and 4 or 5 higher up the mountain.

Somewhere in Glacier National Park

Somewhere along the middle fork of the Flathead River in Glacier I pulled off the road and took a shot.

Sinopah Mountain and Two Medicine Lake

Glacier National Park

Running Eagle Falls

Running Eagle Falls is on the east side of Glacier Park and is named for a Native American woman who lived in the early 18th century.  Running Eagle was a great warrior, but died in a raiding party across the continental divide on the Flathead tribe.  She was buried above this water fall.

Glacier National Park

The falls on the lower right are MacDonald Falls in Glacier National Park.  You still can't drive all the way in due to snow.  From the west gate you can drive about 16 miles in.

Flathead Lake

Old Barn, Somers Montana

Somers is an old lumber town on the north end of Flathead Lake in Montana.

Goat Haunt, Montana

Upper Waterton Lake lies on the border between Canada and the United States. At the south end of the lake lies Goat Haunt, Montana in Glacier National Park and you get there from the town of Waterton in Canada by boat (or by foot if you care to walk). Goat Haunt consists only of a ranger station that is staffed in the summer.

The name comes from the mountain goats that used to be common on the mountain range along the southeast side of the lake. Unfortunately, they were fairly easy targets up there for hunters and are now uncommon. Haunt used to have an English language meaning of "hang-out" and it doesn't refer to ghosts in any way....