Back from Vacation, and moving slow...

Now that we're back from vacation, I am having a very tough time motivating myself to do "fun" things. Like knitting. Listening to my i-Pod. Blogging. It seems really strange -- I want to...work. Is this why they give us paid time off?

Glacier National Park was amazing. I thought mountains like that only existed in National Geographic and the Lord of the Rings movies. Despite the lines at the entrance gates, it felt like we were among a very small handful of people and a very large number of wildlife. We were clearly outnumbered.

I did do some knitting, but I ended up doing far less porch-sitting than I expected. This was mainly due to the very long daylight hours -- we ended up staying in the park until very late most evenings, and returning to the cabin only for a very late dinner (9 or 10pm) and bed. I haven't taken pictures of knitting progress yet, so for now I'll post just vacation pictures.

Early in the trip, M and oldest son R were suffering a light version of the bug that took down my daughter earlier in June. So our first hike was an "easy" one -- to Avalanche Lake:

I think it is so-called because the creek running down from it is snow white from minerals and agitation, and looks like an avalanche.

The second day was a visit to a remote village (was it big enough to call it that?) on the north west border of the park, Polebridge. It is accessible only by dirt road, and is not on the electric grid (though the buildings in town have generators.) Some shots of downtown Polebridge:

The third day was the absolute high-point -- a 12 mile hike along the Highline Trail. The first 8 miles are cut into the side of a mountain that varied from "cliff" to merely "breathtakingly steep." Fine terrain for bighorn sheep (not close enough for good pictures), more mountain goats than we could count, a marmot under every bush and rock, and a wolverine in one of the less-steep rock-covered areas. No pictures of him -- he ducked away into some bushes before we could even think to be scared. R and I looked at each other -- "was that really a...wolverine?" We weren't convinced ourselves until we got home that night and checked the wildlife guide -- right facial markings, right size, right habitat, and we saw him from about 30 feet in bright daylight. We're sure.

So, some goat pictures first, because they are not camera-shy:




Note that this first photo was not zoomed.

We encountered the baby (left) and his mama (not shown) about 3 miles in. Mama was absolutely determined to stay on the very narrow trail. M and I herded our bunch into a slightly-wide spot against the cliff wall and shushed them while they argued about whether we should "make the goat move." Mama, in the mean time, stood 3 feet away glaring at us in that threatening way universal to all mothers. My kids finally shut up, and Mama decided to pass us. Junior, in the mean time, had been goofing off around a corner and had forgotten there were people. As he ran to catch up with Mama, he was startled to see us and skidded to a stop at our feet. He stared at us wide-eyed for a moment, then dashed after Mama as fast as he could go.

But the real star of the Highline hike was the views:

The next day was river rafting, which likely would have been enjoyable if the Whiners and their two small boys weren't on our raft. No photos for obvious reasons.

The last day there son #2 and I came down with...something. Immodium, that elixir for all travelers, got us through but we weren't going to tempt fate with another long hike. So no Iceberg Lake, no Grinnell Glacier. Just an easy hike along a chain of small lakes. Nothing of note until we were almost back to the parking lot, then this guy and his harem:

Mr. Moose chose a particularly picturesque spot to stand. His two cows and their babies were at the far end of this small lake, and pictures of them were shot into the sun, sad to say.

The next day we loaded up and drove to the airport just as the heatwave hit -- 105 degrees, according to the car thermometer.

I promise pictures of knitting in the next post. (It will probably be a let-down...)