When we left Calgary, we returned to the United States and Glacier National Park in Montana. Our first two nights were at the Many Glacier Hotel, the only hotel on the eastern side of the park. It's quite a few miles inside the park, and there are multiple hiking opportunities nearby.

The hotel opened in 1915, and although some renovations have been made over the years the original rustic nature of the hotel and its rooms remain. When we reserved a room last October, we got the last room in the hotel, but were told to call back two weeks before our arrival to see if a lakeside room opened up. Luckily, it had, and we had a lovely view of Swiftcurrent Lake. Sadly, it was too chilly and windy to make use of the balcony. The room was very small and quite basic, but the hotel itself has a wonderful air of elegance.

We hiked around Swiftcurrent Lake as well as two adjoining lakes–Josephine and Grinnell. My favorite hike here was to Apikuni Falls. It was a cloudy, misty morning, but great for photographs.

The main attraction at Glacier Park is the Going to the Sun Road which crosses the park east to west. The highest point is Logan Pass.

We stopped there to hike to Hidden Lake. No one was allowed to hike down to the lake since grizzly bears were feeding on the fish in the area. 

Unlike most of the trails we hiked, most of this one was a boardwalk, created to protect the delicate alpine environment.

On our way up we spotted some mountain goats.

But when we got to the end of the trail there were quite a few goats very close to the trail. You'll notice their collars. The goats here are part of a research study tracking their movements.

Hidden Lake from the top of the trail. Although I'm sure the trail down to the lake would have been lovely, it would have taken the better part of the day to have done the whole trail. We went on to hike two other trails off the Going to the Sun Road.

We spent that night in Whitefish, Mt. which we loved. It's a ski center in the winter. The next day we drove to Missoula, Mt. It's a beautiful drive past Flathead Lake, the largest fresh water lake west of the Mississippi.

We spent the better part of a day back in Glacier at Two Medicine hiking to Aster and Rockwell Falls, and then driving on to Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada. Waterton is actually an extension of the same mountains as Glacier but on the other side of the border.

One of the most striking hotels we saw was The Prince of Wales Hotel in Waterton. Like Many Glacier it was built in the early 1900's.

This is the amazing view from the hotel. We couldn't afford to stay there, but we did have a lovely dinner in the bar sitting at the window looking out at this view.

We also took the boat tour to Goat Haunt which is actually back in the United States. You can see the boat in the photo above. It was a fascinating tour, and we learned a lot about the geography, climate, and plant and animal life in the area. One of the most interesting things we discovered was the cut line.

You can see a stone marker just above the shoreline. It indicates the 49th parallel which forms the border between the United States and Canada. A cut line is maintained from the Pacific Ocean to the Great Lakes marking this border. About every 15 years a crew goes through and recuts the line. Who knew?

It's time for a few posts about our fabulous trip to Calgary, Glacier National Park, and the Canadian Rockies. It was a trip we'd planned a few years ago, but we really didn't have any idea how much we'd enjoy it.

After a few days with Sarah, Adam, and Caleb we flew to Calgary. I was very excited about being able to go to the Calgary Stampede, one of the largest rodeos in the world. I've never been to a rodeo, so it was all new to me. And it didn't disappoint!

There's a lot of pageantry involved. Some of the prominent riders were "dropped" into the stadium via cables from above. None of my photos of that were clear enough to share!

This is one of two large, and excellent, bands that performed before the rodeo and during intermission.

Of course, it's the bronco riding that folks come to see. Actually the most exciting event was the calf roping where world records were set. We were too far away from that end of the stadium to take good photos, but the video screens around the stadium made it easy to see every event.

The Stampede is much like the state fairs here, with midways and lots of exhibits. 

I always knew the Clydesdales were huge, but seeing the groomers on stools really brought it home.

I loved this image of the sheep in the wagon, off to a different venue.

One of our favorite exhibits was that of the First Nations. We spent quite a bit of time there. There were traditional tepees to visit, and my favorite, dance competitions.

I've always admired bloggers who can keep track of numbers during the month. I've never managed to do it successfully, but made a big effort to keep track during our trip. So here they are—our trip in numbers.

    2, 585 miles driven (in a rented Ford Escape, which we loved)

    76.5 miles hiked on 23 different trails

    14 (unusual for us) animal species, including 4 bears, 4 elk, many loons, mountain goats, and 
    big horned sheep, 2 coyotes, and 2 spruce grouse

We always keep an eye out for license plates as we drive along. This year we spotted 45/50 states, 7/10 Canadian provinces, and 1/3 Canadian territories. We drove in five different states and 2 provinces (Alberta and British Columbia).

I took 1,177 photos, about half with my DSRL and half with my iPhone. I edited about 130 to share with friends and had 70 printed to add to an album.

We're already planning another trip to the Canadian Rockies. There were hikes we didn't get to, and an aborted trip from many years ago up the coast of British Columbia we'd like to do.