JJJ - Wrap Up

I will miss the coolness of the early mornings a lot. I love getting up early to see the sun rise over the hills. The air is cool most mornings, but the last couple were VERY cool. One morning I was invited along with the wranglers to round up the horses in the hills and bring them in for tacking. I longed for gloves that day. Most days however, I got away with a sweatshirt and shorts.

I often tried to get some photos of the horses being brought in or put out to pasture in the evening. Generally unsuccessful due to the low light. I did get a couple that passed the last evening we were there.

If you are ready for the horses, the direction they will approach, and have any time to scout the property in advance, you could get better shots than I did. It took me a while to realize that these horses operate almost as a pack when they move. If you are standing in the road as they come down, you are the "change" they do not know / want to know and they get a bit spooked - therefore, you don't get the picture and have to wait til the next day. Find a good hiding spot the next day and they decide to take a different path - guess what, "no shot, wait til the next day"....doesn't take a genius to figure out you run out of opportunities fairly quickly and then look back and say "I should have...."

MANY GLACIER Hotel

July 26, 2008: We rise for the sunrise over the hotel and Swiftcurrent Lake. After breakfast, we hike to Red Rock Falls. We are the only ones without bear spray - big mistake! Get your bear spray. While we did not run into any bears, we were a bit self conscious about it. About half-way through the hike, I looked behind our group. This coyote was following us down the trail. Later on, we spied this momma moose and her two babies taking a nap in the woods. Red Rock falls was an easy hike for the family. Flat and probably 3 - 4 miles round trip. Plenty of area to explore around the falls and a great picnic spot for lunch. The views are to die for - spectacular.

That evening, my wife went on a short car ride to the road entering the Many Glacier section of the park. Dusk tends to bring out the wildlife - grizzlies in particular. There were a couple only 100 - 200 yards off the road foraging in the field. Difficult time for photos of wildlife, but a grizzly siting nonetheless. There was one false charge at a guy who apparently has been living in a cave for the past 50 years and ignores all the warnings of "do not approach the bears", "stay in your car" and any other common sense, basic instinct of self-survival that your brain might trigger. On the other hand, the rest of the crowd might have gotten some GREAT photos to talk about had he sacrificed himself for our vacation photos....(kidding.....sort of).

I, on the other hand, sat on my balcony overlooking Swift Current Lake from the Many Glacier Hotel drinking a beer and watching the sun set. Not sure who made the best choice.