Cruising on Waterton Lake in Canada heading south towards (and into) the United States.

Note the wide U-shaped valley carved by glaciers.

(06/05/06)

One of the strange man-made features of Waterton National Park (Canada)

and Glacier National Park (U.S.) is the demarcation feature along the border.  All

trees and other small vegetation have been removed.

Storm rolling in over Lake McDonald at Cooper's favorite rock throwing location.

(06/07/06)

Lake McDonald Lodge lobby

After dinner we drove to the Apgar area for ice cream.  View looking north at Lake McDonald

We also met one of the red bus drivers.  This is Jammer Joe.  Joe spent two summers in Glacier when he was a teenager.  

Back then he was not allowed to drive a bus - you had to be a pre-med or pre-law student in college.  

After two-years of college, the Korean war, and many years on the family farm in Illinois, Joe decided to come back to Glacier

to become a Jammer.  He's driven for nine years now.

The buses were built in the 1930's and were refurbished in the early 2000's.  Note the convertible tops.

There are about 33 (or 36?) in use today at Glacier for interpretive tours.

Joe let Cooper check out the inside, sit in the driver's seat, and talk on the microphone.

We spent this weekend in the northwest section of the park.

This is Bowman Lake.   Again, note the U-shape of the valley.

(06/10/06)

Two of my colleagues who work at Glacier invited us to dinner and then to stay overnight in their cabin.

What a spectacular setting.  The cabin was located about 15 miles from the Canadian border in a remote location.

To get there we took the Outside North Fork road about 5-6 miles north of Polebridge and then went

east on Red Meadow to the end of the road.  The cabin was on the end of the road located on the

North Fork River.  On the other side of the river was Glacier National Park.  Spectacular views and setting.

Here's the view looking across the river into Glacier National Park.

Cooper spent hours throwing rocks into the river and looking for buried treasure in the sand.

Here's the view looking back towards the cabin.  You can see Cooper (in red) on a small bridge.

There is actually a small moat between the cabin and the river.  The previous owner (a homesteader) built

the moat (which is fed by a spring) and used it for fire-suppression water.

The cabin was fun and we really enjoyed our stay.  It has propane lights and a propane refrigerator.

Heat was from a wood burning stove.  It has no electricity and no running water.  It has an outhouse to

the right of the cabin.  It was really a fun experience and very nice inside.

We were treated to a great dinner Saturday night grilled out on the back porch.

The original owner of this cabin (Clark) sounded like a fascinating man.  He has beautiful outdoor

photographs (mostly wildlife) he took throughout the cabin.  We also spent some time reading his

journal of his trip via boat following the reverse course of Lewis and Clark

(he boated from Montana to New Orleans in 1971).  Clark lived here year-round for the

last seven years of his life.  It would have been great to meet him.

In addition to this main room, there was an annex of sorts in the back and an upstairs bedroom

Cooper playing with McKenna Saturday night

Large paw prints near where Cooper was throwing rocks in the water (mountain lion?)

In the back of the property Clark carved a staircase into a fallen tree.

These led up the hill to someone else's cabin and he referred to them as the 'Stairway to Heaven'.

Bridge over the moat.