Montana!

I love visiting Montana.  A summer trip out there has become a regular thing for me.  Chelsea and I hit the road from Portland to Polson, then on to Glacier National Park for a few nights of camping, and finally on to Missoula for a couple days before heading home.  Here are shots of the trip.

The view of Flathead Lake coming in to Polson.

Mission Mountains.

Chelsea and the lake.

Just another sunset.

On to Glacier National Park.  Almost every little turnout on Going to the Sun Road has something scenic like this waterfall.

Mountains.

That little line that cuts across the mountain on the left side of this photo is the road.

Sneaking good photos of Chelsea.

Mountain Goat!

Saint Mary Lake on the east side of the park.

This is where we camped.

Flowers next to our camp site.

Chelsea and I did a 10 mile hike to Iceberg Lake.  This was early on the trail.

Red rocks along the trail.

We saw a lot of interesting little butterflies along the way.

Rock with lichen.

Chased some waterfalls.

 We got caught in a sudden burst of a rain storm about a mile from Iceberg Lake.  We plowed through and the storm passed us by.  Right as the sun came out we came to this field of wildflowers.  The smell of rain and flowers was indescribably good.

Iceberg Lake.

The lake is incredibly clear.  And cold!  There were icebergs just floating around.  I put my feet in and they were numb in about a minute.

The water is this brilliant blue color from the glacial sediment refracting the sunlight.

This little chipmunk was hanging out at the lake and tried to steal my snacks.

I love this photo of Chelsea.

 More wildflowers.

On the way back down we saw this cow moose hanging out.

 Back at camp we could hear music from the visitor center.  We wandered over and were just in time to catch the end of a performance by some Blackfeet tribe members.  It was awesome to see them dance in all their ceremonial clothing, headdresses, and noise makers.

Camp life.

 Going back through the park we got some more amazing views.

This little turnout is one of my favorites in the park.  The green blue water with the red rocks creates spectacular scenery.

More Mission Mountains.

 Chelsea grabbed my camera and fired off some shots too.  Here are some photos from her.  I have a personal skate photographer now!

An old favorite.  The Polson skatepark.