Whitefish and Glacier National Park

From Holland Park we drive towards Whitefish, briefly stopping a couple of times to watch birdlife, including a turkey vulture by the side of the road which then flew up and perched in a nearby tree, They are big birds! And we watched a group of red winged blackbirds zooming around the bullrushes by a little lake we came across, They are very pretty birds able to cling onto the reed heads and balance in the wind.

We arrive in Whitefish, which is my US address, and it's very nice! Billed as one of the top ski resorts, it has all the hallmarks of a small and stylish desitnation for winter and summer visitors, with lots of very upmarket shops, restaurants, bars and art galleries. We spend a couple of hours wandering around and taking it all in, then return to take care of some rather more mundane errands such as grocery shopping and doing the laundry.

We get back on the road and drive through Columbia Falls into Glacier National Park, where again we are lucky enough to find a pith in the Apgar Village state campground on the shores of McDonald Lake. It is populated mostly with youngsters in tents, which we feel is very brave as there have been reportings of bear actiity in the campground.

Although it's overcast and drizzling, we go for a 4 mile hike along the Rocky Point trail which follows the lake edge. There are a lot of burnt out tree stalks which stand tall like ghostly sentinels, with lots of new growth coming through underneath. After some investigation, we discover that there was a terrible fire in 2018, started by lightning during a thunderstorm, which destroyed 13,000 acres of forest and took 200 firefighters 2 months to get under control, at a cost of $14 million.

We pass a rotting tree trunk which has the distinctive marks of bear scratches, and with some trepidation check the bear spray again.

Slightly damp, we return to the campground, cook a delicious bolognese and retire early. The next morning we're up and away early after dumping our waste and filling with fresh water. We say goodbye to Glacier with its magnificent mountain views and beautiful lakes.