Hey Jay,
Liked your TR. Read it start to finish and that's saying something for a guy whose attention span has dwindled over the years to something akin to a gnat.
You are a gifted writer.
Happy to see you made the most out of your trip and completed most of your hiking goals.
Favorite line
Lesson 1: don’t complain about being old to someone older than you.
Bad,bad,bad...us old guys don't have time for that!
Lots of very nice images! Hats off for carrying all that camera gear with you. I quit doing that years ago and started carrying a smaller zoom camera. Learned my lesson on the Dawson Pass Loop. It's kind of funny how 3 lbs of lens turns into 30 on the last half of a hike.
Favorite image
There were many to choose from, but you may be surprised.
I'm into tree photos lately. I might have to blame it on watching too many Adam Gibbs videos on You-Tube. (you should see his Aspen images in a lake taken in western Canada)
OK, enough about you!
I have been to GNP probably 20 times since the mid-eighties. I had been to Yellowstone a couple times and don't even remember how I stumbled into Glacier. Love at first sight and by far my favorite place on earth. It's already been 5 years since I lasted visited and it's come to the point that I don't know if I'll ever get back. Me and hiking buddies aren't as spry as we once were.
Here's some of my top memories
1. On the Loop Trail a grizzly jumping out of the bush and straddling the trail about 50 feet in front of me. It scared the crap out me!
2. 2013 On our first hike of the trip we hiked from Logan to Swiftcurrent fire outlook and back again the same way. All said and done it took about 12hrs. I have never been so tired in my life. Cramps... oh those leg cramps in the tent that night!
3. Pete showing us the Shangri La hike.
4. Pete leading us up to Dragon's Tail
5. All the day hikes we did over the years. They were all hi-lites to me.
6. Johnson's campground and cafe
Things I miss.
1. Not having to get up in the middle of the night to secure parking at Many Glacier.
2. Having a leisurely breakfast at the Park Cafe before hiking.
3. When the Curly Bear served Burgers and fries.
4. Not needing some reservation to drive the GTTS Road.
5. A time when the east side and St. Mary seemed for a lack of a better word "rustic".
6. When GNP seemed less crowded and was sort of our little secret.
I'm done now. ND is leaving the building....thank you, thank you, very much.....