Glacier National Park

Pic 1: Here we are at Avalanche Lake
Pic 2: With friends Louise and Dean at Logan Pass where the Continental Divide slices thru Glacier.
Pic 3: Magnificent Hidden Lake at Logan: Pass.
Pic 4: Going-to-the-sun Road.
Pic 5: The view from the Many Glaciers Lodge at sunset.

Yellowstone

Pic 1: Living in the wide open spaces - on the road between Great Falls and Bozeman Montana.
Pic 2: The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
Pic 3: Old Faithful.
Pic 4: Grand Geyser put on a spectacular show.
Pic 5: Waiting for that geyser to blow.

Yellowstone -2

Hot springs with magnificent colors caused by minerals and heat and acid loving bacteria called thermophiles.

Grand Teton National Park

Pic 1: The Snake River
Pic 2: The Grand Teton
Pic 3: Our intrepid fisherwoman at it again. Alas, a live catch will have to await a future outing. But you sure can't be the scenery.

Wildlife

Pic 1: Mountain goat in Glacier NP.
Pic 2: Buffalo in Yellowstone NP. This one probably weighs around 2,000 pounds.
Pic 3: Bighorn sheep in Glacier NP.
Pic 4: A herd of pronghorn in eastern Wyoming.
Pic 5: Moose in Grand Teton NP.

Wildlife - 2

Pic 1: Elk at Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone
Pic 2: Well, not really a wild elk. This is at the National Museum of Wildlife Art, a great museum located next to the National Elk Reserve and just down the road from the Grand Tetons.

Cody, Wyoming

Pic 1: Buffalo Bill Historical Center. Really 5 museums in one. We went thru the Buffalo Bill Museum, the natural history museum and the western art museum, all of which were excellent.
Pic 2: Calamity Jane performs for the crowd. We saw newspaper clippings of the real Calamity Jane. This actress was a great likeness.

Visitng Portland

Pictures 1-2: Portland is doing a lot to encourage alternative forms of transportation. In addition to supporting electric cars, there are lots of designated bike lanes with many bikers using them, and an extensive light rail and trolley system.


Picture 3: At the Chinese Garden.


Picture 4: At the Japanese Garden.


Picture 5: Madeleine joins the body art generation. View it here. It will be worn off by the time we return home.

Water flowing downhill in all its glory

Picture 1: Upper Horseshoe Falls (Pony Falls), Columbia River Gorge.

Picture 2: Multnomah Falls, Columbia River Gorge.

Picture 3: Wahkeena Falls, Columbia River Gorge.

Picture 4: Weisendanger Falls, Columbia River Gorge.

Picture 5: Wahkeena Falls, Columbia River Gorge.

Water still flowing downhill

Picture 1: Sunbeam Creek in Mt. Ranier NP.

Picture 2: Ohanapecosh River Falls at Mt. Ranier NP.

Picture 3: Narada Falls at Mt. Ranier NP.

Picture 4: One of the many lovely streams along Skyline Trail in Mt. Ranier NP.

Picture 5: Sol Duc Falls in Olympic NP.

The locks at the Bonneville Dam

We stopped to see the Bonneville Dam along the Columbia River. We happened to time it just before a tugboat arrived pushing three huge barges strapped together.

Picture 1: The lower locks open so that the barges can continue their route down the Columbia toward the coast.

Picture 2: The barges and tug are designed so that the combination of tug and barges just fits within the lock, with literally inches to spare!

Picture 3: Old cars on their final trip.

Mt. Ranier National Park

Picture 1: The majestic Mt. Ranier.


Picture 2: What can happen along the road. This is normally a narrow 2-lane road.


Pictures 3-4: In contrast to the amazing blue color of Crater Lake that we sent last time, the emerald green of the Ohanapecosh River is due to a combination of its pure water sources – winter snow melt – and the vegetation and organisms in the river. The Nisqually River, which is fed by the Nisqually Glacier, is milky white in color, as are all the active-glacier-fed rivers.

Climbing the Skyline Trail at Paradise in Mt. Ranier NP

Picture 1: A marmot among the wildflowers.

Picture 2: A group of would-be climbers, training on the snow before beginning their ascent of Mt. Ranier.

Picture 3: We made it! This is the well-named Panorama Point at 6800' where you can see Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood in Oregon and Mt. St. Helens.