Lake McDonald, Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park in northwest Montana is one of the world's great treasures. Above is a photo of me enjoying my morning coffee on the shores of McDonald Lake, with some of the peaks of Glacier NP in the background. The lake itself is about 10 miles long and a mile wide, with water crystal clear and clean. It reminds me of the lakes of the Salzkammergut in Austria or Aachensee in the Tirol region of Austria.

The peaks in the background are probably on the Continental Divide and are about 9000 feet in altitude. There are still some small glaciers on these peaks (though the weather in recent years has caused them to shrink). We took the park's shuttle bus up Going to the Sun Road to Logan Pass, which is at 6600 feet, and there was still considerable snow at that elevation. I'm glad I left the driving to professionals on this famous road. I found the drive scary indeed, with no guardrails and drops of hundreds or thousands of feet if you went over the edge. Heck, in Ohio there would be flashing caution lights and guardrails if there was even the slightest chance you could slip off the road into an Ohio-sized creek or ravine. Here they say "Good Luck" as you drive unguarded by 2000 foot cliffs!