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Summer seemed like a good season to plan a visit to Glacier National Park. We could combine it with stops to see family in Idaho and Montana, giving us a two-week escape from the summer heat of Albuquerque.

What we didn’t know about our planned travel time is that there are actually 6 seasons in that part of the country. We learned the 6 seasons from an old-timer in Salmon, Idaho–Winter, Mud, Spring, Summer, Smoke and Fall. The time we had picked was in the middle of Smoke season.

When we drove towards Glacier through the mountain pass east of Provo, Utah, and for the first time viewed the smokey haze that hung over the valley, I thought that there must be a forest fire somewhere in the area. But when I asked the clerk who checked us into our motel room, I was told that it was smoke drifting in from forest fires as far away as British Columbia, Canada. Throughout the week we learned of other fires in Montana, Idaho, and Washington. We never figured out the specifics of where the fires were and if/when they were brought under control. But every day for the next 11 days we were surrounded by the lingering effects of thousands of acres of forest land reduced to smoke and ash.

Smoke season may not have been the best time to visit Glacier, but the park scenery is so stunning that every hike we did was a new thrill, leaving us with no regrets about our week there. If I were to make a visit there again I think that I would do it in the fall. Smoke season, as well as the tourist season, should be over by then. The season for wildflowers would be over, too, so I’d have to convince Lee that it would be possible to enjoy the visit even without being able to collect hundreds of wildflower photos. And, speaking of photos, here is a link some of the Glacier photos that I collected.

It wasn’t until our third day in Glacier National Park that we finally got to see what charms this awesome park contains. We did hikes on our first two days here and saw some of the areas, but weather and wildfire season were not cooperating to allow us to view what we knew was here.

The first day we were on the west side of the park and the smoke-filled air that had been obscuring our views for days in Idaho and Montana refused to move out of our way. We hiked to a lookout tower and half of that hike was disappointing because it was through a forested area that had been burned over. In the afternoon we did a nice hike to Avalanche Lake.

That evening a storm system moved through, bringing rain and cooler air. The second day we left our motel early in the morning to drive through the park on the famous Going-to-the-Sun road. We could see some of the stunning scenery but the tops of the mountains were obscured in mist and fog. Traffic was so heavy that we didn’t dare stop to take pictures. When we got to the Visitor Center at the top it was an hour before it opened and the parking lot was full of cars already. Everything was lost in a sea of fog. We didn’t stick around but changed our hiking plans to do a couple of hikes lower down the mountain.

But today dawned bright and clear, just perfect for an 11-mile hike to view Grinnell Glacier. I couldn’t stop taking photos. It was so awesome compared to what we saw the first two days. So I’m not bothering to post any of the other pictures here so I can leave more room for the Grinnell Glacier hike–one to remember.