Glacier National Park-Rocky Point Nature Trail..........

With the forest fire burning and growing, we were a little leery of going into the park. We stayed on the west end of the park, and walked the Rocky Point Nature Trail in a quiet area on the backside of McDonald Lake. For more information, click here. There were not too many people on this trail...in fact we only passed two other hikers. On the way out, though, we passed a ranger-led hike with about 20 people hiking. The rangers are encouraging visitors to check out less-visited areas of the park away from the fire. There is still much to see and do.

heading to the trailhead

still heading to the trailhead

are you coming Tom?

nice creek alongside the trail

The path to the trailhead for the Rocky Point Nature Trail is up a hill behind a campground. It soon goes into new growth forest...recovering from a massive wildfire that occurred in 2003. We could see that the trees were really starting to grow in, and there were flowers along the way as well. We spotted some blueberries right on the trail. As always, we were vigilant for bears.

look...the trees are growing pretty well

they look so healthy too

2003 wildfire burned 13% of Glacier National Park

There were great views of McDonald Lake for part of the loop trail. Its a gorgeous lake, with very little boating. A few kayaks, and a rowboat were all we saw. Fishing is allowed in the lake and no license is required. That is because there are non-native fish in the lake and the Park officials want them gone!

okay...we reached the trailhead

looks like it goes UP Susie!

glorious views of the McDonald Lake and beyond

so peaceful

Rocky Point

isn't that serene

enjoying the view

The loop swerved into the forest, and you could see just how well the forest was coming back.  Educational signs were posted at various points along the trail. For a short trail, there was a lot of walking uphill involved! The scenery, especially overlooking the lake, was great on this clear day and sunny day.

blueberries....make good snacks for the bears

Up again!

the views are great

walking through the recovering forest

lots of new growth

such great views of the lake and mountains beyond

the new trees are as tall as I am

The nature trail was not too long, so when we were finished, we decided to explore another area of the park- the Camas entrance area. The views were pristine. The environment seemed so different from the McDonald Lake area. There was a lot of prairie-type grasses and meadows. Of course, there were also the gorgeous blue rivers too! Not too many visitors on this side of the park, except for the trailhead for Huckleberry Point-which was crowded with cars. We checked out that hike, but we weren't prepared for a long, steep hike at that time.

views from Camas entrance

recovering forest

how beautiful is that?

love that water color...and the rocks too are gorgeous...pink and green

a different view of the park

lush grassland...actually its like a marsh and is called a "fen"

trails lead down a bit into the "fen"

it was windy and the grasses just danced!

We stopped at a turnout, and read about the good things that happen after a wildfire. The huge fire that burned in the park in 2003 is starting to regrow, and you can see how healthy the forest is. The same with the nature trail we walked in the morning....the forest was starting to come back from the wildfire in 2003. Its good for the animals, because they have more food available!

recovery from 2003 fire

nature healing itself

Back at the campsite, we were reminded of the forest fire currently burning. The helicopters fly right over our campground. I know its part of nature, but its still sad to me.

these guys were flying over our campground since the fire started

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