Glacier National Park

I left Missoula, MT and headed to Kalispell on Sunday August 20th. The trip was uneventful except for the 20 mile construction zone of dirt, rocks, gravel, dips, turns and curves. I think I will find an alternate route when I go back to Missoula later this week.
Today I hopped on my motorcycle and headed to Glacier National Park. It was my first visit to Glacier. The morning was chilly and the sky was milky white, but no threat of rain. The road to the park offered many opportunities to purchase fresh picked huckleberrys and cherrys. Yum! When I reached the gate to Glacier I renewed my National Park Annual Pass. I continued on to the Going-To-The-Sun Road. I was immediatley greeted by a sign that warned me of the possibility of encountering bears. Well, I didn't see one bear or moose, but when I stopped at one turn-out spot I was charged by a tiny chipmunk. He probably saw my shiny silver helmet, then promptly retuned to his little hole in the block wall. I was later charged by one member of an open-range cattle herd. I throttled my Sportster 1200 and left that bovine in the dust. Other than the critters, Glacier is full of lakes, rivers, creeks, streams, mountians, trees, cars and motorcycles. I got to do the biker wave quite often as packs of wild hogs (Harleys) rumbled by.
Today was my first long (200 mile) motorcyle ride in over a month. It was great to get out on the road again. I'm looking forward to my next ride. I find riding very theraputic, relaxing and a great time to think and reflect. Today I found myself thinking quite a bit about our beautiful country and our wonderful National Park system and how I want to do my part to help keep them that way. Glacier is the 26th NP I have visited, with many, many more on my list to check off.
Ride on, fight on, keep the shiny side up, and see ya down the road!