Dave's PhotoJournal for June 5th, Part 2 of 4

Entered the park on the west side. Stopped at the viewpoint of Lake McDonald that we saw when we were here in March. There was a gift shop there, which had been closed in the winter, where I stopped to get a couple postcards and a jigsaw puzzle.

Continued around Lake McDonals, past the point where the road had been closed for the season in March. The scenery here is so jaw-droppingly gorgeous, I could hardly believe it. It's impossible to capture the magnificence and beauty of it. I took a few pictures, but the scenery is just so BIG that it's hard to capture the essence of it. And besides, it was pretty overcast in the park, since all the moisture in the air earlier had congealed into clouds over the mountains. But still, it was incredible. I'd highly recommend a trip to the park for anyone who hasn't been there before. Personally, I intend to go back, and spend more time there, doing some hiking, and exploring areas of the park other than where the road goes through.

The road itself, called Going to the Sun Road, is an engineering marvel. For a large portion of it, there are huge cliffs, going straight down, just a few feet over from where your tires are. Crazy stuff.

The sign at the entrance to the park. I took this from the car. I didn't want to stop, because there was somebody close behind me.

Lake McDonald, from near the spot I was standing when I was here in March.

Another picture of the lake. It's neat to see how similar yet different things look when the snow is gone.

View of the lake from a small pullout further up the road.

Stopped at another pullout, and scrambled down to the lake surface. This picture can be seen in Rate Dave's Photos

Zoomed in a bit, so you can see more of the reflection. The southwestern part of the lake, near the entrance to the park, was pretty choppy, so you couldn't see any reflections. But, for some reason, the northeastern part, where this was taken, was very smooth.

A small waterfall on the river that goes along the road while you're down in the basin. This picture can be seen in Rate Dave's Photos

Looking up at one of the surrounding peaks from the road, still at the bottom of the basin.

Another view of the river.

More mountains seen from the basin.

My car parked at one of the numerous pullouts along the road.

Mountains seen across the basin soon after the road began its climb.

The mountain that a sign had identified as Heavenly Peak, although looking at a map of the park, I can't seem to find any peaks with that name.

Another view looking across the basin.

It was interesting to see how steep most of the mountains were, and to see the evidence of all of the slides that must happen throughout the winter.

Me at one of the scenic turnouts.

Me, the other direction.

Self explanatory.

The falls that the sign was pointing at.

One of the huge cliffs along the roadway.

A view from a turnout shortly before the summit of Logan Pass.

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