Callie's Trip to Glacier National Park

Callie's First Day in Glacier National Park

Callie is up early on the first day of her vacation to Glacier National Park.  She can't wait to go hiking, see the beautiful scenery, and maybe spot a few animals.  She starts off, her backpack on, to see what she finds in the area that she is staying.

The first thing she observes is a strange wildflower. A big white poof of smaller flowers that form a kind of cylinder.

She looks it up in her field guide and finds out it's called "bear grass".  What an odd name, Callie thinks to herself as she continues along her hike.

She hears birds calling to each other as she walks along the path, sometime catching a glimpse of them as the flutter away from her, but she can never really see them well.  She hopes that she can see some wildlife, as long as it isn't a bear. A fallen tree catches Callie's eyes with it's twisted branches and roots.

She stops to explore the mangled mess wondering what might have taken off much of the bark.  Did a bug do this?  Or an animal?  Or was it something else?  She looked around some more, then continued on her hike.

Suddenly Callie found herself surrounded by beautiful yellow wildflowers, filling a small valley between the trees.

The sun shine off the long stems.  Speckled throughout the field are fire weed, a purple stalk flower.  Callie loves the way the fire weed stands out from the rest of the field.

She spends a few moments in the field admiring the beauty of the flowers and the surrounding trees before pushing on.

Coming around a corner in the trail Callie gasps as she gets her first view of the Rocky Mountains.  A long field of more wildflowers spreads out in front of her, tall pine trees flank the field on either side, and beyond the pines are the peaks of the mountains.

Some are covered with white snow, while others have pine trees covering their summit.  Still others have only rock at the tops.  Taking out her camera, she snaps photo after photo, not able to get enough of how beautiful this area is.

She thinks of setting up camp right here, but decides that the grass and flowers are a bit too high.  So she continues on.

The trail winds through the forest, mostly coniferous tress (pines and fir trees) but there are some deciduous trees hidden in the vast see of needles.  The mountains poke through the curtain of pine trees as Callie walks.  Each time she sees the mountains she stops and marvels at the beauty.  Eventually she comes to an area with nice flat ground, that overlooks the valley and the mountains on the other side.

She sets down her backpack and begins setting up her tent.  She sticks the poles together, then puts them through the loops.

At the top of the tent there is a cross piece that all of the poles fit into.  Once the poles are all in the cross, she bends them ever so slightly and slides them into a cloth sleeve at the bottom of the tent...Voila!

The tent is up.  Sitting down in the tent, she arranges her sleeping bag, backpack, and pillow.  She looks out the tent at the beautiful scenery and starts to think about what she is going to do tomorrow.

Soon, she drifts off to sleep, still dreaming of the adventures she will have in Glacier National Park.

Check back for more of Callie's adventure in Glacier National Park.