Day 12 – Friday, July 16
Today we are going to Glacier National Park and drive the Going to the Sun Road. The National Park Service has instituted a remit system for this park. 2 months before you want to enter the park, they put the permits on sale for $2. They keep some of the permits and put them on sale 2 days before you want to enter the park. I did not know 2 months ago, that we would be visiting the park, so I was not able to get the permit. They sell out pretty quickly. But they allow you to enter if you have reservations at the lodge, horse back riding, boating, etc. within the park. I made a reservation for the scenic boat tour, which leaves at the Lodge at Lake MacDonald. This allowed me to get into the park. We were entering through the West Glacier entrance. When we arrived, they had a ranger checking to make sure you had a permit before you got to the entrance station. We were allowed through since we had a reservation for the boat tour. At the entrance station, we showed our reservation and also, my Senior Pass and drivers license. They then let us enter. We drove to the lodge and parked. Tiger to the boat dock, you walk through the lodge and out the back door down to the dock. We traded our voucher for a ticket. The boat tour just took you around the lake with commentary about the history of the lake and surrounding mountains. After the boat tour, we continued on the road. It has some of the most beautiful scenery. I had downloaded an auto audio tour which played through my car’s speakers. It was interesting, because it gave you the history and mentioned places you should stop. After we left the park, we drove to Shelby, MT where we stopped for the night.
