I divided this trip to the Pacific Northwest into four parts, each featuring a national park. They include Glacier, North Cascades, Olympic, and Rainier National Parks, and also include a variety of rivers and lakes along the way.

Part 1: Back to Glacier As you probably know by now, I headed out for my trip to Washington and Oregon last Friday. It took about 7 days to get back to Glacier National Park (GNP) because I took advantage of three days of wonderful paddling (kayaking) last weekend. I had a chance to paddle the Upper Youghiogheny in western Maryland with about 6 boating buddies from central PA. and then paddled the Upper and Lower Gauley in West Virginia. Along the way I made some new boating friends and caught up with at least 2 dozen people who'd seen my Facebook post about this trip. It was a fabulous send off for me! After Sunday's run on the Upper Gauley, it was time to head west. Three and a half days of pretty much non stop driving along the northern route (I 94 and Rt 2) got me to my first stop at Glacier. I'm back because I didn't have a chance to hike the Highline Trail or paddle the McDonald creek when I was here in June. At that time, the Highline Trail was still closed because of snow and ice on the trail, and McDonald Creek was closed in order to protect gaggles of nesting Harlequin ducks. I received permission to paddle the creek (it's not always easy to get permission to paddle in the national parks) and I got going on the Highline hike. The Highline Trail more or less follows the Continental Divide and a mountain formation called the Garden Wall. A lot of people believe this is the best trail in the park, and some guidebooks even suggest it is the best trail in the whole US park system. (I'd say it is a "top ten" trail for me.) Right at the start of the trail I met a cool young couple, Kara and Alex from Portland, and we ended up hiking the whole 12 mile trail together. Along the way, we chatted with lots of other hikers and we were joined by a couple from Pittsburgh. The social aspect was fun all by itself, but there were also the spectacular views along the way, as you can see from the pics I've attached. Although I had permission to paddle McDonald Creek, I decided to scout it first to make sure it would be safe and fun. Unfortunately, the water level was quite low, which would have made the flat sections quite frustrating and the rapids quite dangerous. So instead of paddling the creek, I hiked along most of the rapids and got some pretty decent shots. Having done what I came back to Glacier to do, I plan to hit the road and head for the North Cascades NP in western Washington state tomorrow. Stay tuned! Pictures: First one is St. Mary Lake, on the easten side of Glacier. Next is me on the Highline Trail in Glacier. Next six are along the Highline Trail. Three after that are several rapids along McDonald Creek. Last two are shimmering aspens along Macdonald Lake