This is the next to last post in a series of posts using photos from a recent 6+ week trip I took around the Western US & Canada, with a college buddy Chuck & my Australian Shepherd Gem, aka "the Mutt." I'd like to thank all who have looked at the prior posts & commented.

The prior post ended in Yellowstone Nat'l Park, which of all the parks, is my favorite. We then headed for Bozeman, MT where the tour as it had been for the last 36 days was to change. Chuck works for FEMA doing emergency response work. He returned to New England after several months of relief work & we took off less than 2 weeks later to go on this tour. At this point in our journey, he began getting requests to redeploy to one of several places hit with horrible floods. So he decided he had to go home to spend some time with his kids & grandkids before heading off for another multi-month deployment. For the record, the Mutt is crazy about Chuck ... so she was a bit lost when I dropped him off at the airport.

Then we headed North. After a quick stop at Three Forks MT, the Headwater of the Missouri where Louis & Clarke spent time, the Mutt & I continued on to Glacier Nat'l Park. If you haven't been there, you owe it to yourself to go. As it turns out, my preference to schedule the trip early in the year & avoid the summer crowds (we were traveling prior to the tourist season beginning in earnest), which had served us well the entire trip, now came back to bite me!!!!

Many years ago, I drove a road called the Highway to the Sun in Glacier NP. After a lifetime of traveling to all 50 states & several countries in both Europe & Asia, that road, IMHO, is the most scenic highway I've ever been on & I looked forward to driving it again with a good camera. However, it wasn't meant to be. I had swapped messages with a fellow Hogger ... CindyHouk who informed me her husband was involved with clearing the Highway to the Sun of snow & it was not expected to open until the middle of June. I was very disappointed, however CindyHouk graciously suggested some alternatives, which the Mutt & I enjoyed seeing. We traveled around Glacier NP as well taking a long ride just outside the park up to the Canadian Border. Beautiful ... so a big thank you to CindyHouk. You saved the day.

After Glacier, the Mutt & I drove to British Columbia through some beautiful areas including East Kootenay, BC Canada. We drove through Kootenay Nat'l Park (beautiful, except where there were some horrible fires last year) & over the mountains to Banff, our next destination. I had elected to spend the next day driving from Banff, AB through Banff Nat'l Park, up the Icefields Parkway up past the Columbia Icefields & on up through Jasper Nat'l Park to Jasper, AB Canada. Like so many other places, if you haven't seen either of these two parks, do yourself a favor & make them a destination ... they are a real treat.

For those who wish to know what I shot with, the Good-bye shot was taken with my iPhone. The Grouse, the 2 Black Bear shots & the Big Horn Sheep were all taken with an EOS 6d & an EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens. The remaining shots were taken with an EOS 5d IV & an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens.

I hope that you enjoy these & my thanks to those who have looked at prior posts & submitted comments.

Best,
Frank

I have to admit that I was very (probably should have typed that in all caps) disappointed that the Road to the Sun wasn't open when I went through. It was one of the must stop at spots I had planned from the beginning of this trip!!!! I drove it back in the early '90's & could not believe the views, wildlife & beauty of that place. To steal & edit a line from an old Bogey movie ... of all the roads in all the world ... it had to be closed!!!! But we're in agreement re: Glacier being up there with Yellowstone although it's still a sliver better for me. But then so is (IMHO), Jasper, Banff, the Grand Tetons, Petrified Forest, Capital Reef, Bryce, Grand Canyon & Sagauro Nat'l Parks. And I've not toured Alaska!!!! We're so lucky to have places like that to go to. My buddy Chuck has been after me to go to Yosemite particularly in the hope of getting a fire falls shot. I've resisted because the idea of standing with 200 other shooters to capture a shot doesn't appeal to me at all. I follow a guy who shoots in Yosemite a lot ... Michael Frye (you can find him online) ... he's one of the best scenic shooters I've seen & his work has about pushed me to give it a go. So your advice is heard & I'll get out there as well. Thanks for the visit & comments. I appreciate them.

Frank,

There are so many beautiful places. We haven't made it to any of the Utah parks yet, but they are on our list. If I had to pick the 5 most beautiful places we've ever been I would add the Icefields Parkway and Norway to the top of the list of Yosemite, Yellowstone and Glacier. We took our first cruise last summer and it was mostly Norway. Norway is THE most beautiful country we've ever seen and the cruise through the Geirangerfjord is the most beautiful place we've ever seen. I am almost finished post processing the photos from the cruise (finally) and will be posting them in the near future. We haven't been to Alaska yet, but it looks like it rivals Norway.