Going to Glacier National Park late August this year.

[Staph]

3. My father grew up in Cut Bank, Montana, about 50 miles from the Park.

We used to go west to visit relatives about every other year. My suggestions:

• Day hike everywhere. There's a ranger station in Apgar Village, where you can maps and loads of advice.
  
• Take the boat tour of Lake McDonald. Lovely!
  
• Visit the various lodges. They are an old style of architecture that no one makes any more, because those massive logs simply aren't available any more. The food in the lodges is okay, nothing to write home about, but it might be worth it just for the experience.
  
• Go to Eddie's Cafe in Apgar and have huckleberry ice cream. Trust me!
  
• I've never done it, but I'm told that the old-fashioned bus rides over Going To The Sun highway is amazing. I've driven it myself many times, but never done the tour in the soft-topped bus.
  
• You might want to wander over to Browning, just east of the park on US 2, to see the Museum of the Plains Indians. It's run by the Blackfoot, whose reservation is the vast plains to the east.
  
• One of my family's favorite things is a quick stop at the Amazing Fun Center, in Coram, west of the park on the way to Kalispell. Their two-story maze is just a hoot!
  
• Also on US 2, on the park's southern border is the town of Essex, which used to be the point where the trains headed east and west picked up or dropped off extra engines to make it over the Continental Divide. There is an interesting hotel there, the Izaak Walton Inn, that was once the hotel for the train crews. They have a nice but pricy restaurant, and a great collection of engines and cabooses. Worth the stop!
  
• Check out the website ( http://www.nps.gov/glac/index.htm ) for much more information, including road and trail status. I know, you're going in August. About five years ago, we crossed Logan Pass on July 6, about three days after the last of the snow was plowed and the pass finally opened for the year.
  
• Be prepared for any kind of weather. I've been to this area of Montana in the months of May, June, July, August, September and November. I've seen it snow in Montana in the months of May, June, July, August, September and November. You have been warned.