The hotel was noisy in the evening, but it didn’t seem to affect me much. I fell asleep pretty quickly. When I woke up a little while later, the hotel was quiet. I woke up at 4:30am and went down to the little fitness center for an hour. They only had dumbbells and a treadmill, but I was still able to cobble together a work out. When I got back to the room everyone was still asleep even after my shower. However, Jada started waking up, and then the girls finally woke up. I put the swim suits in the guest use dryer after getting the girls started on breakfast. They had a nice spread with the waffle makers, eggs, meats, and cereals. We sure love those free breakfasts. We watched the start of the World Cup match between Slovakia and Italy, the girls couldn’t take their eyes off the T.V. and were super-excited when Slovakia scored their first goal.
We were on the road by 7:45am. It was a little later than I would have liked, but we only had a hair over 4 hours of driving ahead, so it was ok. We crossed into Idaho after only 5 minutes, and we were through the state by 9am since we were driving across the panhandle. When we entered Montana, we also entered the Mountain time zone, so we lost an hour immediately. We pretty much spent the day without a signal on our phones, so we couldn’t send updates. Even the GPS functionality of our Garmin was impacted by the mountains. While crossing the Flathead reservation, we got stuck in an 8 mile construction zone where we had to follow a pace car. There were massive dump trucks working throughout, so the girls enjoyed that. We lost a good 30 minutes going 35 miles an hour instead of the ridiculous 70 mph they allow on these little 2 lane highways in MT. Jada “firsted” Flathead Lake (thanks, Mr. James). We stopped for gas in West Glacier before pulling into the park around 1:40pm. We paid $25 for a 7 day pass since we’ll be here for 4 days/3 nights. We found out that the Going to the Sun highway that we saw online the previous night as closed for snow plowing had just opened at noon all the way through. So that was exciting news. We ate a quick picnic lunch behind the Apgar Village visitor center, and we checked into our motel in Apgar Village at the southern end of Lake McDonald, walked over to look at the lake, and took a couple pictures as it started to sprinkle. The sprinkles didn’t last long. We walked around the visitors center to get some ideas for hikes. The one I had wanted to do most is still buried under 20 feet of snow. The girls picked up a couple Junior Ranger work books that they can fill in, talk to a ranger, and get an official badge for the park. We went back to the motel room to unpack, and plan for the next 2 days. The girls filled in their ranger books, Jada took a nap, and I worked on the journal. I sat outside for a little bit while the girls played in their room. This motel has two separate areas for the beds, which is nice, but the other room doesn’t have a door, so the bathroom light hits them square in the face when they’re in their bed. While I was sitting outside, a thunderstorm rolled across the north end of Lake McDonald. I watched the rain fall as it obscured the mountains at the other end of the lake and the thunder rolled. I saw two bolts of lighting over the lake. I don’t have a hair trigger on the camera though, so I couldn’t get anything good.
Before dinner we went over to check out the gift shop where I bought my Glacier National Park sticker to put on the box. The first of what I hope to be one from each park on this trip. We stopped by the visitor center again to get the girls’ National Parks passports stamps and cancellations since we had forgotten them the first time. We decided to grab dinner at a place called Eddie’s right next to our motel, though not affiliated with them. It was pretty standard fare. There was still time to visit the Discovery Cabin after dinner where rangers hold children’s activities every day. We got to chat with a ranger who showed us about horns versus antlers. Antlers are shed every year, and they are solid throughout whereas horns are never shed and are hollow. He also showed pelts of different animals that can be found in the park. The usual comment about how they get the pelts if they aren’t supposed to kill anything in the park came up. I joked that not all big horned sheep are sure footed. That’s when he told us about how the wolverine will push the sheep off cliffs to kill and eat them. When he pulled out the wolverine pelt, Jada and I simultaneously held up our fist and said, “Wolverines!” like in the ’80’s cult classic Red Dawn. He knew exactly what we were talking about, and he turned to us and said, “I can’t even come up with a decent retort I was so taken off guard.” We had him sign the girls’ Jr. Ranger booklets as the last step to getting their badges, but the visitors center closed just as we were walking over. We’ll have to do it in the morning. As we were walking back to our motel room, we heard horns coming from a little clearing across the street. There were 3 folks playing Swiss horn music. We listened to them for a while before coming back to get the girls ready for bed. We got them into bed around 7pm (though really, it was only 6pm to them. And they took almost exactly an hour to fall asleep. Jada and I sat out in front of our room in the evening air. It’s been a warm all day. Probably in the mid 70’s here, though we did hit 80’s during the middle of the day I think in the valleys we drove through. I walked back over to Eddie’s to pick up a Huckleberry cobbler for dessert. It was quite yummy. I now feel a little bit too full, but it was totally worth it. Once the mosquitoes starting going after me, we came inside, but we could still see the lake and moraine from our room’s front window as I typed this.
So one of the things I thought I would mention is how awesome my wife, Jada, is. She put together a curriculum this summer for the girls to do while in the car. They love homework, and this is a little like home schooling. Each day, Jada provides the girls with a new book that they have to read and do a writer’s response in their notebooks while also looking for “juicy” words (those are words that they like the sound of that aren’t typical descriptors). Like the forests we drove through today weren’t just green. They were a deep fervent green. After 2 days, it’s been working ok. The thing we haven’t been able to accomplish is piano time. I don’t have batteries for the keyboard. We’ll try to do that tomorrow morning before we change our location to the camp ground.
June 25: Day 3 - Glacier National Park, Montana
The girls woke up at 5:50am. We tried to get them back to sleep, but by 6:10am, we gave up. They came to lay in bed with Jada while I went to take my shower since it would be the last time we’d be able to have one for a while. The shower was just a stand up stall, and it was tiny. I couldn’t turn around without knocking into the faucet handle or opening the curtain. The water was either way too hot or too cold, and there was no water pressure to speak of. When Jada heard my report on the shower, she declined. We ate cereal in our motel room, and the girls played some piano to get some practice in at least. We were packed and checked out of our room by 9am so we could meet up with at the visitor center for a light ranger led hike. Before we got started, the girls were officially sworn in as Junior Rangers by Ranger Teagan, and they were presented with their official Glacier Jr. Ranger Badges. The hike itself was probably around 2 miles long. It wasn’t challenging other than the mud. It’s been raining a lot in MT as well. While we stopped to check out a beaver lodge on the other side of McDonald creek, we saw a bald eagle fly over head. I enjoyed the hike, and the girls (and all the kids on the hike) got really cool buttons commemorating the 100 year anniversary of Glacier NP that you can’t buy in the stores. When we got back, we had a picnic lunch before driving 11 miles up the Going to the Sun highway to the McDonald Lodge for a ranger led cruise on Lake McDonald. We were riding on a boat called the DeSmet which has been guiding people on this lake for 80 years, and we thought was appropriate since that’s one of the stops we’ll be making in a few more days. As we waited to board, we watched a storm roll over the moraine opposite the boat dock. It didn’t come over to us, but we could hear the thunder and see the lightning. Phoebe started to panic a little bit before we started to pull away from the dock. She just wanted off the boat. However, the storm blew over, and by the end of the trip, she was sitting at the seats on the bow of the boat enjoying herself. There were sprinkles starting again as we pulled into the dock even as we were in full sun. The girls each chose a key chain as a souvenir from the gift shop that they bought with their own money. Why is it that kids like key chains so much? I remember always wanting them too even though I didn’t have any keys. They hooked them to their Camelbacks.
Anyway, we drove back towards West Glacier to pick up some dinner things to cook up, but it started to rain as we got to the turn off. Then it started to pour followed by pounding rain. It had eased up by the time we came out of the store, but it started up again as we went back into the park towards Fish Creek campground where we had our site reserved. It was raining, thundering, lightning, and hailing as we pulled through the camp ground entrance. When I rolled my window down to get the paper with the details, I got absolutely soaked. We found our camp site (D174), and sat in the car thinking of options. The thought of trying to go back and get another room for the night came up. However, after 15 minutes sitting there, the rain eased up enough to start the tent. There were puddles all over the camp site, but the pad for the tent was firm. We got everything set up, and by the time we started dinner, the rain had stopped completely. In hind sight, it probably would have been better to just wait a little longer in the car to avoid the wetness altogether, but it wasn’t too bad. Jada whipped up chicken and rice with green beans for dinner. Then I cooked up some bratwurst to cut up for eggs in the morning. The girls worked on their journals while we got things set up in the tent. The site is located at a trail head the goes all along the shore of the lake. There was a family coming out of the trail who asked how we got this site since it was the most coveted of all the sites. I wasn’t entirely sure why since it was on the downhill side of the camp ground, so all the rain water seem to pool here, but it is right on the lake. However, so are the other 3 sites on this side of the loop. It wasn’t until after we put the kids to bed and finished packing up all of our cooking supplies in the car (so we don’t attract bears) that the park host stopped by to see if there was anything that we needed. He told us that it was the most sought after site in the park as well, and he told us why. It turns out that it’s not just because of the location, though that is nice since we can just see the peaks of the rockies, but because while he was Vice President, George HW Bush and Barbara tent camped in this very site where we’re staying tonight. It’s referred to as the “Presidential Suite.” So, there’s that.
The downside of this site is that people think they can just walk through to climb down the hill to the lake side. We had to ask some people to not walk through because our kids were already in bed. I also didn’t get enough wood. I got some kindling which entertained the girls for a while, but I should have gotten some logs as well. The problem is, I’m not sure where to pack them if I don’t use it all. The car is pretty full. We’re doing ok, though. Our initial supplies are lasting, and we’re making room in the back of the Subaru as we consume, so that’s good. We haven’t had trouble finding anything, and should we have times where we can’t find a store to get some meat, we can always subsist on our other more snacky items.
June 26: Day 4 - Glacier National Park Going to the Sun Highway
I was up at 1:30 am for my usual bathroom stop. No bears. Ellen woke up with a bloody nose at 4:50am, so I took both she and Phoebe to the bathroom to get it out of the way. No bears. We all got up at 6:30am. Breakfast was scrambled eggs with yellow peppers and bratwurst, and Jada made the pancakes. Yes...this is the way camping is supposed to be. The weather was chilly, but clear (probably around 45 degrees when we got up), but it warmed through breakfast until just before we left. I went up to the registration gate to get our tag for the day since we didn’t get them both the day before (we registered for the 2 days separately as we were planning our trip out and found we could stay here longer). Just as we were about to leave, we got our first injury as Phoebe tripped on the same root she’d been hopping over since we got here and scraped her palm. Jada got her cleaned up, and we were on the Going to the Sun highway by 9:20am. This is a 52 mile roadway that was completed sometime in the early 1900’s. (neither of us can recall the year now) from the west entrance to the park at West Glacier and Apgar Village to the east entrance to the park at St. Mary. It takes us up and over the Continental Divide at Logan Pass.
We started out the trip following Lake McDonald exchanging that for the McDonald river at the north end. We followed that all the to the the long switchback called the Loop. The river was the beautiful shade of blue-green that is characteristic of all the lakes and rivers around here and a calling card of the age of glaciers. It is a by-product of glacial flow grinding the stone it glides over into rock flour. The rock flour doesn’t sink, so it stays suspended in the water making it show as the brilliant blue-green hue. We stopped at many of the roadside pull outs to gaze in awe at the scenery. My favorite were the many waterfalls caused by snow melt that have carved the rock faces into stair steps. The girls enjoyed the feature called the Weeping Wall where the snowmelt runs over a long stretch of rock face and sprays the cars as they drive past. There was even a tunnel near the Loop where the water came spilling over the exit of the tunnel on the uphill side that was reminiscent of one of the water rides from San Diego. We had our sun roof open, so that made it even more like a ride. One of Jada’s favorites was something called the hanging valleys which were formed while the glaciers were sitting at the bottom of mountains. As the glacial ice flowed on or melted, it left the rest of the valley at the edge of a sheer cliff face carved off by the glacier. It’s all very dramatic. We didn’t see any bears again, but we did see 2 big horned sheep on the Continental Divide at Logan Pass (6600ft). We took the traditional picture of the girls in the 10 feet of snow at the visitors center. This is the thinnest section of the Rocky Mountain range, so on the way down the east side we got to see something called the Triple Divide. This is a unique spot where all the run off can go 3 different directions. Instead of just the west side going to the Columbia River and out to the Pacific and the east side draining to the Mississippi River and down to the Gulf of Mexico, this peak had a third side that went to the Saskatchewan River and into the Hudson Bay. Along this stretch we also got to see where the only Glacier viewable from the road is located. It’s called Jackson Glacier, but you can’t really see the glacier itself because it’s still covered by so much snow this time of year. Current estimates are that all the glaciers in this park may be gone by 2030, or even as soon as 2020.
We had a picnic lunch at St. Mary’s visitor center which is the terminus of the Going to the Sun highway. We had a picnic lunch in the parking lot, and started our return trip stopping at stops where we couldn’t on the way down due to too many other cars there. We drove by the second largest lake of St. Mary on the way back into the mountains. We were on the Weeping Wall side on the way back, so we got a bit wet. It never got really cold even at the pass, and we were lucky with the weather since it was mostly sunny all day, too. The round trip drive is 104 miles, but you hardly notice it with all the amazing views.
We stopped back in West Glacier Village to pick up some firewood and ice so we could roast marshmallows and save a stop in the morning for ice. We went for a quick walk on the trail that leads right from our camp site, and we let the girls touch the cold water of Lake McDonald. No bears on that walk either...and probably not entirely because the girls kept making loud noises to be sure we wouldn’t startle on. Jada worked her well planned miracles once again turning our leftovers from the previous night and that morning’s breakfast into a yummy stir fry. I was able to get a fire going as the girls cheered me on. We popped some popcorn for the girls to eat using jiffy pop and our camp stove (we’ve tried the fire before...it’s not a great idea.) Phoebe was helpful during clean up walking with me to the waste water sink to dump our dish washing water. We walked through a camp site that was neither reserved nor taken all weekend, and Phoebe couldn’t believe it. As she said, it had a great stump to sit on, it was close to the bathroom, and it even had a spider web in the fire pit. In her eyes, these are the key features to look for in any good camp site, I guess. She also tried to match my gait step for step for a while. She actually succeeded for a little bit. We got the girls to bed at 7pm, but as usual, it took them almost an hour to actually fall asleep. Jada and I roasted marshmallows and sat by the fire until it burned itself out. The sun was still shining off the moraine on the opposite side of the lake. We could hear the lapping of the waves on the rocks below. The wind was starting to get chilly, but it was still quite pleasant. It was a nice last evening. Hopefully we can still avoid bears when I go to the bathroom tonight, and the mountain storms don’t rear up.