Glacier - Day 3: Trail of the Cedars & Lake McDonald

Today is the planned "rest" day - shorter hike in the AM, lunch at Lake McDonald Lodge, and then a condo swim. Let's see how things go!

Well, first slight hiccup -- finding parking for our planned Trail of the Cedars hike. The hike itself was only 1 mile, but the parking situation was so bad we had to park over a half mile away! I guess we will start the day with the Going-to-the-Sun road hike. The kids were in pretty high spirits - lots of "let's pretend to be Avengers" action as we single file marched down the "highway."

Even this short intro walk had some pretty nice river spots!

The Trail of the Cedars is basically a series of wooden walkways through some ancient cedar trees. Baba posing with some mossy rocks.

NaiNai posing with her first spot of the day: Jack-o'-Lantern tree knot!

Because I sort of promised the kids it was an easier hike day, they protested mightily upon hearing that the Trail of the Cedars actually leads to the Avalanche Lake Trail hike...which is beautiful...but 4 miles long. So BaBa graciously volunteered to stay behind with the kids halfway through while I went ahead with YeYe and NaiNai for some more steps. This was actually a really nice hike -- I liked it better than Grinnell personally -- lots of varied scenery. Here's a vista:

Shaded forest with dappled lighting:

And rushing Creek along much of the way:

I actually turned around about 0.25 miles from the end (I know, why not just keep going!) - well, the twins has been complaining very heavily about how I kept going back on my word and how I said it was only a mile hike today...I knew I was close to the end (with a view of Avalanche Lake and all its waterfalls) but it would probably be another 30 min...mom guilt is strong!

Here's a photo of what I WOULD have seen (YeYe and NaiNai did go all the way). They did say it was pretty crowded but you wouldn't know it from this lovely photo of serenity!

Adding a particularly nice wildlife shot from NaiNai as well:

Meanwhile, the kids were very happy to see me return and start heading back to the cars for lunch.

They even obliged me with some photo posing!

They actually showed me some cool tips with the phone camera -- I didn't know you could do a vertical panorama! This might be one of my favorite shots of the trip so far:

So...next hiccup of the day, because we made it back to the car sooner, we headed down to Lake McDonald Lodge sooner and started on lunch. Well...lunch went by and no sight of YeYe and NaiNai. The lack of reception in the park meant that we had some ships passing in the night moments -- everyone eventually gave up trying to find each other and we took two separate cars back to the condo. I felt a little bad that we didn't really have a proper Lake McDonald outing though so we stopped at a pullout. I was honestly just hoping for a landscape photo...but turns out there was a walk down to a beachy area and a ton of perfect stones for skipping. 

Turns out I'm pretty bad at skipping stones. Everyone else was getting three or four regularly but I could only manage a two-skip (and even that only twice out of a dozen or so attempts). So instead I practiced my new vertical panorama-taking skills. 😆 

Reiya actually was brave enough to go in the actual lake. 

Yeah after that reaction no one else followed her. 

Another obligatory cousin group shot - big smiles all around.

At R's request, a shot of them triumphantly throwing handfuls of pebbles in the lake. 

That's it for today -- another beautiful day in Glacier!

After we made it back to the condo, it was pretty late already so we nixed the swim plan and instead utilized the condos full kitchen to scrounge together a hearty meal of camping supply leftovers. With full bellies, we watched as Argentina nearly got shown up by Cape Verde (crazy!) and then headed to bed. Tomorrow, we have our Logan Pass Shuttles...crossed fingers for Highline opening up!

Glacier - Day 2: St. Mary's Lake & Going-to-the-Sun Road

We woke up to some nice blue skies...glad the rains are behind us! We headed off from our Tiny Home in Saint Mary's Village towards the Rising Sun boat dock.

Much anticipation for this boat ride! Lots of reports of bears in the area...so much so that they actually cancelled the hike portion of the boat trip because the bears have been frequenting the dock area. All the kids have their brand new binoculars at the ready.

On the right here is some of the oldest rock in Glacier, our boat guide said over 1 billion years old. Almost seems like it must be an exaggeration. But apparently this rock was so hard that the glacier that carved down and made the whole valley ended up going around the rock, this leaving the rock behind for us to see. 

Baba enjoying the view. 

They had a rule that only 4 people could be out on the bridge at a time -- so we had to take turns taking group photos. B made a deer spotting...but alas, no bears. 

I thought it was still a nice excursion, would recommend - I don't think it really matters which specific boat ride you do (between Lake Mary or Many Glacier or Lake MacDonald), but it's nice to see the mountains from a different perspective. 

After the boat ride, we grabbed a quick lunch and then packed up the car for our scenic drive down the main attraction at Glacier National Park: Going to the Sun Road. 

Really impressive vistas the entire way. One can definitely see why it's a national park. 

Snapped this pic of Siyeh creek from the car, I'm including it here because I was impressed with my action shot framing. 😊 

But soon we made it to our action adventure stop - Logan Pass and the Hidden Lake Overlook hike. Armed with some hiking poles and raincoats (you'll see why soon enough), off we went. Three hour limit for parking at Logan Pass so we are on the clock for this hike! (As a side note, I can definitely see cars circling for hours in order to get a parking spot to do this hike. We got a little lucky with a family passing by our car while we were waiting...but we overheard someone else saying they'd been waiting for a spot for 45 minutes!)

It was categorized as an "easy-medium" hike but it was actually quite physically challenging because of all the snow. Many rests were taken on the way up. 

New wildlife spotting: Marmot!

We were slipping quite a bit in the melting snow. I was very very glad I had the hiking poles with me! (Well, as you can see in the background here, Baba stole one). The children were slipping too but they seemed to take it in stride. (Haha?)

The effort was rewarded though. We got some out of this world views towards the top. Reminded me of Death Valley in that foreign planet-esque landscape way, though obviously here with snow and ice fields instead of burning hot sand dunes. 

We eventually made it to the very top of the mountain - my attempt at a panorama. 

This is where we embarked on the much anticipated snow sledding runs. See those groves in the snow? That's where we are supposed to sit down and slide away.

Video proof of me sliding. I didn't have a rain coat to sit on, so I tried doing it with a plastic shopping bag. Notice the kids going crazy at the beginning because they were so surprised that I actually participated. The plastic bag method didn't work so well...but it was fun! As the kids say, "low key tough." (That means unexpectedly cool btw). 

After the slide, somehow slipping around a bit on each step seemed less problematic. Worst case, I just fall and slide again!

This person went about the descent a different way -- they lugged skies all the up and took a run down!

It took us about an hour to get up to the top and down the slide. Getting back to the parking lot after that was probably only 30 min or so. But we still rested at times to enjoy the view. 

Everyone told me they did NOT expect me to slide down. So they were very proud of MaMa!

We made it back to the car well within our 3 hour time limit and continued the drive west on Going to the Sun Road. 

We didn't make any more stops because we were worried about getting to our dinner reservation. Turns out our anxieties were unnecessary -- there really wasn't much traffic to deal with -- I guess the new shuttle pass system must be working? We ended up at Belton Chalet over a hour earlier than our reservation. They were kind enough to still sear us immediately though! L enjoying her first Italian soda!

Belton Chalet had some very nice food. Definitely a culinary highlight of the trip. Here's B's trout:

YeYe's filet with asparagus and carrots:

My ribeye with broccolini:

Nainai 's scallops:

And the huckleberry cheesecake (made with ricotta, very rich, almost a little salty because of the cheese, my preferred flavor profile for cheesecakes!).

The restaurant gave us the cheesecakes for free as a birthday gift for the kids - the waitress was so nice and helpful -- and turns out she is a West Virginia native! I would definitely recommend Belton Chalet's dining room if you're out in West Glacier. It was practically walkable from the West Glacier Park entrance so very convenient for anyone staying on the west side of the park. 

After we finished dinner, we headed out to Meadow Lake Resort & Condos where we would be staying for the remainder of the Glacier trip. Three nights here...felt like such a luxury to be able to actually unpack clothes. 😆 

I forgot to take photos of the condo before we called it a night -- but it is a world of difference from tiny homes and camping tents: three TVs (with world cup channels!), washer & dryer IN the unit, and even a swimming pool and hot tub on the grounds!

We tried not to stay up too late though -- tomorrow, our plan is to hike Trail of the Cedars and check out Lake McDonald Lodge, maybe with some condo pool time thrown in for good measure. Day 2 out!

Glacier - Day 1: Grinnell / Many Waters

We've been coming out to Montana basically every year since the twins were born and have driven and hiked around Yellowstone countless times, but this is the first time we are making the longer trek out to the other crown jewel of the state: Glacier National Park. 

I have to admit that I come into the trip with a little trepidation -- so many people have told me how amazing Glacier is that I'm a little worried it can't possibly live up to all the hype. We shall see!

First off, we have to make a note on the weather. I know July 4th weekend is really the "kickoff" for the summer season in GNP, but I wasn't expecting HOW cold it could be. We actually had a winter weather advisory the week before the trip based on the wet snow expected in higher elevations! Last Christmas, I recall there being a couple 50 degree+ days -- crazy that the daily high for a couple days in late June was actually LOWER than it was in December! Check out how much snow there is on Lone Peak. 

Thankfully though, the sun rolled back in and the cold blew away in time for the trip.

[Mini interlude here: I am not much of a camper...so the twins and their cousin B along with YeYe and NaiNai actually went off to GNP a few days before Baba and I to actually camp with tents and sleeping bags and so on. Well...it was a bit of an adventure. Tents flying away because of the high wind. Campgrounds being evacuated because of flash floods. S'mores not being able to be made because the sideways rain kept blowing out the fire. Won't go into more detail since I wasn't actually there. But let's just say...good for building character and fortitude? 😆]

We drove over to Browning the night before, Glacier Peaks Casino was a pretty standard hotel, continental breakfast and all. Very much on the way, and big savings tip: gas in browning was about $2/gallon cheaper than at the park entrance! 

My original hope for the first day was to hike to Grinnell Glacier...turns out that is over 10 miles and also closed for snow conditions...so I was persuaded to change the plan to a Grinnell Lake hike instead (7 miles). That trail was also closed due to flooding from the last few days but luckily opened up again the day we arrived! So off we went. The hike basically hugs the shores of several interconnected lakes, so very pretty water/forest/mountain views the entire way.

We started a little before noon so our first stop came pretty early to combat increasing hangry-ness. As you can see from the clothing, it was a little chilly still!

Why does she look like a guilty chipmunk? I asked her for a bit of her half-eaten king sized candy bar about 10 seconds earlier. "Oomph oomph...what candy bar?"

Ran into a few forest friends. They were so close I almost forgot they were wild.

Proof that R has inherited Baba's penchant for non-standard photo expressions. 

The view at the end of the 3.5 miles was quite lovely. 

I am always a sucker for rickety bridges. But thought this video also helps demonstrate how high the water is!

The hike also included a mini detour to the "Hidden" waterfall.

I thought it was worth the extra 0.3 mile ascent.

Baba did not agree. He decided to skip the waterfall and enjoy a rest instead.  

Shot of the camping crew enjoying the much sunnier and dryer weather!

The 3.5 mile return went by much more quickly than the going out - the sun had also come out in some force since our departure, making the paths thankfully much less muddy too. 

Another "little" waterfall scene peeking from between the trees. 

The walk back also included our most exciting wildlife encounter of the day.

Funniest part of that moose encounter? Toss-up between: 1) Ooh a moose! Everyone immediately whips out.....the cell phones. Because clearly you protect yourself from a potential moose attack not by being on alert with bear spray but by photographing and videotaping the encounter. And 2) kids almost entirely missing the moose because they were captivated by the chipmunk in the path further ahead. In their defense, the ground squirrels and chipmunks ARE quite adorable. 

We ended up with some apres-hike drinks and nosh at Many Glacier Hotel (a bit run down and showing its age...but clearly hitting those Alpine/Swiss/Sound of Music vibes). Best find of the menu? Duck wings. I think it was the sweet chili glaze more than the duck limbs being that much more succulent than their chicken cousins, but let's just say we ended up with...4 or 5 orders of those wings. 

After that we drove back to St. Mary's Village to check in to our Tiny Home rental for the evening. It was in fact quite tiny. But it came with a HUGE bathroom. Like jet spray soaker tub and sauna like room larger than the size of the bedroom in the Tiny Home. 

Only downside was that the bathroom was unattached, so you had to put on shoes and walk outside to get to it. But I still enjoyed it quite a bit! L/R also appreciated having a full size shower/tub for the first time in a week or so. 

All in all, good first day at Glacier! Tomorrow, we have a boat ride and then the much anticipated Going to the Sun road drive. Night night!