We made it to Glacier National Park!
In the morning we woke up at the RV park we stayed at that night and had breakfast outside on a picnic table just enjoying the sunshine. Then we hit the road again for the last couple hours before getting into Glacier. As we started driving though, we noticed that something was wrong with the air conditioning in the truck. We stopped in a little town and tried to wash all of the bug guts out of the radiator thinking that was the problem but that didn't help. We also bought some Freon to try and recharge it but it was still full. We had no idea what was wrong with the air conditioner so we drove on hoping it would fix itself eventually. It was a hot drive with the windows down the whole time.
Finally, we made our way to Glacier. We stayed on the east side of Glacier which is a little less touristy than the west side. We stayed at the Divided Creek campground and it was really nice and quiet. We were supposed to meet Jen and Traci there with their families but they had not arrived yet. Instead of wasting the day waiting, we decided to head into the Park and see some sites.
The first place we stopped was St. Mary's Lake. This area is so beautiful! Okay the whole Park is beautiful! We knew this week would be full of hikes so we strapped on our backpacks and got started. Emily and I still needed to practice with our heavy packs for the 50 miler so I packed Brooklyn in the baby carrier and Emily packed everyone's snacks and lunches in her pack. We were the pack mules for the whole trip!
The first hike we did was to Barring, St. Mary's, and Virginia Falls. We started from the St. Mary's Lake parking lot and hiked about 6.5 miles.
The beginning of the hike was not too bad. The trail wound around the lake for about a mile overlooking St. Mary's Lake and the surrounding mountains. The wild flowers were in bloom and it was so pretty. A mile into the hike we made it to Barring Falls.
This is a really pretty waterfall that looks like it comes right out of the mountain. The kids had a good time exploring the river and waterfall while we were there. They rock hopped across the river to get right up close to the waterfall. They loved feeling the water spray on them when they were close to the waterfall. The water was so cold though! I think Logan even walked behind the falls. Using the GoPro, Colby put the camera in the river and the water was so clear he could see everything underwater. That is one thing about Glacier, the water is so clear everywhere you go. Emily and I were kicking ourselves because we should have brought our water filter to try out and drink the clear Glacier water. I am sure it would have been so good! Next time...
We continued walking down the trail for about another mile until we reached St. Mary's Falls.
Unfortunately, we were right in the line of the sun so the pictures did not turn out very well. This waterfall was quite amazing as well though. Because of the step down of the ledges, St. Mary's looked like a double waterfall. The trail went across a big bridge right next to the waterfall so the water was rushing right under us and we could feel the spray. We did not stay very long at St. Mary's Falls because there were a ton of people there. There was a whole group of people who were cliff jumping off of the bridge and the surrounding banks into the river and swimming in the slower pools. They looked like they were having so much fun but I was freezing just thinking about it! Russell and the kids wanted to join them though! They were wishing they had their swimming suits on. We decided we should come back with the Cardons and Stewarts and try swimming.
We kept hiking and this is where the trail got a little steeper. For the next mile, we hiked uphill to Virginia Falls, the best and biggest one of the three falls.
The trail did a little side jaunt to the base of the falls and the view from here was just wow!
Amazing! I could have sat there looking at it all day but we were not done. We got back on the trail and walked further up to get right next to the Virginia Falls waterfall. We could feel the water splashing on us and could put our hands in the waterfall.
This was pretty spectacular! It definitely made the hike up with the heavy pack worth it. We stayed here and just watched the water rush over the cliff for quite a while. It was so peaceful because we were the only ones there. Sadly, we realized it was starting to get late so we knew we had to hurry back to the truck before it got dark. As we hiked back, it was a little easier and faster because it was downhill. The scenery was breathtaking and I loved it.
We even saw some wildlife throughout the hike like deer, squirrels, butterflies, birds, and more. Luckily no bears!
Back at the parking lot, we ate dinner and relaxed for a minute after our long hike. I couldn't get enough of the views.
Back at camp, the Cardons and Stewarts were there waiting for us in their camp. They had spent the day at Flathead Lake and had just gotten to camp a few hours after us. All of the cousins were so excited to see each other. We were especially excited to see the Cardons because it had been a couple years since we had been with them.
We all took a evening stroll down to the river next to our camp and had a rock skipping contest.
The sunset was amazing so I made everyone get in for a picture. I love being in the mountains! We were all excited to get to spend the next few days together exploring this beautiful National Park.
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