For the third day in the park, we decided to get up really early and head to a different side of the Park. We were going to Many Glacier on the east side of the Park and meeting our friends from Canada. We drove through Going to the Sun Road again and this time we did not stop. The trip still took a while because that road is slow going. While we were driving to Many Glacier we were not sure what to expect. We actually had to go out of the Park, drive up the road quite a ways, and then go back into the Park a completely different entrance. We made it back into the park and the road was really bad, full of lots of pot holes. We wondered if this would be a run down part of the Park based on the road. We hoped we wouldn't be disappointed. This area of Glacier was different from the main Park.
When we got to the top, however, we all were in awe when we saw this huge waterfall.
Welcome to Many Glacier Falls. It was so amazing to see. Who would have thought that this was part of nature. We had to get out walk around and get an up close look at this waterfall.
We literally could have walked right into the falls. We could feel the spray on our faces. It truly was an amazing view. As we hiked back up to the truck, we were more excited for this area of the Park.
Then we drove around to the other side of the waterfall and saw another amazing view of the Many Glacier lake. This is where we decided to stop and wait for our friends.
We also had to take a nice family photo with this beautiful lake as the background. While we waited the kids had fun in the water.
Ok, the kids and Russell! The water was so clear we could see right to the bottom. There was no mud or dirt to obstruct the view in the water. We also got brave enough to put our feet in the water. The kids didn't seem to care how cold the water was. It was ice cold! But so fun. Their favorite part of being at the lake though was throwing rocks in the water. We had rock skipping contests and tried to find the smoothest and most colorful rocks. We loved it.
We couldn't find our friends so we decided to eat lunch and take a little walk around the lake. On the bridge we got an even better view of the lake and the scenery.
We were starting to get worried about our friends because we still had not found them. Unfortunately there was not any service so we couldn't even call them. We decided to walk around the lake and up the road to another picnic area to see if they were up there. We couldn't see them up there either but then as we were coming out of the bathroom, we saw their car driving around! We flagged them down and they were so glad to find us. Apparently they had been driving around searching for us as well and were about to give up when they saw our truck and the firefighter license plates. Then they found us.
We met the Wild's when we were in Nauvoo last summer and have kept in touch with them ever since. Emily and their daughter, Sineve, have become really good friends and talk on the phone a lot. These two were so happy to see each other again. The Wild's only live about an hour away from Glacier. When they heard we were coming to Glacier, they wanted to come see us.
As the kids ran around and played, Russell and I had a good time visiting and catching up with Jim and Janet. They also brought us some fun Canadian souvenirs and candy.
Instead of just sitting around, we decided to go on a hike while in Many Glacier. Jim and Sineve went with us and we had a great time. We decided on an easy hike to Red Rock Falls.
While on the hike we saw a lot of cool landmarks, flowers, views, and even this funny looking tree. The kids wanted a picture by the tree and even tried to sit in it.
As we hiked we kept watching the sky hoping it wouldn't rain but sure enough, we were caught in a storm. We were a little more than half way in by this point so we decided to keep going even in the rain. Luckily the rain stopped shortly afterward so it was fine.
And we made it to the Red Rock Falls. Once again, these falls did not disappoint and the hike was worth it.
We hiked right up to the Falls and even jumped over the river to get to the top. We told the kids to be careful and not fall in the river. But sure enough, Logan slipped and fell in the water. We all laughed and Russell pulled him out.
After exploring for a while we started heading back to the parking lot. As we were hiking back, we saw this awesome sight:
Watching this moose was seriously the best thing we saw all day. We watched him from across the lake and then we watched him swim clear across the lake toward us. When he climbed out of the water he was less than 100 feet away from us. He got out of the water and shook his head at us. It was so cool!
Then as we were walking further up the trail we saw this female moose just right by the trail. We could have pet her if we were brave. The kids were kind of scared but we told them to just be quiet and she wouldn't hurt us. We were definitely glad we decided to keep going on this hike or we would not have seen these awesome creatures.
We made our way back to the parking lot and met back up with Janet and told her all about our hike. Then we bid farewell to the Wild's and headed back to camp. Instead of going over the Going to the Sun road, we drove around the outside of the Park. It was a little longer but it was a new viewpoint. (And we needed to get gas for the truck...). When we arrived at camp we noticed that the rest of our crew had arrived. Tami, Lacie, and, Clay had made it up to Glacier for some fun.
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