The next morning we continued the rest of the way to Glacier. Finally we made it! Everyone was way excited to see the sign and get a picture. This has been a trip we all have been wanting to do for a while and here we are to spend as much time hiking and playing as we could. Russell thought it was a great birthday gift for him to be in Glacier camping and hanging with the family.
Our first stop was the Fish Creek Campground near Lake McDonald where we would be spending the week. Setting up camp was kind of tricky at first. We were in a site that was really high and smaller then we thought. It was hard to judge the camp sites on a map, but we made it work.
Once were settled in and lunches were made, we took off for our first adventures in Glacier. Before we left, we did some research on the park and made some plans on places to see. We decided to just drive the first day and see what was out there and stop along the way and see the sites.
There were so many amazing waterfalls to see and the water was so crystal clear. Some of the water even had a blue Caribbean look to it. At one of the stops along the road we were able to walk down to the water and feel the water. It was so cold that all the kids were saying that water was ice cold.
This was a cool area to pull off and see more of the sites. This is the McDonald Falls. The coolest thing about Glacier is that all this water is just winter run off. In some areas you can see where the water has come down so fast it took out huge trees and brought down large rocks with the river. All of the rock formations and waterfalls were amazing to look at.
The kids loved getting out and walking around. They especially liked walking along the rocks near the river. I kept getting worried that they would fall in the freezing water but they were just having fun.
All of the water in Glacier National Park is so clear and bright blue! We could not believe how far into the water we could see. The views were so amazing.
This area along the river was a great place to get out and walk around. The kids loved throwing rocks in the water and sticking their hands in the water as well. The water was so cold but they didn't care. While we were there, we saw another family that was getting ready to jump in the water. The little boy and the dad had a tradition to jump in every time they came to Glacier. This had been their tradition for a few years now and they came every year. We were amazed to see the little boy jump in. After Russell saw this, he wanted to jump in and do it too. Unfortunately he was not dressed with the right clothes. So he made a goal to come back later and do it.
The stops along the road were really awesome to see. After exploring them for a while, we headed to our next stop and the first area on our Glacier bucket list, Trail of the Cedars.
This was a really cool hike and the kids loved it. There were Cedar trees that were so high and about 4 feet or more around. There were other trees that were also huge and the whole forest was so thick and green. It was nice weather and all the kids did a great job hiking. All along the trail there were amazing views and things to see.
Along the hike there was a huge cedar tree that had fallen over and the root system was huge and it was like a big spider web. It was like the walking through the Redwood forest but through cedar trees.
The Trail of the Cedars was a very easy walk along a boardwalk trail through the forest. The forest was full of red cedars and western hemlocks that were so huge. These trees are over 100 feet tall and 4-7 feet around. Some of the trees in this forest were over 500 years old! It was a beautiful walk. As we were hiking through the trail we came across a bridge with a river that was bright blue.
This bridge crossed over Avalanche Creek and we could look up to the falls in the lower Avalanche Gorge. Once again the water was crystal clear and bright blue. This bridge crossed us over to the trail head of Avalanche Lake.
We decided to continue on up the trail to Avalanche Lake. This was a hike that was rated moderate and was about 4 miles round trip. We were all ready to go but we were not sure how Grandma and Grandpa were going to do. Grandma kept saying they were too old. Finally they decided to follow us up the hill. And yes it was an uphill trail.
As we walked up the hill a short ways, we were able to see the lower Avalanche Falls even better. It was so awesome to look down over the waterfall and feel the spray of water and hear the rushing of the river.
As we hiked the trail, we saw some pretty amazing views and the kids had fun playing on the rocks and in hollow tree trunks that were along side the trail. The trail was pretty long and hard because it was all up hill. I was kind of getting worried about my parents but they seemed to be doing okay as long as they went at their own pace. My mom has been losing a lot of weight over the last year and she was saying along the way that she was so happy to be making it on this hike. She said that she would not have been able to do it a year ago. Her knees were holding up and doing fine as well. We were all so proud of them.
As the kids were hiking along, they were getting really tired and bored so we had to tell them to find something interesting along the trail. They found this really cool rock slide and decided to pretend it was a slide at the park. They had a good time sliding down that thing and ruining their pants.
The next cool thing they found was these hollow logs:
It was funny because the boys were up head of everyone and Russell told them to get in the trunk and jump out when they heard the rest of us coming. Everyone laughed when they popped out and scared us. They did look pretty funny in the logs. They were kind of like Whack-A-Moles or little bear cubs.
We continued on for a little while more and finally we made it to our goal: Avalanche Lake.
What an amazing view! The lake was so clear and the mountains were so great. There coolest part was seeing 5 or 6 waterfalls coming off the mountain into the lake. It was so peaceful, quiet, and beautiful that we did not want to leave.
Like every hike we go on as a family we are all tired and hope the end is in sight. We have a new saying on hikes, "Just wait, it will be worth it at the end of the hike, because we don't know what is at the end." Boy was this hike worth every step to see what was at the end. Even the kids thought it was amazing. While we were there, we were able to see some black bears up on a mountain ridge. They were really far away so we had to use the binoculars but it was still pretty cool.
We finally decided we had better start hiking back because it would be getting dark by the time we got back to the truck. The hike down the mountain was a lot quicker than the hike up. We got to see all of the same fun things on the way back like the rock slide and the hollow logs.
When we finally got back to the trail head, we say some interesting wildlife.
We saw a deer walk right in front of us, a frog in the water, and a huge slug! This slug was giant; it was half as long as of my foot! Logan and Charlotte found a cool tree that was hollowed out. Everyone did a great job hiking and no one complained that they were tired. My mom was so glad to have made it to the top because she would probably never see this kind of scenery again. Today we walked about 6 miles! It was a great first day in Glacier.
No comments:
Post a Comment