Day 7: July 10, 2009

It took us some time to get ready to leave on day 7 (second day in Glacier).  We had a great breakfast and decided to head across the park to see the Saint Mary area.  Our drive across was in better weather than our previous day's journey to Logan Pass.  Across the pass we ran into a bear jam, and finally saw what appeared to be a Black Bear a very long ways off the road.  We made it through and got to the Saint Mary Visitor Center.



You probably can't see it, but there is in fact a Black Bear in this picture.

  We spent a large amount of time at the Saint Mary Visitors' Center.  Jacob, Nathan, and Grandpa Gary were waiting on the rangers to get back from lunch so we could get a back country camping permit.  They did have a very  nice relief map with all the trails on it so we could see that it was NOT a good idea to try the trail up over Triple Divide Pass like Jacob wanted to do.  We decided on the remote trail to Upper Kintla Lake.  We did finally get our permit and headed down toward Two Medicine.

To get to Two Medicine, a person has to leave the park and then head back into the park.  Two Medicine was once the most visited part of the park due to the relative ease of getting there.  On our way back into the park toward Two Medicine, we stopped at Running Eagle Falls to take a very nice nature trail there.  It was one of the most amazing water falls we have ever seen.  It is refererred to sometimes as Trick Falls.  The trail is easy and beautiful, and there are many wild flowers along it as well.

Mason and Megan in front of Running Eagle Falls

Nathan, Kristin, Grandpa Gary, and Brynn looking at Running Eagle Falls

Nathan and Kristin on the trail, and maybe others up ahead.

After that hike we went on to Two Medicine Lake.  Grandpa Gary offered to pay for Nathan, Kristin, Jacob, and Megan to take a lake boat tour while he and Grandma Becky watched the kids.  So they went into the store while the rest got on the boat.  They had some huckleberry ice cream and some other treats while the tour was going on.

The tour was really cool.  Two Medicine Lake hasn't had a glacier feeding it for at least 50 years, and they can tell because of the lack of glacial sediment.  We saw some really nice views of mountains, meadows of Bear Grass, waterfalls, and even a frequently seen Mountain Goat high up on the steep side of Mount Sinopah (8271 feet).  We also learned that Bear Grass got its name when Louis (from the Louis and Clark expidition) saw a very large quantity of it in a meadow with a bear.

Back on land, we met back up with the others and headed out.  We saw a black bear right next to the road, but didn't get any really good pictures of it.  We also stopped and took a hike along another trail to a waterfall, but we can't remember the name.

Grandpa Gary and Brynn heading into the store

Megan and Jacob in front of Two Medicine Lake.  The main mountain in the picture is Mount Sinopah, and Rising Wolf Mountain can be seen...rising...to off camera on the right.

Grandma Becky, Grandpa Gary, Mason, and Brynn waving in the store.

It was supposed to be a nice picture....

Mountains south of the lake

A waterfall off Rising Wolf Mountain and a meadow full of bear grass

Mount Sinopah behind us on our way back

Grandpa Gary, Mason, and Brynn looking at "the other waterfall".  Mason was a bit too eager and we worried about him some.

A Black Bear in the trees.

From there we decided to all drive down around the south end of the park to see East Glacier.  East Glacier was beautiful.  After spending some time wondering the lodge and admiring the gardens, we went on back to Lake McDonald.  They had a lot of amazing Columbine at East Glacier (Jacob's favorite).

Grandpa Gary and Grandma Becky bought everyone pizza at Lake McDonald so we could get to bed and get an early start for our hike to Upper Kintla Lake the next day. The evening would have been good for a hot dog roast too though, it was beautiful.  And no rain.

East Glacier Lodge

Flowers in the gardens

Some of the Columbine

                                   

Mason in a teepee



Sunset over Lake McDonald

A wonderful ending to a wonderful day

Day 6: July 9, 2009

We got up pretty early on day 6 and headed into Glacier.  It took a bit to drive to the Avalanche Creek area where we were to meet with the rest of the family.  We drove around Lake McDonald and stopped off to look at the creek feeding the lake.

McDonald Creek

McDonald Creek

After a bit we saw Grandma Becky and Grandpa Gary, and then the rest of the family showed up.  The area was very busy and we waited for a long time for a camp site.  We had a couple but wanted to try to get enough in the same area for all of us.  We were fortunate to wind up with that setup so we could all be together.

After setting up camp we took a hike to Avalanche Lake.  It is a fairly easy hike, taking about an hour.  Jacob carried Brynn in the special pack Grandma and Grandpa brought, which also had room for water and food.  Avalanche Creek was beautiful.  We saw a deer along the path and stopped to watch it for a bit, and some workers were mending the path.  Grandpa Gary got in trouble for trying to help.  We think maybe they were afraid of injury law suits or something.

Avalanche Lake was also pretty and busy.  We took our time and relaxed there, eating crackers and drinking water.  Nathan and Kristin had some fancy California bread and cheese and they brought along some fruit snacks that Grandpa Gary loves.  It was a great time to soak up nature's beauty and have fun together.

One of Jacob's favorite pictures, Avalanche Creek was amazing

Granma Becky, Seth, Amanda, Jared, and Caleb (right to left)

It's not a good idea to feed the wildlife, but you can tell they are used to it and it is hard to avoid dropping crumbs.

Caleb and his boys out on a rock in the lake, with Mason

Avalanche Lake has many small melt waterfalls feeding it.

After hiking back to the campsite, we drove up the Going to the Sun Road.  What an amazing, breath taking, frightening road that is!  Jacob drove, and he wanted to look at the amazing views but it was hard enough to no have a nervous break down just looking ahead.  The road across the park is definitely easy on the eyes, but hard on the heart.  There is just so much to see there.  We stopped at a pull out early in the drive to walk off some shaky legs and enjoy the view.  Then we drove on to Logan Pass.

Jacob thinks this is part of Heavens Peak

Once at Logan Pass Caleb and his family, Nathan and Kristin, and Grandpa Gary headed up the Hidden Lake Trail.  Grandma Becky stayed at the Visitors' Center with Brynn in a stroller and Jacob, Megan, and Mason took off up the trail.  There was a lot of snow higher up on the trail, and we weren't prepared for it.  No snow poles and regular shoes make it tough to navigate snow pack up a steep slope.  Jacob had the best shoes for it but still slipped around a bit.  We saw a lot of Marmonts and it sprinkled some.  We even saw a rainbow as we turned and headed back down, not even close to the high point in the trail.  We had it on good report that Hidden Lake was very beautiful though.

There are always a lot of Mountain Goats at Logan Pass.  The mountain in the background is a true glacial horn; Clements Mountain, 8760 feet.

The view from Logan Pass looking back toward the west side of the park.

view from part way up the Hidden Lake Trail

Megan and Mason at one of the sections where you could still walk on the board walk

The rainbow after the short rain

It was clouding up again and getting late, so after looking around the center for a bit we decided to get Brynn and head back to camp to build a fire.  On our way back, we hit a bear jam.  There was a sow and at least one cub almost directly above our car, and plenty of people out taking pictures.  We didn't get to see them much but Jacob saw the cub and the sow's back.  But the sow was tossing rocks over and an extremely large rock landed between Megan's car's rear bumper and the car behind us.  It would have obliterated the trunk had it been a foot closer.  We yelled for the people to move and the traffic jam opened up quickly.  We were very shaky, especially Jacob who saw the rock falling while looking up through the sun roof.  But we were fortunate.

There wasn't any firewood at the camp so we drove to Lake McDonald to buy two bundles.  It was sprinkling by the time we got back to camp and Jacob started trying to build a fire while Megan started getting the kids ready for bed.  It started really raining about the time the rest of the family showed up and Grandpa Gary finished getting the fire going.  It was tough to eat in the pouring rain, but we had a good meal of hot dogs and went to bed.  Despite the cold and rain, it was a good day and the tent only leaked a little (Jacob had attempted to waterproof the seams before the trip).