Glacier National Park



Lake McDonald

Friday, July 27th, 2012   Glacier National Park

We awoke this morning to a friendly face....yes, we thought it was a wolf but it turned out to be the owners dog.  But if we do not see a real wolf in our travels, we may need to count him :)  We had an hour to reach Glacier National Park and we were excited to drive through the park. 

 Our first stop was at McDonald Lake and I don't think there is a more peaceful place on earth.  Even the water was just like glass.  Oh, I could have stayed there all day.  But the most amazing part of it is the rocks....there are so many different colors.  Blue, green, red, pink, yellow, white, purple....just amazing!!!  We spent a lot of time skipping stones and enjoying this peaceful area.  I could not help but wonder what it would be like in the middle of winter...I could almost hear the snow falling softly on the ground- not another sound around.   I know that I will remember this place many time when we are having a busy day and wish that I could spend some time back here.



The Falls



       Our next spot was at the McDonald Falls...another incredible place but yet so different.  The falls are so gorgeous and the water such an incredible blue.   We had a short hike down to the river, across the bridge and then through a gorgeous path through the forest to where we could scramble closer down to the river.  We just love all the rocks and we are all having fun picking out the most special ones.  The waterfall is incredible and I love listening to the roar.  What a beautiful place!



Overlooking Avalanche Gorge



We then drove into the Trail of the Cedars. It is amazing how different each spot is right in the same park.  As far as our hikes go, this one was only about a mile, flat and easy!  We love seeing all the gorgeous trees and wandering through them.  We were able to see the Avalanche Gorge and I can't even imagine what the water is like in the spring with the warm weather melting the winter snow.  AHHHH!  On a different not, we did receive some sad news earlier this week that Chris's pet, Percy, had died.  We didn't tell him until today and while he was sad, this was a great place for him to pick out a special rock to use as a marker. 

 Our neighbor boy, Ryan, was nice enough to bury Percy under Chris's pear tree.  Thank you Ryan!

We continued our loop through the park and the road was a bit harry!  It was closed to anything larger than a minivan and the view out my window was often straight down. Yikes!!  But...WOW, it was breathtaking!  Our last stop was at Logan Pass.  During our drives, we have cris-crossed many times over the Continental Pass but were never at a good spot to stop and get a picture.  Thankful that we were able to cross these places in a car and not a covered wagon!



Annika & the mountain goats



Logan Pass was an INCREDIBLE stop.  Before we even got into the Visitor's Center, we were able to see a whole group of Big Horn Sheep on a mountain close by.  Wow, it makes me nervous to see what they walk and climb over with not a thought to it.  Out the back of the Visitor's Center, there was an amazing hike up through an Alpine Meadow to a huge snowfield. It reminds me so much of Heidi or Sound of Music- so fun!  No- we did not break out in song :)  On our way out to the snowfield, what did we come upon but a mother goat and her baby.  We could have reached out and touched them, although no one did.  They were so cool!

We made our way up to the snowfield, and while it was a bit treacherous climbing us, that was part of the fun. Jonathan did have a big fall and scraped his side a bit but he was still game to continue.  We had fun throwing snowballs and racing up and down the snow.  We would have loved to continue farther (or at least some of us would have :)  but we headed back down the mountain.  Gorgeous day and Incredible scenery!!!  We love it!!!  We are so glad that we were able to get to Glacier as this was a place we were not sure would fit into our trip.  So thankful for all the incredible places and scenery that we have been blessed to see.

 

 A quote by George Bird Grinnell (1901) seemed to describe what I feel much of the time, "  No words can describe the grandeur and majesty of the mountains, and even photographs seem hopelessly to dwarf and belittle the most impressive peaks."

 

As we said good-bye to these mountains, we headed our car toward Helena, Montana where we stayed at a Holiday Inn Express.  When we arrived, we enjoyed watching some of the Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics.  What another incredibly fabulous day and tomorrow we look forward to meeting the rest of the Barrett family in Big Sky!