We took our time leaving our Air BnB for Glacier. It was nice to not rush out the door at 6:00 am. Its just under 7 hours to get to the park from Rigby and it is not a very exciting drive. We stopped at Costco in Missoula (about 2 hours from the park) for lunch and to have Sue join us in our car. Our goal was to get to the park in time to rent kayaks that afternoon. We had read that by 3:00 in the afternoon traffic getting into the park slowed down considerably and this proved true for us. We got to the entrance and there were no cars waiting. There wasn't even a park ranger at the booth. One reason why this trip happened now is because Jared's 4th grade, free national park pass expires this August and we wanted to put it to good use. We had actually originally planned to do a whole loop in Southern Utah as well but the heat and COVID numbers made us decide to just go North.
We found the kayak rental place and saw that one tandem kayak was available. As we began talking about renting it another tandem kayak was returned. It was awesome. We had read that they were hard to come by and felt so lucky that two were ready right when we needed them. Sue found a great parking spot and we walked the kayaks down to Lake McDonald. What a treat it was to kayak there! The water is so fresh and cold and a beautiful blue. Jared and I were kayaking buddies and Mark and Lydia worked together. We paddled out for a little under an hour and then turned around. The wind was going to be against us as we kayaked back so we wanted to build in extra time for the return trip. Sometimes Jared and I acted like a rowing team with us taking turns yelling "pull" so we could kayak in sync and just had a great time together. We would paddle for awhile and then dip our feet and fingers in the water and glide along. The weather was warm but not too windy and the sunshine made the water feel so refreshing. It was my favorite part of our time in Glacier. As we paddled back to the beach we saw a couple getting married and a deer getting a drink of water. It was perfect.
Our Air BnB was 2 hours away from the park which made for some extra driving but also got us a really nice comfortable place to stay. We were up early and out the door just after 6:00 Sunday morning. We had read so many articles before the trip about crazy long lines that we were not leaving it to chance. It paid off as we got to the park and only had 2 cars ahead of us which meant we got in early and were able to find parking near the first hike of the day. Our plan for this day was to hike to Avalanche Lake first and then begin the drive on the "Going to the Sun Road" stopping at various viewpoints along the way and completing at least one other hike. This road covers 50 miles and crosses the continental divide at Logan Pass which tops out at 6,646 feet. You pass by glaciers, valleys, waterfalls, wildflowers and mountains, its breathtaking.
Avalanche Lake: This hike was about 5 miles and started off on fun boardwalks which I love. Shortly after you start you pass by a beautiful waterfall and river. Its great that they have made this little river waterfall so accessible its lovely. I really enjoyed this hike but was not that impressed with the actual lake. It was beautiful but I guess I expected more after Lake McDonald. Jared and Lydia did great on the hike.
It was such an enjoyable hike.
It was cool to hike a little bit up the trail to see the water at a higher elevation which made us able to see the beautiful blue color. It doesn't even look like the same lake.
We met up with Sue and started our drive up the road. I didn't know this but Sue does not enjoy driving up narrow roads with a big drop off so while she enjoyed the scenery she was pretty stressed out during the drive up. It was much better for her on the way down when she was next to the wall not the edge. I was in the back seat with Jared and Lydia and on the opposite side. I wish I would have known so we could have switched. She handled it well though. We found a nice viewpoint to pull over at and eat our lunch and enjoy the scenery.
Everywhere you looked there were these impressive mountains and peaks and beautiful lush valleys. We passed multiple waterfalls and found a few lakes as well, all a beautiful blue.
Jackson Glacier: There were many signs talking about how much the glaciers are shrinking each year. I am glad we saw them.
St Mary's Lake
It was picture perfect. You could not take a bad picture.
Our second hike of the day was to Hidden Lake. Mark was determined to go on this hike even if Jared, Lydia and I dragged our feet. It was about 3.5 miles and I wanted something half that length. But we started off anyway, bad attitudes in tow. Soon enough we came to the snowy up hill climb. The incline was really not that steep but the snow and the loose gravel made me really nervous. I did not want to fall in snow and was hiking in tennis shoes which quickly got soaked. The reason I was so nervous was that I knew going up was going to be hard and could not stop thinking about how much harder and scarier going down was going to be. One bad slip and we could roll all the way down. I was not prepared to hike through slushy snow at the point. We trudged on and all made it to the lake passing by quite a few mountain goats as we got closer to the lake. Lydia was not happy about the hike at all and ended up loving it. The snow was her favorite part. Another problem was that Mark got way ahead of us and I was stressed about getting myself and Lydia safely to the top. We made sure she hiked down with Mark for support and she had a great time. This is listed as a family hike but I could not imagine taking anyone younger than 6 on this hike.
The "easy" snowy part of the hike.
April on left, Lydia middle back, Jared front.
I loved the rocks at this park! The colors were so fun.
Hidden Lake and some Mountain Goats
We saw 8 - 10 mountain goats. I think 2 babies.
The way down, we were almost out of the snow. I may be smiling but I was so stressed and scared.
The last stop we made was at the Weeping Wall. This is a rock facade with water gushing over it. It is snow melt and springs and really pretty. Mark and I parked a little ways from it and walked over to it. Then when we drove by we rolled down the windows and had Sue, Jared and Lydia get wet. It was dramatic and beautiful.
The park is open all year but the Going to the Sun Road is not. There is a section called "big drift" and the snow drifts there are between 60 - 80 feet. They did not finish plowing it all the way through until late June. Jared and Lydia really wanted to stop by some leftover snow so we found some. It was still so tall.
We all enjoyed Glacier National Park. It was Mark and Lydia's favorite park and probably mine too. It was well worth the drive. We also loved the fact that it was cold enough to have hot chocolate in the morning which I enjoyed on the balcony of our Air Bnb. It was so fun to visit these parks. There were a lot of other people enjoying them too but we felt we were able to distance pretty well and loved being somewhere other then Virginia.
