I feel like I should start getting to know the rangers at Glacier National Park, since we visit so often. Now that Kurt and Megan are here, of course we had to take them on the tour. It was another “moody” day, with clouds looming overhead.
That didn’t stop us from having fun and nearly falling off a dock at Lake McDonald.
Here’s the gang.
The Trail of the Cedars was… green.
Since we’re getting to know the west side of the park really well (the east side is still closed), we know which places to stop at, and which we can blow past. One of our favorites is a spot near the south end of Lake McDonald, where you can skip stones. And yes, the rocks are really as colorful as legends say.
Pepper showed Megan proper skipping technique.
It didn’t really help. I think Megan’s record number of skips was… two?
Like many areas of the country, most towns in the area cancelled their Fourth of July fireworks displays. We talked with Kurt and Megan about whether to drive somewhere to see them, but since the closest display didn’t even start until 11pm (it’s still dusk then), we didn’t think the kids would make it. Indeed, they were all dead tired and in bed by 10pm.
I was the only one to stay up, so I went out to our front porch and watched fireworks launching around the lake. I could see larger displays in Lakeside and Woods Bay, as well as explosions up and down the west lake shore. It was pretty cool.
Tonight (the fifth), Kurt fired off some of the fireworks he’d picked up in Wyoming on the drive to Montana. (Colorado has very tight restrictions on fireworks, so you can’t buy anything “fun” there. Wyoming is where it’s at.) We launched them around 10:30, when it was finally getting dark.
It’s pretty tricky to catch fireworks in such dim lighting, but I managed to get a couple of good pictures.
The “big finale” was something called “100 Shots” that was pretty sweet.
The kids loved it, which of course was the whole point.
I’ve taken a ton of sunset photos from our house, but all of them have a bunch of trees blocking part of the view. Sure, I love living in the forest, and the trees add some interest to the shots, but I was thinking it would be cool to catch a sunset from the shore of Flathead Lake.
So, when the sun was setting this evening, Kurt and I hopped into the car and drove a couple miles up the highway to Bear Dance Trail, then hiked down to the shoreline. We caught the horizon just after the sun had set.
He and I both snapped some pictures.
Sadly, there weren’t a lot of clouds to catch the light, and the colors were a bit muted. But another day, when it looks like it’s going to be a beautiful sunset, I think I’ll head down there again…
Back in March we hiked into Jewel Basin. We could only drive partway up the road, because it was snow-covered, and then we could only hike part of a trail because, again, we ran into snow and couldn’t continue. But now that it’s summer, everything is different. We went up with the von Niederhauserns, who are visiting from Colorado for the week.
I can see why the area is named Jewel Basin… it’s absolutely magnificent. So many trees, green hillsides, and a commanding view of the Flathead Valley.
We couldn’t resist a couple of family photos.
Much to our surprise, as we neared the top of the trail, we ran into snow. In July!
Sure, it looks pretty, but as we continued to forge along the trail, we found that it was getting deeper. Aaron, who is four, was struggling. And the rest of us were sliding around as we attempted to keep our footing on the slopes. As a result, we couldn’t actually get down to Twin Lakes and had to settle for a view of the emerald water from high above.
Even though we couldn’t quite reach our goal, the trail was fabulous. We’ll be back… maybe in a few weeks, when the snow has finally melted?
Pepper, Kyra, and I have really enjoyed exploring the local lakes with our jet skis, kayaks, and paddleboards. But now that the von Niederhauserns are here, we discovered that it’s a ton of fun to bring kids on the water. They had an absolute blast.
Everyone had a chance to drive jet skis…
… even four-year-old Aaron (well, sort of).
We all agreed that Lexi was the most insane. She’d put the hammer down and rocket off at 40mph or more, pretty much tossing the person behind her around like a rag doll. Kurt, Kyra, and I took turns with her because none of us could do it for very long. She’d shriek with delight as she powered across waves, actually getting the jet ski (and often the people on it) airborne.
Megan was more about a nice calm paddleboard experience.
Then we pulled out our tube, and towed the kids behind the jet ski. Since the engines aren’t as powerful as boats’, and the entire jet ski only weighs around 450 pounds, it’s an interesting experience. Whipping someone across the water will actually drag the jet ski a little bit in that direction. Since the kids were all pretty small it wasn’t too bad, but when Kyra or I were in the tube, it was kind of a battle.
The lake was such a hit that the kids begged to go again. So we spent a second day out on the water, doing pretty much the same thing. We went a few miles south to Bird Island and hiked around a bit. Kate spotted a rope swing, which turned out to be a blast. It was a treat to see the kids having so much fun.
Two trips to Glacier in a single week? Yep. After our trip on Monday, we went again on Thursday. But this time it was on bikes. Dave, Luke, and I braved the road while the women opted to stay home.
Although the road to Logan Pass is cleared of snow, it’s closed to traffic above Avalanche Creek. Only hikers and bikers are allowed on the sixteen-mile stretch to the pass. The catch? It’s all uphill. You start at the level of the river, at the bottom of the canyon, and ascend all the way to the pass.
And the weather wasn’t great– it was a chilly 50 degrees, grey, and wet. We looked up at the mountains as we started, not sure we’d even be able to see anything once we got up there.
Intermittent rain and wind made the climb kind of a slog. So we stopped for pictures along the way, admiring the steadily changing scenery.
One advantage to biking the road, without any cars, is that you can stop to see waterfalls and other things that you’d normally have to blow past at 35mph. Here are a few examples.
As we climbed out of the valley, the views became more spectacular.
The distant green on the mountains, coupled with melting snow running down their sides, made for some great shots.
Looking back along the valley was cool, but the clouds still looked menacing. We continued our climb.
SO. MANY. TREES. Not only here, but on all my travels through Montana, I’ve been amazed at the sheer number of evergreen trees.
The clouds slid over the tops of the mountains, providing an ever-changing mix of granite and water vapor.
We stopped short of the pass; after eleven miles of uphill we were all kind of beat. We had a snack and turned to head back down. And– wouldn’t you know it– the clouds began to clear. They rolled back to expose blue skies.
Imagine coasting downhill at 20mph, cruising around a corner to see this view:
Then imagine hitting your brakes so you can take a picture of it. But not realizing that Dave is right behind you, also blasting downhill. He hits his brakes, and Luke, behind him, does as well. But Luke slams them a little hard and does a spectacular endo right beside you. Ouch. My bad.
After we bandaged some wounds, we continued coasting downhill. It was so much fun to go down on a clear road, no cars in sight. And the views? Well, Glacier doesn’t disappoint.
