From our hotel (in Kalispell) to Glacier National Park, we had an hour drive. Anticipating this drive, we left early again. This was the first (and last) time that we got to leave everything in the hotel - no packing needed! It was a wonderful feeling!
Another glorious, beautiful day! The temps were actually warming up a bit and the sun was shining.
We stopped at the park sign and then drove in to the park.
Our first stop was Apgar Visitor Center - we were looking for a scenic dock on Lake McDonald - I think we found a few that worked!
Lake McDonald Lodge was our next stop - a chance to use the restroom, see the Lodge (and Lake) and grab snacks/drinks before hitting the road again. The Lodge and surrounding area were so peaceful and serene!
The kids and John had fun watching the marmots! They are such fun little characters!
As we started climbing Going-to-the-Sun Road, we glimpsed some amazing views! Waterfalls, valleys, peaks, rock walls, cliffs, WOW!
It was fun to look through Connie's pictures from the trip - she took a handful of pictures that included our van. It is a neat to see things from a different perspective.
We loved looking back and seeing where we had just come from! Notice the cars on the road...
Our first stop on GTTS (Going-to-the-Sun) Road was here. We got out and enjoyed the beautiful view!
Ahead of us was The Weeping Wall. These man-made waterfalls are fun, especially during the early spring when snow melt is heavy and the water cascades on to GTTS Road. We were looking forward to driving through the falls on the way back through the park.
We took LOTS of pictures and enjoyed a handful of stops along the way as we headed through the park that morning.
Triple Arches - an engineering feat for the park as they figured out a way to build a road over the difficult terrain.
We arrived at the summit (Logan Pass) and were told that the parking lot was full - keep driving. They weren't allowing anyone in the lot. We were disappointed as we were hoping to get out and get the kids' picture by the Logan Pass sign. As we continued east (just past the parking lot), we saw a commotion between some park rangers on the road ahead of us. We then saw a herd of Bighorn Sheep crossing the road!
Continuing east past Logan Pass, we stopped at Siyeh Bend to take some pictures and enjoy the beauty (and have some fun too!).
Jackson Glacier Overlook
After Jackson Glacier Overlook, we drove through this area where you could see the devastation from the recent forest fires.
We pulled off at a few different overlooks to see Saint Mary Lake and Wild Goose Island (one of the most frequently photographed locations along GTTS). Very picturesque!
At this point in the day, we finished Going-to-the-Sun Road (heading East) and left the park. We stopped in Saint Mary for restrooms, souvenir shopping and lunch (enjoyed the beautiful flowers too!).
We were shocked by how quickly we were able to make it through the park. We fully expected a much longer wait and truthfully, bumper to bumper cars along GTTS Road. We were blessed to have enjoyed the views and in such a fast time too (but never feeling rushed). We were 2 hours ahead of our initial plan for the day!
Planning this portion of our trip, we had two options. First option was GTTS road east and back west again, no other stops. The second option was GTTS road east, Many Glacier then GTTS road west. We knew it would be a "let's see how we're feeling at that point" decision once we got to Saint Mary. We were feeling good so we decided to continue north from Saint Mary and spend some time at Many Glacier. Being so far ahead of our schedule made this decision an easy one!
We had had an amazing day so far (in Glacier), but I think most of us would agree that Many Glacier was our favorite stop on the day.
Once we got past the bumpy, pothole infested road (that is being nice. Holy Cow, we have NEVER been on a road as bad as Route 3, taking you in to the park). We had thoughts of turning around - so glad that we didn't! Once we arrived at the Park Entrance Station, the road turned in to a nice one.
We stopped on the drive in to Many Glacier and enjoyed the wild flowers along the side of the road. After taking a handful of pictures, we had a person stop and tell us to be careful - there was a grizzly family just up the road. Back in the car we went and headed up the road - in search of a grizzly family. Unfortunately, we never saw them.
The water at Many Glacier was so clear - and COLD (according to the kids). I loved looking through all of the sets of pictures and seeing everyone/thing from different perspectives.
As we left Many Glacier, we stopped at Lake Sherburne to snap a few pictures and look back at the mountain range/glaciers.
We stopped back in Saint Mary to use the restrooms and grab a snack before heading back into Glacier to head across the GTTS Road (westbound).
Soon after we were back in the park, we came across some stopped traffic (on the road). Matt immediately spotted this baby grizzly on the side of the road. Notice in the second picture how close he was to us! We were shocked that we couldn't see mama bear...but we assumed she was close by!
We started our way back up towards Logan Pass - making a few stops along the way.
We found a few overlooks that were great for a family picture - we set up the tripod, turned on the self timer and snapped some pictures. A great way to remember our time together.
We were able to pull in to the parking lot at Logan Pass! We saw the Bighorn Sheep again as well as grabbed a picture of the kids at the Logan Pass sign.
We stopped at this overlook and parked behind a Minnesota vehicle with a Cubs sticker on his car (scavenger hunt item!). He was out of the car, taking pictures, and we immediately noticed his Cubs hat! We struck up a conversation about the Cubs and their hot streak (and the fact that we had all missed the last few games). It was a fun stop! We also got another family shot.
We were rather bummed that we didn't have enough time to stop a do a quick hike - especially the few that were right off GTTS Road. Hindsight - we should've done it, but in the moment you feel the need to continue on. We had had a long couple of days and we noticed that the traffic had really picked up as we traveled west toward West Glacier.
We did have fun driving through the falls at The Weeping Wall. We rolled the windows down and enjoyed the water spray!
There are two tunnels on GTTS Road - the East Tunnel & the West Tunnel. The West Tunnel is special - it has two overlooks that you can walk out to! We stopped on the way back to West Glacier.
We walked the length of the tunnel (sidewalks on both sides). There is a waterfall on the west end of the tunnel. We thought the kids might be able to stand under the falling water...instead, we found that there was a pool of water (1/2 foot deep) so they opted to put their hands under and call it good. A few of them were pretty wet by the end of the stop, either way.
Our second to last stop in Glacier National Park - McDonalds Falls.
We ended our day at Glacier by stopping near the Lodge to see Lake McDonald one last time...and use the restrooms, get snacks, etc, before hitting the road to the hotel. We thought we might take a family photo sitting on the dock (like our first picture from the morning) while at Lake McDonald. What you don't see is the 20-30 people on the dock - all sunbathing and lounging! The area wasn't as tranquil as this picture makes you think!
On our drive out of Glacier, we noticed two tow trucks - each carrying damaged cars. We later found out that there had been
an accident along GTTS Road just hours after we passed through the Three Arches area. It caused some major congestion - the west park entrance turned vehicles away while the east side turned all cars around at Logan Pass. Our time in Many Glacier proved beneficial! We would've been stuck in that traffic! We were so thankful for an early start which allowed us to avoid that accident and gave us so much more time in the park than we thought we would get (parks aren't as busy in the early morning)! We praise God for His protection.
We were thrilled to get back to Kalispell! We were tired and hungry to say the least. While looking for places to eat, I found a local pizza place, "Moose's Saloon" and thought that sounded like a fun place. We walked in and were a bit overwhelmed (some of us more than others!). It was very dark, very loud and had an inch of sawdust on the floor. After we figured out the ordering system and scrounged for cash (no credit cards!), we settled in and recapped our days together.
The place was packed - not many tables to be had. We ended up splitting tables - you can see how the younger three felt about that. In their defense, they were also tired & hungry...and the kids at the next table were up / down and constantly standing next to their table ("they kept starring at us, Mom"). A bit unnerving. The pizza didn't take too long and we all enjoyed our dinner together (I sat with the younger three after another booth opened up...everyone was happier after that!).
Our time with the Oregon Hart Clan was quickly coming to an end. This was our last night together. It was sad to see our time go by so quickly - but we were so thankful for the quality time we got to spend together. We will always look back at this trip and remember the many beautiful National Parks we visited and know that we got to share that with Ken, Connie & John.
That night, we packed up our hotel rooms (as much as we could), swapped pictures and said our goodbyes. In the morning, we would be heading north - into Canada - while the Oregon folks would be heading back home.
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