Varied Skies

With Bozeman in the rear view mirror, the motorhome roared west on I-90, in 2nd gear, at 30 mph for an interminably long time before cresting the Continental Divide at Homestake Pass. Fortunately, long downhills dominated much of the rest of our journey to Kalispell, MT, which lies in a valley west of Glacier National Park. We lucked into a primo campsite on the Flathead River and decided to stay for 8 days while visiting Glacier and the surrounding area.

We loved Glacier, but she didn’t make it easy.

Despite a stellar forecast, storms rolled in on our first trip through the park on the Going to the Sun Road and the temperature plummeted to 41 degrees. We squirted out the east side of the park and attempted to get lunch at a small café in St. Mary. After getting our drinks, the power went out and never came back on. Pie for lunch kids! We shared a piece of mixed berry pie before venturing south in search of real food. That turned into a 3.5 hour commute home and dinner at a “nice” place that refused to close the front door despite the cold. Along the way, we enjoyed a 6 mile stretch of road construction that had traffic down to a single dirt lane (for both directions). I’m sure the poor guy in the motorhome in front of us will be picking mud out of his cargo bays for years to come.

With rainy weather lingering, we spent our second day in the valley and enjoyed picking Flathead Cherries at a local orchard along Lake Flathead (the largest fresh-water lake west of the Mississippi).

What do you do with 11 pounds of cherries? Make pie! Mmmm, Mmmm good.  Nice job, M!

Our second foray into Glacier proved more enjoyable. We hiked about 5 miles round-trip to Avalanche Lake. We began on The Trail of Cedars.

After about half a mile, we started our ascent to Avalanche Lake on the appropriately named Avalanche Lake Trail. The trail followed Avalanche Creek through the cedars and cottonwoods.

After enjoying nature’s playground, we emerged from the forest at the lake fed by towering waterfalls.  Worth it!

Psyched by our inspiring trek to Avalanche Lake, we returned to Glacier to attempt the Hidden Lake Trail. On our way, we stopped by the Apgar Nature Center for a Ranger Talk. The Ranger explained the physical features of the park and how they were formed. The Ranger provided each prospective Junior Ranger with an ice-cube on a stick and they simulated Glacier flows in the soft dirt, making the various formations seen in the park.

We enjoyed the hands-on display of animal hides, horns, and antlers at the Nature Center.

From the Nature Center, we drove to the Logan Pass Visitor Center. Logan Pass sits on the Continental Divide in the middle of the park. As it had on our first trip through the park, it started to rain. Undeterred, we donned our rain gear and began the trek to the Hidden Lake Overlook as the weather seemed to clear.

But not for long.  On our trip out to the lake, it rained pretty hard and we endured a few hail pellets. As quickly as it came, the rain disappeared and the sun poured down. Near the top of our ascent, eagle-eyed L spotted a mountain goat on the hillside a few hundred yards away.

The view of Hidden Lake and Bear Hat Mountain from the Overlook was spectacular.

On the way down, we saw a couple of marmots.
And another storm cloud rolled in. As the rain came down hard, the hail started again. “It is all part of the experience, honey!”  But this time the hail continued for a longer stretch and the pellets got bigger. We all scrambled to shield our heads and ears from the stinging blows. 

Fortunately, the hail stopped, the rain cleared, and the sun came out again.  Mother Nature rewarded us with a rainbow.

On another run out to the park, the kids tried paddle boarding for the first time.

Unfortunately, their newly developed paddling skills could not quite match up to the wind, which steadily increased and blew them far out into the lake. I rented a kayak and paddled out to help, but paddling straight back was not an option. We made a train and paddled hard to the nearest shore, making landfall about a mile from where M waited for our return.  The treeline shielded the shore from much of the wind and the kids were able to paddle the kayak back to the rental shop.

That left me with two paddle boards and a long way to go. And that’s all I have to say about that.

On our way out of the park, we saw our first bear (entering the grass on the left side of the path in the picture below). That certainly brightened everyone’s day.

On our last day in the area, a wildfire prevented a second attempt to tour the St. Mary Visitor Center on the east side . Oh well, we’ll get to it next trip.

Despite the storm induced power outage, hail on the trail, and wildfire, we leave Glacier with many great memories. But in looking through the hundreds of pictures, I could not help seeing more in the picture below than I remember seeing when I took the photo.

We love you, too, Glacier!