We got to our basecamp in Kallispell on Monday around noon,
had some lunch and then headed to Glacier for a little “area fam” as we like to
call it – that’s area familiarization for you non-CG types. First stop was Apgar Ranger Station to gather
Jr. Ranger books and get some intel on the best family friendly hikes. We tried to get on the shuttle. Many of the National Parks are now using
shuttles to get folks around since parking is so limited. Grand Canyon has it down when it comes to the
shuttle, Glacier still has some work to be done. To do the entire Road to the Sun out and back
from Apgar Ranger Station is 7 hours! We
ended up walking a bit around Lake McDonald and seeing what the Apgar area had
to offer – probably need to take a return trip to smash a few pennies.
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| First Family Photo of the Trip!!! |
On Wednesday we let the boys sleep in.
Gherkin went to camp last week and is still
catching up on sleep.
With that and the
time change we were finally able to drag him out of bed at 0900.
It took us till 1000 to be able to head out
the door.
With KimChee having one of his
classic bloody noses as we were just about ready to go we were delayed a bit.
We had a great plan – ride the shuttle to Sun Point picnic
area (via two transfers), then hike Sun Point nature trail out to Virginia
Falls. Well, the shuttle had other plans. With the wait for the shuttle and the
predicted amount of time it would take us to get there we decided our best bet
was just to drive and pray for parking.
For those of you who have not driven the Road to the Sun,
keep in mind it was built in 1932 for cars much smaller than our current trucks
with double tires on the back.
Now
imagine meeting one of those in our F150. Not quite pucker time but a few white
knuckles.
It took us almost 90 minutes
to get up to Sun Point for lunch.
At
this point it is now 1400 and reaching temperatures of almost 90, and the
entire area burned out a few years ago.
So, no shade to be found and we decided to do a 3 mile hike along the
shore of St. Mary Lake.
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| Ready To Go! |
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| Trees Left from fire 3 years ago |
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| Baring Falls |
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| St. Mary's Falls |
Complaints started early on, especially from KimChee.
We realized we hadn’t really trained for
hikes, in heat, at elevation (5000+ feet).
It was a hard slog at some points but the waterfalls were worth it.
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| Happy Rested Boys! |
Only Dill made it out to Virginia Falls because the boys
were done. He said it was beautiful.
Sweet caught this photo of a butterfly just as we were
leaving St. Mary’s Falls.
On the way back we caught a glimpse of some big horn sheep
just past the Continental Divide and then followed a tour bus all the way down
the mountain.
Back to the trailer for dinner.
As we were sitting down Dill said it felt
like “Little House on the Prairie” since we are in the middle of a field in
Montana with goats bleating behind the trailer and a little breeze across the
land.
Tomorrow holds an early morning as we try to catch one of
the first shuttles up to Logan Pass Visitors Center. We have plans to see the center and then do a
hike before lunch. Then we will shuttle
down to Avalanche for another hike and then maybe to Lake McDonald for a little
water play to cool off.
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