Adventure Day in Glacier NP

After being turned away from Glacier yesterday and hearing how fast the parking lot at Logan Pass Lodge fills up, we knew that today called for an early start. We were up before the sun and inside the park by 6:30am. Success!

Going-to-the-Sun Road was breathtaking, although a little scary for someone who’s afraid of heights! The wildlife we were hoping to see eluded us all morning, but the sun rewarded our early arrival with some truly spectacular views as it came up over the mountains. The Logan Pass parking lot was already full when we arrived at 7:45am, so we continued another 1.3 miles to find a place for the truck. We weren’t the only ones in that predicament. About a half-dozen others joined us on our cautious walk back down the road to the lodge.

Our destination was the trail to Hidden Lake. Because of our long trek to the lodge, Wyatt wore out about ten minutes into our hike, complaining that he was tired and hungry. He’s still at the age where he powers out fast. Ariel, on the other hand, is a trooper and has earned the nickname Billy Goat. She and I stuck together while Ron walked with—and intermittently carried—Wyatt up the trail.  

We only hiked 1.5 miles to the lookout since the rest of the trail was closed due to grizzly bears. Thankfully, we didn’t come across any of those. I’ve run into bears in the woods before and even though the encounters have always been peaceful, they still terrify me. On our hike to the lookout, we spotted a regal bighorn sheep on a rock outcrop that reminded us of the Lion King.

The hike to the lookout was worth it!  The lake was beautiful and looked so peaceful. We tried to get a family photo, but Wyatt wouldn’t  cooperate. The picture we got was a pretty accurate reflection of our real life, but don’t expect to see it on our Christmas card this year.

There must have been an angel looking over us on the way back. We were dreading the hike back to the car, but a super friendly guy named Zack stopped in the middle of the road and offered us a ride back to our truck. We were so grateful! He was about to start the 7-hour Highline Trail and he took our parking spot as we left, so this worked out perfectly for everyone.

We continued on Going-to-theSun Road as far as we could since they’d closed the eastern side of the park due to Covid. Lunch was a picnic along St Mary Lake, and we dipped our feet in the water.  From there we headed back to the western side of Glacier National Park and finished our day in the park at Lake McDonald. Ron and I enjoyed a huckleberry margarita while the kids played along the shore and enjoyed some huckleberry cheesecake.  

Now, we’re relaxing at our campsite after letting the pups run in the dog park for about an hour and taking the kids to the pool. Ariel is going to check in with her school work and we’ll bbq some dinner.  Glacier National Park did not disappoint and we will definitely be back!