On day 4 we finally headed into Glacier National Park!
What should have been the easiest part of the trip- drive into the park, enjoy the views- ended up being quite stressful because about a month after we booked our trip the park implemented a timed entry system for the year. We missed the initial date to snag tickets into the park, but were able to get one of the 160 tickets that were snatched up in less than one minute in the 48 hours second chance before our trip. Phew! And it was a good thing, too because there was really no way to get into the park without that second required ticket.
So into the park we went! Well, almost all of us. We had three cars worth of family and only two cars with tickets. But it worked out really well because the one big hike we were able to do on the west side of Glacier wouldn't have been a good fit for the littlest cousins anyway.
First up- Trail of the Cedars, which was incredible! The wooden planks wound through towering trees and it felt just like a scene out of a movie.
To say that Adam was worried about a bear encounter would be a generous understatement. And we were definitely in bear country! Several passing hikers told us they had seen bears earlier in the day or on other hikes, but (spoiler alert) we never saw one. Still, he had plenty of questions to ask and what-if's to talk about all the way up and down the mountain.
But we did see plenty of other amazing sights- including the clearest, bluest glacier water racing down the mountain.
It was beautiful, and so cold!
After the Trail of the Cedars we turned our attention up to Avalanche Lake- essentially the only hike of any real distance and elevation gain that we could do because Going to the Sun Road was closed due to 40 feet of snow that still needed to be plowed away.
It was a long and beautiful hike that was definitely rewarding once we got to the top.
The first round of hikers at the top-
Anytime I got too close to the water or the edge of a cliff on any of our hikes during the whole trip Adam would grab my hand and say "Careful Mommy." He was always looking out for me, so it shouldn't have surprised me at all that Jason was extra mindful of his mom's progress on this hike. We were all quite spread out on the trail but our fellow hikers had and easy time spotting the "Camp Morales" crew and giving us updates on each other as we went up and back down again.
We met up with Grammy Q and Auntie Emily on our way back down- they weren't far behind us which was super impressive given the elevation gain.
And we all met up again at the trail head- here's everyone who made the hike!
Our strategy for the day was to get as far into the park as possible and then work our way back down after our big hike, and we saw some beautiful sights on the way down.
We stopped at Lake McDonald and everyone loved the freezing cold foot soak.
Or leg soak, in Emma's case.
The colored pebbles in the lake were amazing- and better captured by pros on the internet than by us. But they really were this colorful (give or take a bit of a filter)!
After Lake McDonald everyone was ready to head down the mountain- singing Veggie Tales at the top of their lungs, of course. These kids know how to make their own fun!
We had to sample the famous huckleberry shakes that were advertised all around.
And some huckleberry pie. They did not disappoint!
The only bear we saw on this trip, and he was so huggable!
Finally, we wrapped up the day with what might have been the best evening we had the whole trip.
We had dinner in a local bar with live music, and it was the perfect way to relax and catch up with everyone at the end a long, hot, and hard day.
The girls especially were enchanted by the live music,
and eventually we all ended up outside, singing and dancing along and stuffing money into the tip jar,
espeically because the girl singer was so fancy and she was going to have a baby! I could just see the dreams formulating in my girls eyes- it's so fun to imagine what could be someday!
And then we all headed home for another (mostly) good night's sleep. Day 4 was a long, good day!
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