Montana, Canada and Idaho

After leaving the Family Reunion in Island Park our destination was Glacier National Park. If you have ever driven across Montana you will know it is a huge state! We felt like we were driving forever - but a good forever, unlike driving across Nebraska or Wyoming. The drive was beautiful.

It took us all day to get to our campsite on the Swan Valley Highway about an hour from Kalispell. The areas to camp were mostly dispersed and we found a great site near the river. It was cool because there was a little nature trail just down the road where we found wild strawberries, rasberries and thimbleberries. It reminded me of the Pacific Northwest because there was moss hanging from the trees and in the morning there was fog in the valley. It was beautiful.

Monday morning we went into Glacier, confirmed that all the campgrounds were full, took this picture of Lake MacDonald and started up the Going to the Sun Road.

Part way up the road we stopped and took the Trail of the Cedars. It was cool to see the huge trees and turquoise water coming off the glaciers. Goose loved walking on the "widge."

The Going to the Sun Road was awesome! The views were amazing.

There were so many people in the park we could not find a place to park at Logan Pass, so we decided to go down to the East side of the park and find a place to camp, then go and have dinner in Canada. Unfortunately, the only restaurant open in Cardston was the Dairy Queen. A little disappointing, but we ate dinner anyway (the ice cream was good), took pictures at the temple and came back to our campsite. Good thing the weather was fair that first day since the remainder of our time in Glacier would be rainy. There were also fires in British Columbia which made visibility go down quite a bit.

In the morning we went back up to Logan Pass and hiked to the Hidden Lake overlook. Goose was so excited to walk on the snow, but by the time we were almost back to the car she was pretty cold.

That afternoon we went to Many Glacier Lodge; clouds were still hanging around but still very pretty.

We hiked about a mile to a lake up one of the glacial valleys and threw lots of rocks. Thank goodness we came back when we did, that is when we saw the bear. Momma bear and two cubs, just wandering on the hillside while we all gathered on the side of the road to gape. We had been talking about seeing a bear all week so we were glad we did the night before we started home.

There were so many wild flowers out, we took some pictures but from this one you can just tell there was a lot of variety.

The token Wild Goose Island picture. You can see it was still cloudy.

This was our campsite on the east side of the park, next to a lake and all the foreign campers.

This is Roaring Eagle Falls. We stopped and hiked there as we began the homeward journey. Yes, that waterfall is coming out of a cave. The river is up above the cliff and drops down through some holes to where you see it. In the spring not all the water can go down the holes and it comes over the top too.

After 12 hours on and off the road through Montana and a little of Idaho, we made it to Blackfoot. You can probably tell from this picture that Goose had super fun with her new friends. Thanks for letting us stay with you Sue and Terrick!

We did start home one day early - Goose had been asking if we were going camping with Grandpa from the minute we left home. Since most of the trip was for Mom and Dad, we went to Grandpa's house for Goose. She loves her Nana and Grandpa Averett and Grandma and Grandpa "Murky".