Glacier National Park

Today we went to Glacier National Park with Cierra and Hunter and drove to the west entrance of the park located at Apgar Visitor's Center.

He we had my National Parks book stamped and get the kids their Junior Ranger books.  

Great book to purchase where you can add stamps
and cancellations for every park and historical site
you visit in the United States.

Since we have never been to this park before we were fortunate to run into a family from Austin, Texas who filled us in quickly on how to get around and some good hikes to do. They told us how the shuttle system worked in the park and the kids worked on the Junior Ranger books while we chatted with them and waited for the shuttle.

Working hard on their Junior Ranger booklets.

Unfortunately, we only had 1 day to visit this park, so we had to make some choices.  We quickly learned that this is a hiking park...that's what there is to do, so if you love cool, cold weather in the high mountains - even in the summer - or warm hikes in the valley below, then this is the park for you. The scenery was most outstanding!  

We boarded the bus to go to Logan Visitors Center - about a 40 minute drive up the mountain, stopped at other stops en route.  The drive was a lot of fun heading up.  Hunter sat with Scott on the upper tier back section and Cierra and I sat in the front.  All was quiet until Cierra notice is big fluffy bumble bee by the window where she was sitting and came unglued because she's allergic to bees.  I traded places and she hid her head in the shirt and all was well.

We transferred at Avalanche Creek Transfer Stop and then took a smaller and narrower van up to Logan Pass.  The roads were considerably narrower and the van driver really drove quickly.  Poor Hunter sat on the right side of the van (all of us in the back row) and the poor guy could peer down into the valley below that was a few thousand feet with nothing but a small ledge between him and death!  He was a bit freaked out but despite his anxiety, he peered the entire time out the window and loved the scenery.

We sat by an engaging couple from Dorset, England and enjoyed a lovely conversation with them about America and English places to visit.  They were just delightful to chat with. When we arrived at Logan Summit Visitors Center, the weather was dramatically colder and windy!  

Glacier is a National Park in 3 countries:
The USA, Canada and Blackfeet Indian Reservation

The kids had finished their Junior Ranger booklets by this time, so we went on a nature hike up the Hidden Lake trail to finish the last requirement.  Cierra brought a jacket (the only smart one of the group) so the rest of us endured the biting cold.  The more you hiked, the less the cold bothered us, but it was still annoying at the beginning.

Grandpa Scott on the boardwalk trail with Hunter (in Junior Ranger gear) and Cierra.

Grandpa Scott and Cierra

Hunter looks pretty snazy in his junior ranger garb.

Scott and I on the trail to Hidden Lake

As we hiked up the stairs of the boardwalk (you can't just hike anywhere - they keep you on a pathway - we noticed a family of white mountain goats (billy, nanny and kid) eating in the distance.  As we continued to hike up the trail, the goats came closer and closer as before long, they were right next to us on the trail, totally oblivious to all the humans they were standing right next to! 

Cierra stood right by the goats!

As did Hunter!  WOW!

The Mountain Goats still have their winter coats on them.

We didn't finish this hike.  The steep steps of the boardwalk were proving very painful for my bad knee but it was easy to hike up.  Plus, it was getting more and more cold, so we turned around and headed back.  The views were just so amazing that you didn't want to leave.

I tried to get photos of the wildflowers - they were so pretty in the fields.

A photo here showing Bishops Cap

It was good timing because all the kids had left to do with their Junior Ranger booklets was to talk to a ranger, and two were walking right to us, so we stopped them and they chatted for a few minutes and then we went back to the visitors center there the kids turned in their books for review and took the Glacier National Park Junior Ranger oath.

Hunter and Cierra earning their ranger badges and pins with the coolest park ranger on the planet!

We got their pins and patches and then started outside where we were lucky enough to get an immediate van back down the mountain instead of waiting 20-40 minutes!  The kids wanted to go swimming and since they learned about the park, we explored part of a trail, and it was already nearly noon with 2 hours to go before we'd be back to the campsite, we decided to head on back.  Why is it that returning from a location is always faster than going?  We arrived back at the transfer location just as the bus was rounding the bend and they stopped and picked us up, so we were down very quickly off the mountain. 

It was amazing how WARM the valley floor was when we got back to the Visitor's Center at Apgar.  We actually wanted to travel all the way to the St. Mary's Visitor's Center on the far end of the park, but we would have been gone all day had we done that and not returned until past the shuttle service ended.  This was actually a happy day not too crowded with too much done.  We actually got sunburns for the short amount of time up on the summit, so it was a good day to head back to the KOA.

I really enjoyed this park and hope to get back again sometime soon and discover all the amazing trails this park has to offer...and next time, I'll be sure to bring my jacket and a small backpack.  OH!  That reminds me, it's a good idea if you're going to the park to bring a little backpack, water, sunscreen if you plan to hike.