Today we spent the whole day going to the sun. Going to the Sun Road is the main drag through West Glacier National Park apparently and where all the hikes go from. There is a north section of the park that has a hike Keith did with his parents that borders Canada and then the park extends into Canada (which we can’t do). We did meet some folks hoping the restrictions would lessen so they could head up into Canada, but they had to reschedule the whole second part of the trip. The Going to the Sun Road goes to an apex at Logan Pass and then back down again with huge lakes on each end of the road.
We packed a cooler of lunches, which I almost do every day now. We usually pack individual lunch boxes for the girls on long travel days, but we are low on snacks, so I just had a grab bag of nuts and apple sauces until we got to a lunch spot. We popped out and into the car and scoped out hikes for the next few days. Stopped at Lake McDonald Falls (the biggest lake in the park). All the lakes in the park are glacier fed even though the glaciers are diminishing. We saw Heavens Peak (the snowiest mountain in the park), Jackson Glacier, and had lunch at Sun Point before everyone fell asleep driving to the end of St. Mary Lake and turning around to head back. The sun was out on the way back and the whole road looked different from the other direction.
We got back around 4 pm, went to the pool for a quick dip after dinner (grilled chicken and potatoe grill pack) and then walked to the trail at the back of the campground with Goat Dog (she loved it). They had some nice little kid dirt bike hills and loud birds. There was also a dog park with a tunnel for the dogs.
Things we did:
- Drove the Going to the Sun Road
- Stopped off at McDonald Falls Overlook
- Stopped at Jackson Glacier Overlook
- Saw Weeping Wall
- Saw many many waterfalls along the road and far in the mountains
- Saw Heavens Peak from Overlook
- Stopped at some other random overlooks to to see the waterfalls, mountains, and different views
- Had a picnic surrounded by mountains at Sun Point
- Fell asleep in the car on the way back
- Dipped our toes in the river (burr!)
- Went swimming
- Had ice cream
- Talked about things we are planning to do in Glacier: A boat ride on McDonald; Avalanche and Lake Johns Hikes; Sit and hang out on the colorful pebbles of McDonald Creek or Lake; Visit Whitefish and maybe get some groceries on the way back (we’ll see how it works out)
- Booked our next place in Ruby Valley
beautiful scenery!