For our one trip back to the United States during our tour here in El Salvador, we decided to go to Glacier National Park in Montana. It was incredible!
Week one we spent by ourselves in a cabin close to the West Entrance. By day we traversed the park, and by night we watched the Olympics.
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| Lucy at Lake McDonald. The water was an amazing Glacier blue. |
Our first hike we attempted was Avalanche Lake. I thought this would be a nice warm up hike, building to bigger and better hikes. It was a 6-miler, and I had not factored into it that I would be carrying James 95% of the time, and also transporting all food and water. We made slow and steady progress and Jeffrey and I enjoyed a dip in the lake. A continuing theme would be the "Polar Bear Club", or how many freezing lakes Jeffrey would jump into.
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| At St. Mary's Lake on the east side of the Park |
After that, we were determined to do shorter, more manageable hikes. We will save the longer ones for when we have teenagers.
One day we got an early start so we could beat the traffic and get to Logan Pass (elevation 6600 feet). We accomplished our goal, and we were there by 9 am, but coming in August from El Salvador, we had forgot about cold weather. We were completely underdressed for the arctic conditions (even inside the Visitor's Center, it was 55 degrees). After stocking up on some cold weather gear at the gift shop (not exactly bargain shopping!), Jeffrey and Sheralie braved the hike to Hidden Lake Overlook, but they had to traverse over snow, and came back quite cold.
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| In the backyard of our Martin City cabin, playing airplane. |
We also enjoyed the Discovery Cabin near Apgar, a place for kids where everything can be touched! We toured Lake McDonald Lodge and played in the stream and engaged in our favorite activity for the week: throwing rocks in the lakes and rivers.
We loved our cabin (thank you VRBO!), which featured a foosball table, plenty of taxidermy, TVs for the olympics and a generally very cozy stay!
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| Lucy and James with the backyard rabbit. |
How can you not love Montana?
Top 10 things about Montana:
10. Wildlife! Deer, rabbits, squirrels, mountain goats, we even saw a grizzly on a mountain.
9. Huckleberries! And all the other great fruit - cherries, peaches, and nectarines!
8. Cool weather. In August!
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| James giving a face while throwing rocks. |
7. The sun doesn't set until 10 pm! Okay, this was tricky when putting the kids to bed at 8 or 8:30, though often times they were so tired they could barely function.
6. The water was incredibly refreshing. We spent plenty of time in a boat with the Monroes, and the water was terrific. We also enjoyed drinking tap water. It took some convincing to convince the kids it was safe.
5. Really nice people. Everywhere we went, we got tremendous customer service from very kind people.
4. Waterfalls and mountains. The scenery was great - we couldn't stop taking pictures.
3. Trails. So fun to be out in nature, even if some of the trails were quite crowded. One trail I found empty - Apgar Lookout, though it helped that I ran on it at 5:30 am.
2. National Parks! Glad we have them.
1. Families! Three cheers for the Monroe Family Reunion, and for Grandpa and Grandma Broadbent, who joined us.
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| On the way to Logan Pass on that chilly morning. |
We didn't spend all of our time at Glacier. The boys and I did a whitewater rafting trip down the Middle Fork of the Flathead River.
And one day we hit a family fun center for mini-golf, bumper boats, race cars, basketball, and a human maze. The maze was a little frustrating for some of the kids, but we eventually found our way out (there was some doubt for a while!).
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| On Going to the Sun Road overlooking the valley. |
Week 2: The Monroes joined us for camping and boating. We went out on Whitefish Lake after taking a lovely GPS-led tour of some kind residences (evidently NOT a shortcut to the marina).
The Monroes also brought all the gear for camping! After a morning of scouting our potential campsites, we found three terrific sites together. Camping was fun, but boy was it cold. The mountains blocked the sun until 10 am, so no one wanted to roll out of their sleeping bags before then.
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On the path to Hidden Lake before I retreated to the car with the younger children.
Note Lucy wearing my sweatshirt. |
We went through a lot of hot chocolate there. We also played a lot of baseball on the campground road. Jeffrey and Laird and I all brought our mitts and we got quite a bit of practice time in.
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| Jeffrey on trail to Hidden Lake Overpass. Note the new Glacier Park beanie. |
As usual, the Monroe segment of the vacation was the most action-packed. Sometimes boaters would leave at 6 am (apparently the water was warmer than the air) and activities would be going non-stop until the sun went down at 9:30 (sunset advanced a few minutes every night). We tackled part of the Highline Trail, which included mountain goats a few feet from us. Keith, Greg, Kim, and Charity decided to run the rest of the trail, while Jeffrey and I headed back to get the car so we could go pick them up at the other end of it.
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| Grandpa Keith with Jeffrey and Lucy on Trail of the Cedars |
Jeffrey really got a kick out of knee-boarding, and Sheralie couldn't get enough water-skiing. James was less enamored with the boat, but I think he warmed up by the end.
Michael officially proposed to Stephanie, which was exciting, but kind of surprising, since I thought they were already engaged. Anyway, I guess we can tell everyone now. Got that, our 7 blog readers?
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| Monroe Family on Trail of the Cedars |
Sad footnote: On the drive back to CA from MT, the Monroes rammed into a deer, totaling the truck. Fortunately, no one was hurt, and they were able to buy a new truck and continue the drive home with minimal delay.
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| Jeffrey skipping rocks on Lake McDonald |
Week 3: The Broadbents met us on the east side of Glacier for our last week. We were glad to shower and sleep in a bed after 5 nights of camping.
The east side of Glacier is much different than the west side. Much drier and less populated. We were very surprised to turn off the main road to a dirt road for our cabin, since we hadn't seen signs of civilization for 30 miles. But we were only 2 miles from East Glacier Park Village, which is small, but is something!
For church, we trekked out to Cut Bank Branch, where Keith went to church as a youth. We met some folks that still remembered him from 40 years ago.
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| At the entrance to Glacier (near St. Mary's) |
We continued to knock out hikes on week 3, and we were getting better at them. James was used to being on my shoulders and was a good rider. He would frequently say "I want a rock" which we sometimes mistook for "I want to walk" (wishful thinking on our part).
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| Grandma Broadbent and Lucy at St. Mary's Falls |
We particularly enjoyed the hike to St. Mary's and Virginia Falls (off Going to the Sun Road). Great waterfalls and very pleasant hiking conditions. Grandma and Lucy went back after the first falls, and Sheralie and I and the boys tackled the second one.
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| Family picture at St. Mary's Falls |
Jeffrey and I attempted Scenic Point near Two Medicine, but it turned out to be quite steep and we didn't quite make it to the top. We did hit many scenic points on the way though, so mission accomplished.
We also enjoyed the East Glacier Park Lodge and the Many Glacier Lodge. Very cool places to stay and we hope to visit them in the future when we don't have toddlers.
One hike we attempted on a very cold day was near Many Glacier - Appiklini Falls (picture below). Great hike, but very steep. I was all bundled up at the beginning, but after 20 minutes of carrying James, I was sweating bullets.
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| At Virginia Falls |
On our way back, we spent a day in Houston with the Broadbent clan, and then, after many delays, arrived back in El Salvador late Saturday night. Our ride didn't show up, and we didn't have any cash, or our phone. It was a bit of a pickle, but a taxi agreed to take us back up. I just hoped we could find $30 (it is a 45 minute drive) in our house, which thankfully we did.
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| East Glacier Park Lodge |
It was a great trip. We were happy to head home though - three weeks is a long time to vacation.
I have no more commentary on the trip, though Sheralie may add more. I had already uploaded these pictures, so if you made it this far, I will let you read the captions to the rest without more commentary.
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| Inside East Glacier Park Lodge (James is on my shoulders) |
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| Trick Falls, a small hike that we came back to to swim in |
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Very cold morning near Many Glacier
(Laird and Lucy stayed with Grandpa at the Lodge) |
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| Near the base of the Appilkini Falls |
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| With my sweetheart |
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| Jeffrey and Laird wearing their "uniform" - Monroe shirts and bathing suits |
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| James giving one of his million photogenic looks. |
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| In the front yard of our second cabin |
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| Broadbent grandchildren, August 2012 |
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| Monroe Family Reunion, Glacier, August 2012 |
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| Lucy loving Cousin Maggie, with Cousin Madeline |
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| Uncle Greg with Lucy and Maggie on the boat |
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| Jeffrey and Grandpa Keith |
