Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park

 This is Part 3 in our Montana Adventure. (Part 1 and Part 2) I woke up the kids really early so we could get on the Going-to-the-Sun road early in Glacier National Park. It was a Sunday in July and I knew it would be packed. But our early start let us have some pull-offs to ourselves.

 We joined a lot of people at the Wizard Island pull off to enjoy the first rays on the surrounding peaks.

Then we pulled over to look at a cool canyon. The stairs also went under the bridge, which made a nice frame.

The creek looked so pretty.

And Desert Girl was delighted to snack on ripe raspberries.

We continued up to the Jackson Glacier overlook. Finally, a glacier! Even if it was many miles away.

This sign was really interesting about how much the glaciers have shrunk.

Then we got up to Logan Pass and found one of the last parking spots at 8:30 a.m. The visitor center didn't even open until 9 a.m. People were heading off in big packs along the trails. The kids didn't want to hike after the previous day's big hike, so we just looked at some signs near the visitor center. They were done in comic-book style, so they liked them a lot.

I couldn't resist going on some kind of hike, but I didn't want to be with a lot of people. So we went back to a pullout and started hiking up along a stream. The flowers were terrific. Even Desert Girl took some photos.

Ferns!!! We don't see many of those in the desert!

We just went a short distance, then kept driving on the very scenic road. I was surprised by all the bicyclists. And how some people weren't really giving them much room when they passed them. I like bike riding, but I don't know if I'd be brave enough to test the drivers on that steep and narrow road.

My optometrist had recommended some hikes when he heard we were going to Glacier, and one was Avalanche Lake. The kids weren't too keen on the idea, but it was a relatively short hike and we managed to find a parking spot.

There was more whining than I liked until we found this log that Desert Boy could crawl through. Suddenly the hike became a lot more exciting.

Success!

The lake wasn't much further. And you can guess what we had to do!

It was a very shallow lake on our end. We had to find something adventurous to do, and this log beckoned to us.

They made it to the end! We enjoyed a bunch of snacks and the beautiful day.

On the way down, Desert Girl had to try going through the log. It wasn't so comfortable.

In fact, it twisted her up and stretched her out! Ha!

Desert Boy had fun saying "G'day mate" in an Australian accent to practically everyone on the way back down. It was fun watching the reactions--or in most cases, lack of reactions. We probably passed over a hundred people.

We drove out of the park without stopping anymore. We never made it inside a visitor center, the two we stopped at were closed, and we didn't want to battle for parking to get to another one. On the way out the east side, the line to get in was over a mile long. So glad we started early!

Then it was time to drive to Helena for the big event--the National Speleological Society Convention!