Day 7 - Last Day in Glacier

For our anniversary, Ethan arose early (6:30) to wake us up in order to get on the road. He's so thoughtful. We all slept well, though, so we were up and at 'em for one final day in the park. After looking up some hikes, Will agreed that we would drive further into the park to get to them. Basically, the major road that runs from the west side to the east side of the park is called the Going to the Sun Road. There are some other roads along the edges, but you can access most of the trails from this one road. The road starts at a lower elevation, with Lake McDonald being on one end and then slowly climbs up to Logan Pass, which is along the Continental Divide. This is the highest point you can drive in the park. From there, the road slowly winds down the mountain, ending up at St. Mary's Lake and, eventually, the exit at St. Mary's. The sections in the beginning and end are not bad. It's the middle that is more difficult, where you are driving on the edge of a cliff essentially. It's great for me because I have my camera out the window, clicking away. But Will is concentrating on not killing us or the insane bikers riding through. 

Our destination today was to a hike that took us to four different waterfalls. It starts at the St. Mary's Trailhead, about 10 miles east of Logan Pass. We noticed right away that the landscape was different here, and it was clear a fire had gone through. We learned that there was a big fire in 2006, resulting in large sections of burned trees. This hike was so interesting because you had a forest of nearly bare, charred trees juxtaposed against a meadow of pink, purple, and yellow flowers. And in the background was St. Mary's Lake, which is this vibrant turquoise color. It was really so pretty. I was saying to Will how different it would have been if the trees were all full. We wouldn't have been able to see the lake, for one, and the meadow flowers might not have been as prominent.

The hike went along the meadow for a bit, and we called out frequently to stave off any bears. Not far in, you come across St. Mary's Falls, a very pretty waterfall. Then after a little more climbing, there were two other, unnamed waterfalls, both very nice. I just love to see the rushing water, coming down the rocks. It's amazing to think that this is really how the mountains were formed in the first place, with enough water coming over the earth. The final destination of the hike was Virginia Falls, which one blog we read opines as the "most spectacular fall in all of Glacier." Having visited several, we tend to agree. Virginia Falls was the largest, and most impressive, waterfall we saw on this trip. You are able to go up to a section at the bottom of the first major part and the wind blows the spray right into your face. It was more pleasant down a ways, where you can enjoy the bottom of the falls and climb a sit on some of the rocks settled there. We had a picnic here. It's a toss up now if this spot or our spot at Hidden Lake Lookout on our first day is my favorite. They were both great!

As is usually the case, the way back went a bit quicker with more decline than incline. Before heading to the car, though, there was a detour to take another hike to yet one more waterfall: Baring Falls. This hike was recommended by a friend Sheri, who worked in Glacier for a summer. I wanted to check it out. At this point, Eleanor was pooped and not too interested in another hike without a rest. So I did what any good parent does and bribed her with Red Vines (our hiking snack of choice) and some piggy back rides. I am so glad we did this hike! It came down a ridge right to the shore of St. Mary's Lake, which is just so pretty. The color is incredible, created by the sun's reflection of the rocks in the glacier that feeds into it (or something like that...), and the view of mountains behind it made it such a pretty spot. Unfortunately, my camera's battery died right before this hike, so I only had my phone to take pictures. From the lake, it was a short hike up to Baring Falls, which was cool and worthwhile. From there, we found that we were able to hike back up to the road in a much shorter distance, so we did that instead of turning back the way we came. Will had parked a bit down from the St. Mary's Trailhead, so we waited at the top while he got the car, which wasn't far at all. Worked out perfectly. 

From there, we continued on the Going to the Sun Road, stopping at the St. Mary's Visitor's center, right inside the east side of the park. Here, we read about the Native Americans associated with Glacier and also visited one last souvenir shop. Ethan got a Glacier National Park Patch to add to his collection, as well as a pin, and Eleanor chose a small grizzly bear stuffed animal she named Anothony Grizzo. I got a shirt I had thought about buying at every other shop we saw that has an outline of the state of Montana and says Glacier. Will left empty-handed. We stopped at the sign for Glacier on the way out to get one last picture and said goodbye. 

We decided it would be easier to drive from the east entrance back to Whitefish along the highway bordering the park, rather than going through the park. It would take us just over 2 hours. The first part of the ride proved to be just as winding as if we were in the middle of Glacier, though, so we were a bit nervous we made a mistake. The highway opened up, though, so it ended up being a good choice. And, we got to stop at the original Glacier Lodge. We took a quick detour here where Will bought a cool hat and the kids and I walked around. The inside is made from giant trees, and it looks neat. I wouldn't want to stay here for any length of time, but it's fun to visit. Our ride was pretty uneventful after that. We let the kids watch a movie because the ride was pretty long, so Will and I could listen to music and get a break from audiobooks. (Though admittedly, the one we're currently listening to is pretty good. I'm kind of excited to find out what happens on our drive tomorrow!)

Once back in Whitefish, we went out to dinner (!!!) for our anniversary. I think Will knew we could all use a break. He had researched a place to go called Buffalo Cafe but, despite what the website said, it ended up being closed. So we walked a bit in downtown Whitefish and found another place that was pretty good. The menu was a bit upscale while it looked very casual. I had worried about going in my hat and hiking boots but we found we fit right in. I got bangers and mash with a Ceasar salad with fried capers, Eleanor got shells and cheese, Ethan got a pub burger, and Will got a turkey Cobb. Oh, and I also got a delightful martini with vodka, elderflower liquor, and blackberries. It was called The Glacier.

From dinner, we drove "home" and I decided I would take the kids to the indoor pool for a bit. It had been a long day, but we had been sitting for quite a while. We went for just a bit, swam around, then hit the hot tub one last time before showering and coming home. The kids protested having to go to bed without reading (it was late), but their protesting sounded a bit like this, "Hey, why can't we...snore." Bedtime has been a cinch this whole time. If only we had mountains at home! 

All in all, this leg of the trip has been great. The kids have been absolute champs in the car. Before today, they never once needed a DVD player. And we didn't even need it today, but Will and I thought it would give us a chance to chat while they were entertained. They are content with an audiobook, and the complaining has been very minimal. We could have stayed a bit closer, and now we know, but the drives are so pretty that they don't seem bad at all. We had great weather all week (hotter than we expected), and we feel like we had enough time. We learned after Rainier that 2 days just isn't enough, so I'm glad we had 4 days to explore. We are looking forward to our next leg in Canada. We will have 5 full days in Banff to explore! Tomorrow night we will stay in Invermere, BC, about 3.5 hours from here. Then we will have about a 2 hour drive the next day to our condo in Dead Man's Flats, outside of Banff. Here, we will have more space, with the kids sharing a room and Will and I having our own room. But we will miss Glacier! 

**One more side note: at least once a day, we have had comments and conversations with people based on them seeing either mine or Will's Cub's hat. It's been funny. Sometimes it's a lighthearted, "Ah...Cubs fans," or other times, we meet other Chicago natives. We met a guy our first day who grew up in Glen Ellyn and lives on the north shore now. We even went to the same high school, though 15 years apart. I'm not sure that we would have had these comments had the Cubs not won the World Series last year, so it has been kind of funny. We've even had people drive by and just yell out, Go Cubbies!