Glacier. Be Still My Heart

June 22 - I have been very fortunate to have traveled a fair bit (but haven't even scratched the surface) and Glacier definitely ranks among my most favorite places. The beauty is spectacular, awe-inspiring and breath-taking. The park is noticeably less populated, giving me a little more room to breath. The campground never came close to being full.

A little breakfast

First off this morning, we had to find a suitable place to hike - so we went to the visitors center - where everyone goes who doesn't know what they are doing. Mental note to self - next time I ask the question of where to hike remember to phrase it as "if you had kids that can hang, where would you hike to stay away from the crowds?" An information center, while very useful, is meant to proved cookie-cutter options. They don't even take in to consideration if you look experienced because if you were, you would have done the research prior and known where to go.

Reluctantly, I took her advice and we were headed to Logan Pass - the top of Going to the Sun Road, to find Hidden Lake. When we passed a sign that read "parking lot full, prepare for wait" I knew we had found the crowds.

We found the trail, along with 500 of our closes friends. The good thing about the trail being covered in snow is about 9/10 of the crowds turned back. The hike was certainly beautiful, I just through we'd actually reach Hidden Lake, not just a viewing platform. I will definitely go back to experience Glacier on a more intimate level.

As we hiked the trail and approached the lake, we came upon a mountain goat, just hanging in the middle of the trail. So we waited. Normally I wouldn't let the kids get so close to wildlife - especially with babies. But we'd be standing and they'd literally walk out of the trees right by us. I only hope the other visitors are as respectful with this unique opportunity, though I doubt it. There have been too many times I've been completely ashamed of being a part of the human race on this trip. On our walk I picked up someone's chewing gum.... I mean honestly! Who just spits it out and leaves it up here? I watched a dad feed a chipmunk to humor his kids, I watched people try to pet the mountain goats, it is just so disappointing why people can't understand how to leave no trace? A place like Glacier should be connecting people to the world around them, giving them an understanding of our fragile environment. Instead, they bring their selfish and thoughtless world with them.

The view from MacDonald Lake

I'm pretty sure she's appreciating the beauty of this place

Hiking up to Hidden Lake

The crowds thin out once they hit the snow

Waiting for Mr. Mountain Goat to move out of the trail

Baby Glacier

The viewing platform to Hidden Lake

The whole fam damily

 Sorry, I'll try to be more positive.

When we were at the lake, checking out the wildlife, Sierra & Mckenzie struck up a new friendship with boys Nick and Jack. Their mother and I started chatting and hit it off right away. The girls wanted to hike down with their new friends so we walked out together. I realized, as I was walking with my new friend Doreen from LA that I hadn't had much adult interaction in the past couple weeks and would latch on to anyone willing to have a conversation with me.... The girls didn't seem to care that they only knew these boys for an hour - during that one hour it was like they'd known each other for ages.

Getting some snow safety lessons from Nick and Jack's dad

The girls glacading down with their new friends

Really, you'd think we were old family friends

On our way down we checked out a few other campgrounds but we all really like how big the sites were at Agpar and the beautiful lake. Back to Apgar for a solid nights rest.

The lake is beautifully crystal clear

Enjoying the freezing lake

They both went fully swimming, and quickly regretted it