Glacier National Park: Day 1

At this time one week ago we were haulin' the heck out of Utah in a rental car, trying to beat traffic as we started the 10-hour drive to Kallispell, Montana to stay with Ryan's uncle & aunt. The drive was ridiculously long but we took comfort in the fact that a) we weren't putting those 1,400 miles on Don Carlos, and b) that we were in a car that got much better mileage than him. We arrived in the wee hours of the morning and were thankful to crash in a comfortable bed, even if it was only for six hours. My family came in a couple hours after us.

The next morning it was off to Glacier National Park with Uncle Bill as our enthusiastic tour guide. Bill is awesome. He is so wonderful and kind and in love with life. He also is probably one of the most hilarious people I've ever hung out with. From "Shoot low, they're riding Shetlands," to "What's the deal, ferris wheel?!?!" to "He-LLO!!" he had us all laughing while he showed us around the park.

 The day started out with a quick stop at Lake McDonald, which was absolutely stunning.

 Rain fell on and off throughout the day, which deterred a lot of visitors to our delight! We loved the peace and quiet.

Skipping rocks.

Because of the rainy weather, Bill took us to the more "touristy" locations that would normally be full during sunnier days, i.e. the easy stuff that everyone and their mother can do. First was Avalanche Gorge, which I highly recommend. It's an easy peasy walk through an incredible cedar forest, with extremely rewarding views. Sneaky Bill even took us to his secret shooting sites, but anyone could see that this place was absolutely unreal from every viewpoint. 

 Seriously a fairytale land.

 Then we took the Going to the Sun road up, up, up into the real-deal glacial stuff. IT WAS AMAZING. Glacial valleys, hanging valleys, waterfalls, glacial striations, truncated spurs, aretes, horns, and cirques EVERYWHERE. This park is a geologist's dream. You can't help but let your jaw hit the floor. The views were unbelievable. But due to the rain, I got better pictures on the other days. They'll come later.

 We went up into Logan Pass and hung around the visitor's center for awhile (holy crowded. Everyone was trying to get out of the rain.), then drove down into the eastern side of the park and did the St. Mary/Virginia Falls hike, another one that I'd recommend to anyone. Pretty short, hardly any elevation gain, and several beautiful falls along the trail. It's also a fairly active location for bears! We barely missed seeing two black bears, according to several groups we passed on the way in.

St. Mary Falls

Virginia Falls

With some of the lightweight stuff out of the way, we were so so ready for the better weather that was headed our way and the longer hikes that would come with it!