Right so here we go: B-day Weekend Day 1
We headed up to Glacier National Park on the Northern edge of Montana Thursday around 2 (I had to work that morning) After a few mishaps and driving over an hour out of our way, seeing countless deer on the side of the road while driving in the dark including one that straight up crossed the road right in front of me, admiring the moon shining on the lakes, and countless junk food, we pulled in to camp just before 2:00 AM. The mosquitos and bugs attacked us the second we got out of the car so we sprayed ourselves with bug spray and managed to get our tent set up using only one lantern in 15 min and into bed by 2:30. It was a long drive and we were so ready to hit the sack.
Friday morning we woke up, ate some oatmeal, banana bread and chocolate milk and then headed out around 10. We drove the spectacular Going to The Sun Road a 55 mile highway which is one of the best in the country. The views were incredible but personally I just loved driving by the river and this stunning green water! So of course we got out and took a picture.
The hwy no joke switchbacks right up on the mountain on some serious
cliff hanging roads. A little scary as how narrow it is, but absolutely
beautiful views! I made Braden drive know that I would be far too
distracted trying to look out the window to drive safely.
We did go and play on some rocks by the river. Know swimming for us but it sure was peaceful!
Below: My other favorite part of the Hwy were the waterfalls! There was seriously so many waterfalls that cascaded right under the road and some right onto the road! You could've gotten out and walked under them if you so chose! The one pictured here was my absolute favorite because of it's double feature!
We got up to the Logan Pass Visitor Center where there was tons of snow still! Unfortunately the 10 mile hike I really wanted to do wasn't opened yet so we settled for a lovely 6 mile trek through snow and across ice bergs to the stunning Hidden lake.
It was EXHAUSTING work sliding and falling constantly in the snow up and down hills. By the end we were professional gliders going down hill practically running but staying completely up right :D
First we went up to look out and then hiked down right to the water's edge (one of the few who did) There were still ice bergs floating. Above is Braden standing on the one pictured to the right (before it floated so far away) It was completely floating but felt solid as a rock when you stood on it, yet you could tell it was moving. Coolest experience for me yet.
There were sooo many billy goats on this first days hike. I love this picture of the little baby and its momma! I find it interesting they would rather sleep on the snow than on the grass but they were very comfortable with people it would seem. We practically walked (well fell) right by them!
We also saw many marmots over the course of our trip! This one came right up the trail to us! He looked a bit more mean and intimidating when he looked right at ya. haha
Since Braden stood on the ice berg first he kinda set it in motion floating out into the lake. I had him quickly get off so I could get my picture on it and while I was standing there it floated pretty far out! I was seriously this close to having to swim back since the ice berg in this picture is right over a drop off! Braden captured this lovely photo of me abandoning ship before it was too late! And man my feet were freezing!
Here's a vantage point of the whole canyon. Hidden lake is huge and stretches way back around that corner even though a lot is still covered in ice. Too the left at the top of the ridge is where most people stopped and just looked out. Not us though we determinedly headed down to the lake.
This here is our good friend Billy the goat. He led us all the way down the trail (like 5 feet in front of us) and down to the lake. It was cool seeing him over there drinking water and chilling. Then he goes into the trees and not 1 minute later Braden yelps as Billy is RIGHT behind us in the bushes. He completely soundless and in a matter of seconds made it over to right behind us. Braden soaked one of his shoes moving into the lake and I jumped to the side. He appeared a bit startled and so just headed on his way and left us on our own from there.
Later on we discovered that Billy goats like to lick the sweat off of hikers so more than likely, our good friend was going in for a good kiss. haha
Also as we headed back up the hill we saw him coming back up the trail.. Apparently he didn't like that we left him
While the lake was cold it wasn't too cold and actually felt good to dip your toes into. Unfortunately this created the false sense of security that the ice wouldn't be too bad barefoot.. but holy crap it was 10 times colder than the water.
The other main purpose in hiking down from that ridge was to glimpse at this wall. There were at least 10 waterfalls cascading down from glacier run off above. You can't see them as easily in this picture but I felt like I was in Iceland at the waterfall of Gods. It was spectacular!
This is closer to the beginning of the hike and that's the tallest peak in the surrounding area behind us. Look at all that snow!
Left: Picture of me on the iceberg biting my lip through the cold in my toes and the pure fear at seeing that thing move away from shore.
After a long day of adventuring we wound up back at our campsite around 7. We made a nice little fire (Braden did an amazing job of actually making kindling from our logs and lighting it with only the kindling and little pieces of wood) and we cooked our tinfoil dinners and had ice cold cream soda out of the bottle to drink with it. Then we went for a short walk by Lake Mcdonald and enjoyed the sunset on the water (but it still didn't last long due to the bugs) and we were in our sleeping back by 9:30. It was actually still light and fairly hot when we hit the sack but I actually slept really well! That makes for another great night of sleep! (haha so exhuasted)
I did love how secluded our campsite was! Didn't love the slant we were on though haha our tent almost didn't fit up on that platform.
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