Day 5: Wednesday Adventure Day
We woke up at 4 a.m. to a helicopter sounding like it was landing on our RV. It turns out it was a medical helicopter landing just a couple hundred yards away, so we were hoping everyone is okay. Between the helicopter and train noises, I am still looking for a solid night’s rest. It will come.
Wednesday is a short school day for the kids, so we made it a no school day and hit the park for our final full day in Glacier. The master plan: short 1.2 mile Barring waterfall hike, a longer 3 mile Hidden Lake hike (with Fruit By the Foot treat for completion), then hours at the lake for playing, followed by mini golf and ice cream with Rob when we got back.
We started a bit late, leaving the RV close to 10:30. We bought our annual national parks pass (and yes, I managed to pick the slowest of three lanes by far). Once in the park, we headed to visitor center for our Junior Ranger booklets. A few miles further in, we learned the Going-to-the-Sun road was closed for “a couple of hours” due to the traffic at Logan pass. The road had been closed the previous two days due to snow, so it turns out this was an extra busy day, with everyone trying to get in to see the park.
We waited at the Lake McDonald Lodge parking lot, where the boys experienced a picnic lunch by the lake, worked on their junior ranger booklets, purchased a national park coin (which we hope to collect more of), and waited in a 30-minute line for the restroom. The road did open up again after three hours, so we took off as quick as we could.
We saw Jackson Glacier on Mount Jackson, did the 1.2-mile Barring Waterfall hike (plus a bonus 0.2 to find the scenic lake lookout) and then boogied home, but not before stopping at Logan pass and lucking upon a kind ranger who found Junior Ranger Badges for the boys.
Due to some of Nicholas’ “choices” during the day, Nicholas and I hung back and kicked off our first RV park laundry experience, while Cooper and Rob took off for some miniature golf and ice cream. They both loved it.
hahaha!! “choices”, love this! Just have to say you know i LOVE GNP and your pics are beautiful. So glad you had some quality time there. Also you are SO BRAVE to do the driving that direction on GTS road. Usually my car only goes East-to-West so we are on the mountain side…this summer was the first time I’ve been in a vehicle going West-to-East. My friend was driving, luckily, but I was close to panic in the passenger’s seat! Although, for you, after driving an RV a small auto probably feels like a piece of cake.