Saturday, August 12, 2023
We started our journey at Pittsburgh International Airport in the early afternoon on Saturday, August 12, 2023. After getting through security, we settled into our gate and waited. This process always feels like we need to “hurry up to wait.” After waiting an hour, we learned we had a delay due to severe thunderstorms and lightning. At this point, Jeff contacted our flight insurance to see what money we could get back and if we needed a hotel, how much they would cover. He learned that our flight insurance wouldn’t cover delays or cancellations due to weather- how dumb is that! While he was fighting insurance, I picked up dinner.
Many dinner places were closing around 7:00 (also dumb), so our choices were limited. We ended up ordering pizza, but they misunderstood what I ordered leaving us with not enough for both of us, so I ended up also getting some sandwiches and snacks from a small kiosk to get us through the evening. We then boarded the plane and waited another hour before they de-boarded us to provide us with a snack and a break to stretch our legs. Finally, after three hours, we were finally able to take off. The flight was quite bumpy with a good bit of turbulence. I am still pretty new to flying, so this caused me quite a bit of anxiety. We arrived in Minneapolis around 11:00 where we learned we had missed our connecting flight, so this meant we needed to find a hotel to spend the night. After the turbulent flight, I was grateful to rest and begin the day anew with sunny skies and a smoother flight.
After booking our hotel, we then were set with the challenge of finding our luggage. (We had volunteered our carry-ons to be put in a different part of the plane with the checked luggage because they had run out of space in the overhead storage.) We went to luggage claim, and they said that they were still on the plane but that they might be able to get them for us. Thankfully, we had packed our backpacks with essentials in this case. We walked to the taxi area to then get a text that our luggage had been found, so we walked the multiple flights back down to luggage claim before hiking back up to the taxi area. As we were walking around, we also learned that Jeff’s brother’s dog had gone missing back in his hometown. (His brother was in Montana, so this was extremely worrying.) We quickly learned that the taxi service didn’t run past 11pm (dumb), so we quickly downloaded the Uber app and spent $25 for the 10 minutes ride to our hotel. At 12:30, it felt so good to be in a real bed.
Sunday, August 13, 2023
We woke up early to get breakfast at the hotel before loading the hotel van and taking us back to the hotel. Thankfully, this travel day was much smoother. We boarded on time, had clear weather, and arrived in Kalispell, Montana in the early afternoon. It was so fun to watch the terrain change as we flew from Minneapolis to Kalispell. We also saw how interesting Montana’s landscape is- it is very flat and sparse to extremely mountainous very quickly. Depending on where you are in the state, we experienced this quite often. It would be extremely flat, and then you’d round the corner to see a mountain.
Jeff’s parents picked us up at our hotel, and we drove the Going-to-the-Sun Road to the other side of Glacier National Park to our rental home. The drive from Kalispell to East Glacier was breathtaking. We were also very grateful for this drive because it was the clearest views we had of the mountains the entire week we were there.
After driving about an hour and a half, we finally made it to our rental, The Candy Kitchen Resort where we met up with the rest of the family. We settled in before enjoying cajun chicken pasta for dinner made by me. I didn’t have all the ingredients I needed, so it didn’t come out perfectly, but it was still good and fueled us for the start of our trip! A neighbor of the rental also brought us the most delicious berry pie I’ve ever had. It was such a sweet welcome to the neighborhood! The area around our rental house also had cows, so they were frequent visitors, walking around the property.
Monday, August 14, 2023
On Monday, we drove the Going-to-the-Sun Road again but stopped along the way to enjoy the views. We enjoyed a packed lunch along a clear stream, visited a jumping hole with the bluest natural water I have ever seen, and enjoyed a variety of views. I also met a little butterfly friend!
Later in the day, we explored Lake McDonald, and it was a favorite stop for us all! We swam in the lake (which was pretty cold!), and it was SO clear. I treaded water in probably 12 feet of water, and I could see my shadow along the bottom of the sandy-bottomed lake. It was incredible. The views of the mountains while swimming in the lake was also quite surreal.
After enjoying a day out in the national park, we headed back to the house where we had steak and potatoes for dinner and enjoyed a homemade jalapeño cream cheese spread over crackers. My in-laws are the best cooks! That evening, we did some family yoga in the backyard (which is always hysterical) and walked around the neighborhood where we saw the world’s largest purple spoon.
Tuesday, August 15, 2023
Tuesday morning, we got up really early to start an 11 mile hike that started in the backyard of our rental house. It started over a hill, down into a valley, up into the mountains that turned quite rocky, through more rocky terrain, and ended at Two Medicine, where we enjoyed a well-deserved swim. The views of this lake were gorgeous from the top of the mountain. It was quite a strenuous hike that required many stops and multiple electrolyte packs. While Jeff and I love hiking, we are still building our stamina for these longer hikes. We do not have mountains (+ elevation) like these is PA!
We were pretty exhausted after the hike, so we headed back to the house and relaxed on the back porch where we met a friendly neighborhood cat that we affectionately named Kitty for our week there. She visited us nightly! Dinner was pulled pork and mac n cheese.
In the evening, Jeff and I walked over to Glacier Park Lodge and explored. It was quite a beautiful lodge, and we each purchased a tshirt to remember our travels here!
Wednesday, August 16, 2023
Wednesday was a big day.
One thing to note about The Candy Kitchen Resort is that there is no AC, so during the day, we would close all of the windows and blinds to preserve our cool air. At night, we’d open the windows to let cool air in. Another note about The Candy Kitchen Resort is that there are beautiful flower boxes below each window housing beautiful flowers. Except, that, at night, the wind would blow the dirt from these beautiful flowers directly into our room. We did not know this or have this experience until Wednesday morning when I awoke to our entire room (bed, suitcases, floor…everything) COVERED in a thin layer of dirt. To say I was annoyed that everything I brought was literally now dirty and that I needed to clean our room at 7:00am would be an understatement. Nevertheless, we persevered.
After cleaning up and getting ourselves ready, we went to Middle Fork of the Flathead River with Glacier Raft Company for a river float. Our guide was Hannah B. and she was amazing! Unfortunately we didn’t take our phones on this float to take pictures, but trust me, it was amazing. We talked with her about Montana, our van, and some hikes we hoped to go on. She shared that she currently lives in a bus/van (I can’t remember). We noticed some hazy smoke start making its way into our area of rafting and she said that the wildfires are moving in quickly and that she may need to evacuate if it gets closer. She shared it was quite scary and worrisome, the amount and severity of the wildfires.
During our river float, we got to jump out of our boat for a quick swim. It was VERY cold but refreshing and enjoyable. When it came time to get back in the raft, Hannah explained that she’d count to 3, and on 3, she’s pull us up by our life jackets as we pushed up against the side of the raft to get back in. As we started reboarding, we learned that 1) Little Hannah is VERY strong and 2) You can’t help but looking like a seal beaching onto shore, wiggling your way back into the boat. It was quite funny, both experiencing it and watching others come back on board.
We ate lunch out at Glacier Highland Restaurant, which was very good, before deciding on a game plan for the afternoon/evening. Kyle’s suggested we hike Avalanche Lake, which was about 6 miles to a quiet lake among mountains and trees, and we agreed it would be a fun one! It was a bit longer than we anticipated (it felt much longer than 6 miles for whatever reason), but when we turned the corner around a bend at the final end of the hike, it opened up into this blue/green lake with beautiful mountains showing multiple waterfalls that just looked like tiny trickles. This was one of my favorite places within Glacier. It took effort to get there unlike some of the other views that could be seen from the Going-to-the Sun-Road. It was a quiet slice of peace. After spending an hour or so wading in the water and taking pictures, we began the adventure back to our house. On the drive home, we got to see a mountain goat and her two babies!
It was 10:00pm before we returned home, and we were exhausted. My dinner consisted of cheese, crackers, Doritos, and wine, and everyone else’s was quite similar.
After our long day of adventures, we were all quite exhausted but enjoyed all we got to experience and see.
Thursday, August 17, 2023
We started off Thursday by visiting the visitor center and getting our national park patch to add to Jeffrey’s collection. We also chose a sticker to add to Charlotte! On our way to our drop off point, we saw big horn sheep up close and personal! They were only a couple feet from our car as we drove into the park!
We were dropped off at the trailhead for Hidden Lake and Jeffrey and I hiked to a gorgeous view of yet another lake. There were many stairs and while the hike was a little strenuous, it wasn’t bad. Honestly, we were very tired this day from Wednesday’s festivities, so I don’t feel like we entirely appreciated the views we saw from this location. Jeff and I definitely want to return to Glacier National Park one day, so hopefully we can do it justice on our next trip.
We hiked back and decided to go to Lake McDonald again since it was so picturesque and memorable. We hung out there for a few hours and grabbed ice cream. For dinner that evening, my sister-in-law made a delicious beef and broccoli stir fry that I definitely want to make again!
Friday, August 18, 2023
On Friday, we decided to hike to Lower Grinnell Lake. On the drive there, we came across the most insane rainbow. This was very peculiar because this area of Montana was going through a drought with many wildfires. We had a couple drops of rain and then rounded the corner to the rainbow- so pretty!
Lower Grinnell Lake is nestled behind a little town that looks like how I envision Sweden looking. Many Glacier hotel, speckled in brown and white accents, with Swiftcurrent Lake and the mountains as a backdrop felt very Scandinavian. The hike back to Lower Grinnell Lake was extremely beautiful and secluded as well. We enjoyed a packed lunch and enjoyed relaxing with the water and mountains. It was a very serene place to enjoy a peanut butter sandwich, that’s for sure!
After hiking back, we met Jeff’s parents at the lodge and sat in front of the huge windows overlooking another smaller lake and watched the wind blow (it was quite windy this day). We got some coffees, did a little shopping, and then hopped in the SUV to go to Fishercap Lake! We had met a man on the Scenic Point trail on Tuesday that told us it was almost guaranteed to see a moose enjoying dinner around 5:00-5:30 at Fishercap Lake, and sure enough, around 5:30, we saw a female moose come out of seemingly nowhere and start feasting on lake vegetation! It was so cool to see a wild moose that close. It was also very humbling. They are so majestic, and after seeing moose in zoos and in videos, they seem so cute and gentle, but that is not the case. I had to keep reminding myself that this was a wild, dangerous animal regardless of how beautiful she was.
After watching the moose enjoy dinner, we decided we were quite hungry as well and made our way back to the house for some tacos. After dinner, we enjoyed some family yoga in the backyard. It was hilarious and also felt great following along with a Yoga with Adriene stretching video.
Saturday, August 19, 2023
Our last day in Montana! We slept in and enjoyed breakfast in the backyard. We had a delicious “deconstructed” burrito that consisted of scrambled eggs, potato, red pepper, and sausage. It was soooo good.
After breakfast we visited Two Medicine, specifically Paradise point. We also decided to explore East Glacier (which we had neglected for the more exciting West Glacier). We did a short hike to Running Eagle Falls which features this really cool rock feature of a waterfall falling BEHIND rocks, which is very unusual and pretty! We visited the Glacier National Park sign and headed back to the house to enjoy the evening.
After getting home, we had leftovers for dinner and then started packing up for the long travel day that Sunday held.
Sunday, August 20, 2023
Sunday was…early. Jeff and I woke up at 5:00am for his parents to drive us to Spokane, Washington for our morning flight. One perk was the chance to drive through Idaho, though! It was very picturesque, but a lot of it was also on fire making it quite smoky and hazy, unfortunately. The landscaping of Montana into Idaho is very intriguing. It goes from very barren, maybe a small ranch, to town or highway out of nowhere. There are many pretty green areas, but there are also a lot of dry, barren landscapes as well. It really depends on where you are and the state of any wildfires.
We arrived in Spokane and had a quick lunch at Panera before being dropped off at the airport for the journey back home. We flew out of Spokane and had a layover in Minneapolis before landing back on PA soil. We arrived home around 12:00am, and I was up for work the next morning setting up my classroom for the first day of school that started 2 days later! What a whirlwind!
We are extremely grateful for this trip and the ability to explore a part of the country we had never been to before. We can’t wait to return again and explore more of Glacier National Park!
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