Category: Uncategorized

Avalanche Lake, GNP (9.12.20)

The Avalanche Lake trail has been closed due to bear activity, so we were really excited when it was opened again! We got there early enough that we had to wait in the car until it was light enough to see the trail. It’s about 6 miles round trip and well worth it. A family of deer wandered around us for a little while, until the fawns went up the hill and the mom went down. We waited while they called to each other and the fawns finally crossed the path to follow the mom. It was another gorgeous area of GNP, next time we come, we’ll try to get there earlier in the year when the waterfalls would be more full. Smoke from wildfires moved in, in the afternoon, so we were very lucky we got to go when we did.

Chill time for knee healing and then St. Johns Lake in Glacier and back to Lion Mountain (8.25-9.6.20)

We wanted to hike to Avalanche Lake, but the road was closed just before the Trailhead and there was no parking. We turned around and decided to hike the St. Johns Lake loop, which takes you around McDonald Falls. It was a flat easy hike, so we went back, got the dog, and took her for a hike up Lion Mountain. Though we’d been there before, it’s a couple miles with slight elevation gain. The difference in the lake was significant vs. the last time we saw it.

Hidden Lake Hike and the Highline Trail (8.24.20)

Both trails have been closed for about a month due to bear activity. We got up at 5 am, layered up and headed out. We totally overdid it, we hiked about 11 miles and Jim hurt his knee again. We felt so good after the ~4 miles at Hidden Lake that we figured we’d go a couple miles on the Highline. The Highline is about 11.5 mile each way from Logan Pass to the Loop. People often go from Logan to the Loop and take the bus back up, but busses aren’t running this year, so we hiked just past the Haystack and then headed back. The pic where Jim is pointing up, is him showing me where the truck is parked 🙂

Another Whitefish hike and the Montana State Fair and Rodeo (8.22-8.23.20)

The hike was great and took us to an overview of Whitefish and Whitefish Lake (Nickel was not very impressed with the view). The fair was slimmed down from the usual version and was made up entirely of 4-H animal and plant entries. It was really cool to see the young girls out there pushing cows around and sitting in the corrals with their animals making sure they were eating their dinners. We watched a teenage boy milking a cow and talked to another who was in with the miniature horses. The rodeo was awesome and started with kids riding sheep. The 6 year old who rode his sheep backwards ended up winning. This is the kind of rodeo I miss, cow roping, bronc riding and bull riding. Halftime was a 12 year old Blackfeet Fancy Dancer who has won world champions.

More Montana, a horseback ride and a Whitefish hike (8.10-8.21.20)

We took a full day horseback ride through Swan Mountain Outfitters and went up to the Sperry Chalet. Starting in Glacier, it was about 12 miles round trip with a 3,500 foot elevation gain. Jim’s horse was “Sledge” and I rode with “Maybe”. The views from the top were stunning, we could see rows upon rows of mountains, McDonald Lake, and some very friendly chipmunks. We do not have many pictures because the safety conscious guide forbade it and was very, very vigilant in ensuring we kept the rules. A couple days later we took Nickel on a hike in Whitefish.

Ash, Alex, and Mathilda pt 2 (8.6-8.9.20)

We headed into Glacier before the sunrise to hike Hidden Lake, which was closed due to bear activity. So, we headed down from Logan pass and hiked in to see the waterfalls, then headed down to play in McDonald Lake. We visited Whitefish Lake and then Ash and Alex got away for a horseback ride and dinner, then Mathilda learned how to climb stairs at the Loop. We also visited Hungry Horse reservoir, the Forge for their famous BLTs and the GNP welcome sign. We drove over to the East side of GNP, though we couldn’t enter, can’t wait to go back when it’s open. We saw a big black bear eating berries on the side of the road, but the pic was blurry 😦 Oh – and Mathilda decided that she liked Nickel’s bed a lot.

Ash, Alex and Mathilda come to visit and Britt swears in to the AF (8.3-8.5.20)

Busy couple of days… after the plane ride, we went to Glacier for the sunset, then a day on a boat in Flathead lake, saw the Bird island fire and Wild Horse Island. We were not allowed to see Britt off, but were able to watch her swearing in on live stream. We played in Bowman Lake and saw a deer, then headed up to Hornet Lookout for amazing views.

Jim’s forever truck and Kayaking Whitefish river and lake (7.20-8.2.20)

We drove 10 hours to Sidney, Mt to get Jim’s dream truck, (he was really happy to be in the pictures) the dark pic is the truck at night…pretty badass. Eastern Montana is beautiful – hundreds of miles of green, rolling farmland, it was a long drive, but gorgeous; except for the weird metal animals. We headed to Glacier for the moonrise one evening, pics there are from the Loop. Then on 8/1 we kayaked with the Roaming w/ the Ramsays crew. I took the pic of them on the lake, they posted it on their Insta and National Geographic commented!!! Course, I was NOT given the credit I deserve, so I’m logging my complaint here 🙂