GNP Day 4–Avalanche Creek & Lake

The hike along Avalanche Creek to the Lake is 4.5 miles round trip and only has a 730 ft elevation gain.  It is a popular hike and you’ll run across more people here because it starts near a campground and is pretty easy.  The hike starts out in the woods, so we were pretty chilly.  We were also rewarded pretty quickly with little waterfalls as the creek meandered along.

Isn’t that blue water just amazing!

As the sun got higher in the sky, the colors muted, but it was still a beautiful walk.  Eventually, our wooded walk opened up to this view -

and the most fantastic stone-skipping lake :).

Because the hike was so short, we felt no need to rush kids along, so we just enjoyed soaking in the views and watching them explore.

 

We finished our day with a short drive to McDonald Lake where our 3 youngest swam to their hearts content and the rest of us played a game in the shadow of this majestic mountain range.

Glacier National Park Day 3 –White Water Rafting & the perfect cabin

We figured our kids would like a breather in-between our big day hikes.  And what better way to relax than white-water rafting :)  !!  After our big hike to Grinnell Glacier, we slept in a little the next morning and the kids and I hung around our cabin while Andrew got an oil change for our van.  Yes, we’d gotten an oil change before we left, but we’d already driven 3,500 miles! 

I was bemoaning the fact that we didn’t have any fruit for lunch when I glanced out the kitchen window and saw a huckleberry bush.  In Montana. huckleberries are also called “Montana Gold.”  So, I grabbed a bowl, hollered for some help and the kids and I went outside and picked huckleberries and raspberries to our hearts content. 

Yum! :)  It gave me yet another reason to be thankful we were staying at this house/cabin I found on VRBO.  It really was a fantastic location, had 3 bedrooms and a pullout couch for all of us and a lot of kitchen countertop space, which was perfect for gathering our snacks every morning.  The owners were helpful and kept the cabin well stocked.  We really loved staying there!  .

Next up – white water rafting!!!  Andrew and I rafted the Royal Gorge shortly after we got married and both of us really enjoyed it.  We had been looking forward to the day our kids were all old enough to raft with us.  And the day had finally arrived :).  

Did they enjoy it?  I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves:

Definitely a top 5 on our trip!  And that’s saying a lot!!

In between rapids, our guide offered us the “opportunity” to jump in the water…the 40 degree, mountain snow melt water.  Yeah, no thanks.  But every one of our kids did it!  Some more than once in order to get our guide to jump in!  Good thing it was an 80+degree day. :)