We woke up in the morning in Kalispell ready to take on the day! We had planned this day to be our driving day, meaning we would drive the entire Going to the Sun Road, stopping along the way to see all the points of interest along the way. Before we left Kalispell, we made a stop at Big K so that I could purchase some hiking shoes since all I have are my Keen sandals, this was more specifically for Alaska, but they would be useful in Glacier no doubt. While browsing, Katie jokingly put on those shoes with the huge soles that are supposed to work you legs as you walk. I tried them on too and thought they were comfortable and decided to try them out walking around the store. In the end, I made my Momma proud and walked away with 2 pairs of new hiking shoes, one pair of real hiking shoes and another funny looking pair designed to work my legs and core. After much abuse from Katie, we finally got on the road and made our way to Glacier. Along the
way we stopped again at a Huckleberry store where we indulged in some exceptional Huckleberry pie for our breakfast treat! Upon arriving at Glacier, quickly snagged a campsite (one which already had firewood by it) at the Avalanche Lake campground intending to make the hike to the lake once more before we left the park. After setting up camp, we took off on the Going to the Sun Road. Unfortunately, we were surrounded by clouds the entire day and had very little actual sun on the Going to the Sun Road. The views were still amazing and it was pretty neat to see the clouds tear through the mountains as they passed on by... We ended up
stopping quickly to make some PBJ sandwiches
and have a beer for lunch at the Heavens Peak lookout. Once our appetites were suppressed, we headed on the road again
pulling off frequently for photos of the beautiful scenery. We reached Logan Pass, roughly the half way point of the road, and decided we would go on a hike up to a viewing platform for a place called Hidden
Lake. The climb was a little tough, especially since Katie's knee was hurting her, but it paid off big time, not only because of the amazing view, but also because we got up close and personal with some Mountain Goats and Bighorn Sheep! Even when we got back to the van and we were about to leave, 3 Bighorn Sheep
came running through the parking lot giving us a chance for some more up close shots and entertainment. The next stop on the road was to view our very first glacier, Jackson Glacier! Though it was from very far away and pretty small, especially compared to what you normally have in mind when you hear the word glacier, it was still an impressive sight to see nonetheless. We ended up stopping a few more times along the road, did a short hike to see a waterfall eating Huckleberries along the way, then just as we were about to the end of the road and planning to turn around I spotted a bear! We quickly stopped the car and got out to get a better
look, but unfortunately it was quickly out of sight, retreating back into the brush. Especially with all we had seen today it was hard to be upset about only getting a glimpse of a bear, but still I was a little upset we didn't get a better view. Not to worry though, about ten minutes later we came around the corner to find what is commonly referred to in Glacier as a "bear jam" and sure enough we got an awesome view of a black bear! After it climbed over the top of the mountain and out of sight we headed back to camp to cook up some pizza puffs for a late dinner and then hit the hay for the night. We planned on getting lots of rest since in the morning we were planning on taking on an 11 mile hike with an 1800 ft gain in order to see another glacier, up close this time.
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