Summer vacation’s have come to a close. The girls and I returned home from about 3 weeks in Kansas on August 11th and hit the road for 4 days in Glacier National Park August 13th.
It meant another 8 hours on the road. . .spending this much time on the road back to back wasn’t our original plan. We had intended to visit Glacier in June, but after starting to plan to trip quickly learned June is not the best time to visit Glacier (trails are still snow packed).
Glacier is another beautiful park. I learned something new. I always thought it was named Glacier after the glacier’s present in the park today (down to 20), but it’s named Glacier after glaciers from millions of years ago that formed all the valleys and peak’s.
The two main goals of our visit included driving the Going to the Sun Road and seeing Grinnell Glacier (only glacier accessible via a trail). Beautiful views and features visible from the Going to the Sun Road (hard to believe it was constructed in the 20’s!).
We took in a couple short hikes, also. Here’s Katelyn getting a free ride.
Also, took a boat tour on St. Mary Lake (average depth 289 feet!).
We really enjoyed the hike to Grinnell Glacier. It was 12 miles round-trip (yes, we hiked it with a 2 year-old and 8 month-old!). We did shorten it 2 miles by catching a boat ferry back across a lake, so 10 mile hike for us.
Both girls did very well. Katelyn could hike up to a half-mile before needing back in the back-pack carrier. Keira was a trooper. I had to do some jogging on the way back down to make sure we caught the ferry across the lake (Eric and Katelyn were way ahead of us) and Keira just giggled while bouncing along. Here she is taking an afternoon nap while mom hiked.
We had lunch on the trail, saw wildlife (big horn sheep was perched directly over the trail), and had to hike through a small waterfall (which felt very good on the way back down!).
Here are a couple pictures about a half mile from our destination – Grinnell Glacier. Eric decided he needed to cool off (don’t blame him, Katelyn is pushing 40 pounds!). Keira’s all smiles at our pit stop and Katelyn shows off her hiking skills.
We made it! Here’s Grinnell Glacier. It covers 300 acres. Not sure its depth, but we learned in order to be classified a glacier it must be at least 100-150 feet thick. The pictures don’t do it justice, but you can pick out some of the large rocks stuck in the ice. I believe the rangers said Grinnell Glacier is the fastest melting glacier in the park.
We’ll have to add a new entry to the baby books – “Baby’s First Glacier”!
That’s our last road trip for awhile! A great place to visit, but it’s good to be home and get everything back in order.
As incentive to kick off a healthy fall season, I have planned a September bonus. Be sure to sign up for The Heart of Health to receive details on the September bonus, as well as, regular heart health and weight loss tips!
All the best,
Lisa Nelson, RD, LN