We spent all of day 4 in Glacier. We woke up later than we have yet this vacation, and were still out the door around 8. Based on a conversation with a fellow traveler, we heard you could rent bikes in Glacier, which would allow us to go to Avalanche Lake, a spot we've been told is a Must Do. Well, it was a bit of a snafu, learning we couldn't rent them where we thought, then trying to piece together a bike order for 7. But by 9:30 or so, we were on our way, with six assorted bikes and one bike trailer from Glacier Outfitters.
Now this might have been one of the craziest things our family has done. We hopped on the bikes, picnics and drinks and bear spray packed securely, and skimmed around the barriers blocking drivers from Going to the Sun Road. And we road 6 miles, 6 hilly miles, one way. We had one wipe out but no injuries. I swear I was going to have bugs in my teeth, from smiling so big while riding. The forest was amazing, the cool mountain air washing down the road as we struggled up the hills and sailed down them. The journey was almost as good as the destination. But the biking was probably the easier part of the day.
Once we reached the trailhead, we had a 2.4 mile hike to the goal. We can all walk/jog/run 2.4 miles easily. But this was 2.4 miles in the mountains, and we almost climbed elevation the entire way out. My watch claimed about 650 feet climb; the girls watches said we climbed 80 stories. But it was worth it.
The trail journeyed through a microclimate with a warm breeze in the middle of the mountain air, lush with hostas and ferns and prickly squash-looking plants. As we rounded the corner, the rock faces seemed to rise from the ground, overpowering the sky, broken by four cascading long white ribbons of waterfall. The small rocks felt soft against our shoes. The wind did not move around Avalanche Lake, as if nature itself recognized the sacredness of this oasis. A mother duck and her five little ducklings swam playfully near the shore, bringing a smile to my face as I set out a picnic for my five little ones. An onery ground squirrel playfully danced between groups, stealing a cracker from Jay, an apple from an older woman nearby. The sounds of giggles from kids putting their feet in the cold snowmelt water gently echoed through the valley.
In a time when the world seems at the brink of war, this one location was medicinal. I actually shed a tear as we were leaving, thinking about the reality I was returning to: covid, school funding, the fight against the police, racism, recession. I want to stay in the bubble.
But alas, we had to head back. After a picnic of cheese, crackers and pepperoni, gogurts, and strawberries, we started off. And that meant a 2.4 mile hike down and about 6 mile bike ride. That's where the downhill was really felt, and appreciated. John did need a few more stops on the journey down, stopping to throw rocks in water where he could. No bears were seen, but we did see a few deer, as well as the rubbing marks from the native bears. On the way back to McDonald Lodge, we stopped for a "short" 0.6 mile hike to John's Lake, but the nearest we could get was very swampy, so we didn't stay long.
After dropping off the bikes and picking up our van seats, we wandered around Apgar Village and McDonald Lake for almost an hour. I even laid down on the beach and fell asleep for about 15 minutes, Jay standing guard nearby. The reflectiveness of the water, the plethora of colors in the rocks, the soothing cool mountain breeze made this worth the stop and a great place to relax.
But we were all wiped out from the workout of the day. Back to the beautiful cabin, showers, and grilled pizza supper. We made our plans for the next day, while the kids watched Phinneas and Ferb. And Katie worked on another test for her online courses. A cool beverage on the porch, just looking at the mountains, the scent of campfire smoke in the air, was a great way to end Day 4.
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