We love to day-hike. We have been to all of these wonderfully scenic national parks/areas: Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Yosemite, Sequoia/Kings Canyon, Bryce, Zion, Grand Canyon, Olympic, White Mountains,Big Sur, Rocky Mountains, North Carolina. Glacier and Waterton are up next!
Started off overcast and misting. Hiked Multnomah Falls, Wahkeena falls and many smaller ones along the trail. Turned into a nice sunny day.... read more
Perfect weather today! Drove along the Columbia River Gorge, stopped at a few waterfalls then did a wine tasting at AniChe Winery in Washington. Great dinner at 3 Rivers Grill.... read more
Last day! Had to get one more "leg day" in. Hiked up to the Apgar Lookout. About 3.5 miles up, elevation gain 1948ft. Steady uphill climb. Great views of mountians in the distance and of Lake McDonald. We have had a great time here. Weather has been perfect (38 this morning but hitting about 67 this afternoon). Not looking forward to the 90s back in Hot-lanta, but ready to be home. Oh yeah, bear spray, not used, $50. (more than about two good bottles of wine) and we gave it away to someone other hikers - our good deed for the week!... read more
Drove up to Bowman Lake today. About 30 miles on unpaved roads - I still feel like I'm bumping along. Hiked along the lake for a bit. Stopped at the Polebridge Mercantile and found that they make the most amazing bakery items - huckleberry bear claw for me and a poppyseed chocolate chips Danish for Russ. Last day is tomorrow. Hoping to find one last great hike.... read more
Since most of the trails in Glacier West are still closed we had to venture to another area and chose Flathead National Forest. Getting to the Birch Lake trail was an adventure itself -- 6 miles up a gravel bumpy road. The hike was fairly easy, just a few places where it made you catch your breath. Great views out over civilization towards Flathead Lake. Birch Lake was quiet and we had the place to ourselves. We did spot some wild life - a group of about 30 middle schoolers on their way up another hike close by. Got back to the car just before the rain came, so we were lucky.... read more
In case you are looking for places to eat while in Glacier National Park here are the places we went: 1) Waterton - Prince of Wales hotel dining room. You don't need to be a hotel guest to dine there. The food was good. We did have the best pancakes ever, so try those. 2) Waterton - Lakeside Chophouse. Ate there twice. Nice selection of local beers. Bison Reuben was yummy. Also had spaghetti with a white truffle cream sauce and short ribs, both were delicious. 3) St Mary Lodge dining room - looked basic, but had good fish tacos and bison meatloaf 4) Many Glacier hotel dining room - great cocktails and HUGE desserts 5) West Glacier - Glacier Highlands restaurant. Another place with a good selection of local beer and wonderful pies! Chocolate banana ... read more
We stayed one night at the Village Inn at Apgar. Very cute, decorated retro 1960s. Right on Lake McDonald. You can see in the picture on the left and towards the center some of the smoke plumes from the fires. All hiking in the Lake McDonald area is still closed. We are hopeful that by the end of our trip we might get in there. We are now staying at the Cedar Creek Lodge in Columbia Falls. After a full week of small rooms, double beds and cruise-ship sized showers, this room seems HUGE. Two queens and a full shower/tub. You have to sacrifice charm for modern amenities. Oh the things we get used to in our daily lives. It is nice that there is onsite laundry because after a week of hiking my suitcase is ... read more
Drove an hour back east from Apgar to the Two Medicine area. Hiked up to Cobalt Lake, passing Aster falls and Rockwell falls. 11.4 miles round-trip. A bit of an incline in areas but not as bad as Crypt Falls in Waterton. Both falls are large with many Cascades and tiers. You can climb up along the sides of both to the top. Again, amazing views. Cool weather, only hitting about 60 as the high. Cloudy today too. Saw a moose about 15 feet off the trail. Oh, the chipmunks are not timid. ... read more
Today we hiked to Iceberg Lake (4.8 miles one way). It starts off fairly steep but then levels off to a gradual incline. The lake is just beautiful - all colors of blue. We got a bit of sun while there which was lucky because the clouds rolled in on our way back. After that we headed to the Apgar area of the park on Lake McDonald. (2 hour drive)... read more
Hiked to Grinnell Lake this morning. Decent length , 3.6 miles (one way)but fairly flat. Quite windy again today. Saw a moose! Also hiked to Red Rock Falls (1.9 miles one way) a bit uphill. And yes, the rocks are red.... read more
