For our second day in Glacier National Park (Saturday August 1st) we decided to take advantage of some of the cool attractions near us and so we went hiking right from our campsite at Avalanche Creek. The trail head to Avalanche Lake was literally right behind our site, so we just headed over after breakfast and after putting together some sandwiches for lunch. Love this picture of our sandwich making factory that morning! Many hands make light work. đ
Then we got to follow the creek pretty much the entire way up to the lake and we saw some spectacular views of the creek as we went up.
Sometimes the hike took us away from the river though and into the beautiful forested mountains – which we also loved and which provided some nice shade and good climbing rocks!
The hike was a longer one (4.5 miles if I remember right) but the kids all did really good for the most part. Adalynn needed a few rides and Dawson sometimes needed a “race” to catch up to everyone, but all went pretty smoothly and the lake was definitely worth hiking up to! So pretty! We all loved the three waterfalls!
The kids of course wanted to play in the water, but it was really really muddy water and they all ended up getting pretty wet and dirty – but that is all part of the fun, right? đ
After splashing around in the water for a bit, we headed over to where we saw a fallen log and pulled our our snacks and sandwiches for a picnic lunch. We had a cute little chipmunk join our party and he’d scurry around us looking for crumbs.
Later Adam and Brans went exploring and were able to cross the river to get to the other side of the lake. They had fun skipping rocks and talking.
Then it was time to head back down the mountain again. I ended up taking the advance party (Daws and Harry) while Adam stayed back with the slower party (Ady and Brans). Harry and Daws wanted to run almost the entire way down – so I walked fast and mostly was able to keep up to them. They were allowed to run as fast and far as the wanted as long as they could still see me behind them.
We saw a deer while we hiked back and sat and watched her for awhile.
Sure was a wonderful hike and a great day spent as a family! I sure love all their adventurist spirits and that we go and do these fun things together!