Going to the Sun Road

    We left our campsite a little later than usual and drove for a while until we reached West Glacier. Finally, after a lot of riding we arrived at our next campsite, set up, had some lunch and then set out.
    We arrived shortly after at going to the sun road.
    We drove along and stopped at a sign where we read about the Roberts Fire which burned 13% of the park. We checked the temperature next as we were still near the bottom of the mountains. It read 74 degrees Fahrenheit.
    We then stopped at a waterfall. It was gorgeous. The water appeared crystal blue because of the Glaciers.

    Later we stopped again at a waterfall and Claire, Jane and I waded through the water. It was freezing, but wonderful.

    We continued for awhile admiring scenery and such until we stopped again at Heavens peak.
    When we reached Logan's pass. The very highest point the temperature had dropped to 63 degrees Fahrenheit. We climbed out of the car and went into the visitors center. Then we hiked up a steep hill covered in Glacier snow. Here is a picture of the snow:

    The snow was incredibly deep. We found this out when we saw how deep a hole around a pole in the ground was into the snow.

    We continued our hike and Mom noticed some red in the snow. There were some humorous comments exchanged, but nobody had a sure answer.
 

    The path came to an overlook of a gorgeous lake:

    Heading back we came to a puddle in the middle of the path on one end was dirt and the other slushy snow. Claire long jumped herself over the puddle. She slid in the slush however and landed on her rear, but she did clear it.
    We passed a pond that I had gotten a picture of with the mountains reflecting in the water on the way up:

    Then Claire and I slid down the side of one of the mountains on our rears, intentionally. It was kind of like sledding.
    As we were walking back, we passed a park ranger and Dad asked about the red in the snow. He told us it was Algae. I thought that was pretty interesting.
    A little girl slid down the mountain Claire and I had previously gone down and the girl screamed all the way down. A father walking with his daughter pointed it out to her and my Dad looked at them and said, "Some little girl didn't listen to her father and he threw her off." The man laughed and I did too.
    As we continued back I took up the practice of pulling Jane down the short hills we had climbed up. It was like skiing, sort of. While I was doing this Claire and Dad went ahead, back to the visitors center.
    As we were nearing the bottom of the mountain Claire came back and informed us that we had just hiked six miles. I felt we had experienced a relatively full day, but we weren't anywhere near finished.
    We continued down the other side of the going to the sun road. We stopped at the point Dad had explored with us the day before, turned around and head back up the road.
    On the way back, we drove past the Weeping Wall. Which is a line of waterfalls in the rock right next to the road. Dad drove near enough to the waterfalls that they splashed on the car. He turned on the windshield wipers and said, "A Glacier water windshield wash." Our car will most likely never receive that treatment again.
    We continued down the mountain and then Dad let Claire drive for a little bit. We stopped at McDonalds lake and waded. I dunked Jane I'll admit and I went in up to my waist, but more or less we waded.
    When we got home, we had to shower in the camper for the first time. I thought it would be a breeze, but it turned out to be surprisingly difficult, plus all of my struggle wasn't even worth it, because the campgrounds showers were free anyway. I had to wash the dishes for the night and while using the water to do so I filled up the graywater tank which began filling into the tub, which is where we store beach towels, paper towels and other things so that was a minor set back.
    All in all today was a very full day.
   
Until Next Time,
    Katherine Rose