The Ruiz Family Blog: Portland to Glacier NP (part 1)

THE FAMILY: After our stop in Portland, we visited Multnomah Falls in the Columbia River Gorge, with Grant and Gabe hiking to the top (600+ feet). Kenai is too old for climbing, so Patti stayed back with her. She's been doing well overall, however. The next day we had a brief family stop in Spokane. We were anxious to get to the "green." Sage advice from Patti's brother, Toby, led us to St. Regis, MT, our last civilized stop. The next day, July 8, we finally entered Glacier National Park.

Such words as "majestic" and 'grandeur" do not begin to describe the towering glacially carved mountains we explored in the west side of the park. Logan Pass and Avalanche Lake have been a couple of favorite sites so far.

Logan Pass is on the Continental Divide and is full of rugged beauty and wildlife. A fellow camper recommended that we take the free shuttle up there, which was really worthwhile. The road is windy and narrow, so we could all enjoy the stunning views on the way up, as well as the many large waterfalls right by the road.

The pass itself was a big surprise, at only 6646 feet elevation with plenty of snow, steep peaks, wildflowers and wildlife. We've been up twice (the second time because Grant left his credit card at the visitor's center), and plan to go up again once we're on the east side of the part to do some of the hikes in the area once the snow has receded a little more

Lucky for us, Montana also had very late winter snows, so Spring is arriving just as we are. Lots of wildflowers and mild temperatures to enjoy. (Wildflower shots below courtesy of Patti, who discovered the macro lens on our digital camera.) Apgar Lookout, our longest hike so far at 7.2 miles roundtrip, had a stunning display of flowers and a fantastic panorama of the west side.

Bears have been commonplace, but we haven't run into any grizzlies (yet). We've seen bighorn sheep, mountain goats, black bears, white tail deer, marmots, ground squirrels and some very aggressive, saber-toothed chipmunks (like Scrat in Ice Age, according to Gabe).

Life in the tent trailer is starting to form around a routine, and we're getting better at striking and setting up camp. Tomorrow we head to Two Medicine on the east side for a few days, then up to St. Mary and Many Glacer further north for a while, ending up in Waterton Park on the Canadian side. Who knows how long we'll be at each place. We're making this all up as we go!