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Avalanche Creek Campground, Glacier National Park, Montana. Odometer – 5770

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We had pancakes at the KOA for breakfast, Orr loves them. She and Shir keep asking from more maple syrup though. We need to make sure they don’t develop too much of a sweet tooth.

We drove a few miles into Glacier National Park and took care of business before enjoying nature: I bought tickets for an afternoon boat tour of Lake McDonald, and we checked into the campground. This campground is at the trailhead of two nice hikes. We did the Trail of the Cedars, which is an interpretive walk; this means that it has plaques explaining different features of the park as you walk along. The trail is about a mile long, and the big success with the children came at the end, when we discovered a hollow tree that all three could walk into.

After a nice couscous lunch that Paola prepared and we ate at the picnic table, we headed back to Lake McDonald for the boat trip. We all napped for a bit in the RV because we had about an hour before the tour. Of course when we got up we were under serious time pressure to get to the dock on time. We got the kids ready lightning fast, extra sweaters, snacks, camera, everything. Except my wallet with the tickets. We searched in my backpack, inside the RV in the usual places, but couldn’t find it. I sent Paola off to the dock with the kids and told her I would catch up. I searched all over again and still couldn’t find the wallet. Time for quick decisions.

With less than 3 minutes left till departure, I locked the RV and ran to Paola. I grabbed Shir and Orr in my arms and told Paola to start running with Ron. I got onto the dock as the boat was dinging its bell and leaving. I yelled “WAIT”. The boat kept moving. I yelled “Hey I ran half a mile with the kids, please WAIT”. Just when I thought to give up, the boat pulled back into the marina and they let us on.

“You have the tickets right?” asked the skipper. “Of course”, I answered as we all got on.

We thanked her and got into the boat and caught our breath. I went through my backpack again but couldn’t see my wallet.

For the next hour, we tried to enjoy the mini-cruise. A ranger on board explained about the parks natural wonders and human inhabitation over the years. Ron Shir and Orr found a little boy that they played with a bit. But in the back of my mind, and Paola too, we were thinking about the wallet. Did I leave it in the campsite? Did it fall out of my pants pocket? Where is it?

When we got back to the RV, I found the wallet in less than a minute. We drove a bit along the famous “Going to the Sun” road and turned around where it started to get a bit narrow. This 50 mile road connects the west and east parts of the park. The alternate route to the south is twice as long. It is also a very scenic drive. Unfortunately, RVs are prohibited from the central part of the road due to its miniscule dimensions and cliff overhangs. On top of that, a portion of the road is still closed off because of winter road damage. So tomorrow, to get to the other side, we will have to drive outside the park and around.

We got back to the campground around 5:30 and the kids were watching a new DVD “Curious George”. I decided to do the second hike out of the campground “Avalanche Lake” as an afternoon jog. It’s a 4 mile back and forth trail run with some modest elevation gain. I got to the lake out of breath, but it was worth it. Surrounded by snowpeaks, dripping sliver-like waterfalls, and crystal clear turquoise water. A sight to see. Unfortunately I did not bring the camera, just bear spray. This is a very popular hike with humans, and I passed many along the way. No bears.

Once back at the campground, we got a fire going and prepared some grilled meat and yams for dinner. As I was toiling over the charcoal, and the kids playing in the gravel, a doe walked right next to us and tasted some leaves no more than 3 meters from our picnic table. You can imagine the excitement in the junior department.

After we put Shir and Orr to bed, I took Ron to the campground amphitheatre, where the rangers sometimes hold evening talks about various park topics. Today we learned about wildlife adaptations to the climate, geography and other animals. Very interesting facts about deer, mountain goats, beavers, etc.. Ron had a good time, although I notice he can’t sit still for more than 2 minutes. Just like me, he keeps fidgeting in his place.

Tomorrow we have a long drive before the fun begins. Good Night,

-Hemi

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007 at 1:24 pm and is filed under Big Trip, Montana, North America RV 2007. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.