Glacier National Park

You would think after nine days of sight seeing and hiking adventures, it would all start looking the same - just another mountain. Somehow, I think we may have saved the best for last.

Glacier National Park. 

Richie had an epic trip out to Glacier, Banff, and Jasper back in 2000 and has been eager to take us there ever since.  So here we are! 

And it was made even more special that we got to experience it with Michael and Megan. Richie and Michael graduated from Maryville together. He and his wife, Megan, live in Missoula, MT. What a treat it was to get to go on this adventure with them.

During this part of our trip, we stayed in another charming little town called Whitefish, MT, which is on the west side of Glacier National Park.  We entered the park through West Glacier with the goal of experiencing Going-to-the-Sun Road. We were so fortunate to be there when we were, as the road had opened up just the week before.

The road itself is something to marvel at. It was built in the 1920's and took 11 years from start to finish. It is built on the side of the mountain - like actually hanging off the mountain. It's absolutely incredible.

And then there's the views to go with it.

I have to admit - the clouds were making me a little nervous. I had high hopes for what we would get to see on this day - and cloud cover can make or break a day of scenery.  

Fortunately, we kept seeing signs of it breaking up.

By the time we reached Logan Pass at the top, the sky was wide open.  God is so amazing like that.

And another snowy hike for the Hatchers!

We hiked the Hidden Lake Trail at Logan Pass... in the snow... and it was absolutely spectacular.

Over and over, we thought we were nearing the top, just to discover it was merely another ridge... whew.  

Just keep hiking. 

Just keep hiking.

One more ridge... then one more...

We passed by a little snow fed pond that creates this gorgeous reflection.  I love me some good reflection photos 💙

And then finally, the top...

It's hard to see with the snow, but in the distance, between the two mountain ranges, you can see a glacier fed lake - also reflecting the gorgeous peaks around it.

As you can imagine, the views were incredible. 

Sam making friends with a squirrel... Always finding a little critter to befriend.

And again... that face 💚

Megan and Luke made this cute little snowman

Charlie and Luke off looking for marmots and squirrels

They found them... and even got to touch them.  Super cool little creatures.

Photo credits to Charlie Hatcher!

Pretty amazing!

Our trek down was equally fun, and took about half the time.

Luke and I took the extra fast path down by using daddy's jacket as a sled!  Amazing that we sled so far that we disappear .. and there is still so much more mountain below us.

A few scenes from our drive back down the mountain

"The Weeping Wall" in Glacier, created by countless waterfalls formed from all the melting snow. Beautiful!

We made a final stop at Bowman Lake... Nothing beats skipping rocks in a glacier fed lake. 

Simply beautiful

And that concludes our big Family Adventure of 2024. 

I feel a little weepy wrapping this up. A lot of research and planning went into making this trip happen, which was preceded by years and years of thinking and dreaming about it. 

In the end, it surpassed every expectation. The overwhelming feelings of awe that I experienced day after day will forever live in my soul. My boys are getting older - we have one more year before Sam heads off to college. I am eternally grateful that we have the privilege of seeing this world and sharing these experiences with each other. One life to live ~ and I'm doing everything I can to make it as full of love and experiences as humanly possible. 

Until next time...