Saturday, I was feeling only a little better and decided to go enjoy the park despite how I felt.  We made the necessary stop at the visitor center and then went to find our favorite hike from 10 years ago – Avalanche Lake.  This hike is about five miles total and takes you by a gorgeously colored, rushing, glacial creek. 

I have thought about the colors of this creek and the colors of the rocks (reds, purples, yellows, and greens) for the last ten years.  They made quite an impression on me, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing them again. 

Anyway, the hike takes you back to a lake where multiple waterfalls can be seen cascading into the lake.  Alex almost didn’t make it the whole way, but through taking several breaks and going at her own speed, she made it! We were even able to watch a bald eagle flying around while we were at the lake.

After our hike, we drove the Going-to-the-Sun road.  It was stunning and more than I ever thought it would be.  We ended up at the St. Mary’s entrance to the park on the eastern side where they have a great discovery center and learned more about the park and the native inhabitants of the area.  Then we hopped back on the Going-to-the-Sun road and drove it back through the park to the western side.

Dinner was a splurge at a café that we had enjoyed elk and bison burgers at 10 years ago (I know… it seems like we are just re-living our last trip, but it was just so amazing!)  The burgers were delicious!   We insisted that the kids not have beef – they had to try the bison or elk, and there were absolutely no complaints…only raving reviews!

Rebecca