A week of family, mountain views, clear water, wildlife, and slowing down before heading home

Glacier National Park felt like the perfect place to finish the first four months of our year on the road.

By the time we arrived, we had already traveled through deserts, canyons, red rocks, high mountain passes, Yellowstone traffic, and more campgrounds than I can count.

Glacier brought us back to something that immediately felt familiar.

Trees. Water. Mountains.

And family.

We spent a little over a week based at Apgar Campground, explored Going-to-the-Sun Road in the rain and sunshine, paddled Lake McDonald, watched wildlife around Logan Pass, hiked through quiet forests, made a trip to urgent care, and finished with one big adventure day before pointing the motorhome toward home.

It was beautiful.

But like so many places we’ve visited, the things I remember most aren’t only the views.

They’re the people who were standing there with us.

A Stop in Missoula Before Glacier

Before arriving at Glacier, we spent a day exploring Missoula.

One stop we really enjoyed with the kids was the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation headquarters and visitor center.

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is headquartered in Missoula, and its conservation education center turned out to be a great family stop. There are hands-on displays where the kids can learn about elk, their habitat, conservation, and how biologists study them. They could hear elk sounds, interact with displays, and touch things like elk hide, hooves, antlers, and other exhibits.

For our kids, that’s exactly the kind of learning that works.

Touch it.

See it.

Hear it.

Actually interact with it.

And after spending so much of this trip looking for wildlife, it was fun for them to learn more about one of the animals we’ve seen so many times.

From Missoula, we pointed the motorhome north.

Next stop: Glacier National Park.

Our Home in Glacier: Apgar Campground

We stayed inside Glacier National Park at Apgar Campground, near the southwest end of Lake McDonald and just inside the park’s West Entrance. Apgar Village is nearby, and you’re positioned right at the beginning of Going-to-the-Sun Road.

We loved it.

Our campsite was tucked into the trees and felt like a real campground.

Every day we had visitors.

Deer wandered through.

Squirrels ran around camp.

Birds were everywhere.

The kids could play among the trees, and Lake McDonald was close enough that the water became part of our everyday life while we were there.

After months of moving around the country, it was exactly the kind of campsite we wanted.

And on our first evening, we had another surprise coming.

Only this time, Jessie and I knew about it.

The kids didn’t.

“MAGGIE! GIDEON!”

Family was coming to spend a few days with us.

We hadn’t told the kids.

When the car pulled in Thursday evening and everyone started getting out, the kids’ faces were priceless.

Macie immediately shouted:

“MAGGIE! GIDEON!”

Lincoln ran over and gave them a huge squeeze.

Hudson just looked at Jessie and me completely confused.

We had pulled it off.

They stayed with us until early Sunday morning, which gave us a few days to show them Glacier and experience it together.

Once again, we were reminded that having people we love meet us along this trip changes the experience completely.

Friday: Going-to-the-Sun Road in the Clouds

Friday was our big sightseeing day.

We drove Going-to-the-Sun Road.

If there is one road that defines Glacier National Park, this is it.

Going-to-the-Sun Road stretches roughly 50 miles across the park, connecting the west side near Apgar with St. Mary on the east side and crossing the Continental Divide at Logan Pass.

But it isn’t just a road you use to get somewhere.

Driving it is one of the main experiences of visiting Glacier.

Starting from the west side, the road follows Lake McDonald before continuing through thick forests and beginning its climb into the mountains.

As you climb, everything changes.

The mountains get bigger.

The drop-offs get steeper.

Waterfalls appear along the mountainsides.

The views open into massive glacier-carved valleys.

Stops and viewpoints around areas like The Loop and Big Bend give you a chance to really appreciate the scale of the landscape. Eventually you reach Logan Pass, the highest point along the road, surrounded by alpine meadows, towering peaks, and some of the best wildlife viewing we found in the park.

Continue east and you’ll eventually reach places like Jackson Glacier Overlook before dropping toward St. Mary Lake.

Our first drive didn’t come with perfect postcard weather.

It was cloudy.

It rained.

Mountains disappeared and reappeared behind the clouds.

But I actually loved seeing Glacier that way.

The clouds hung between the peaks, the forest looked dark and green, and waterfalls came down the mountainsides.

It gave the park a completely different feel.

We couldn’t see everything.

But what we could see was beautiful.

And we would eventually get another chance to drive the road in completely different conditions.

Saturday: A Slow Morning and a Hike Through the Trees

Saturday was beautiful.

Sunny.

Warm.

Around 80 degrees.

After our big Friday drive, we let ourselves sleep in and enjoy the campground for a while.

Eventually, we headed out for a family hike on Johns Lake Loop.

This was exactly the kind of family hike we needed.

The trail is roughly two miles and winds through the thick forest on Glacier’s west side near the Lake McDonald area. It passes Johns Lake and takes you through beautiful forest with clear water flowing nearby.

Best of all?

It didn’t feel nearly as packed as some of the more famous trails in Glacier.

It was quiet.

Tall trees surrounded us.

Clear water rushed nearby.

And the kids just played.

They ran through the forest.

Sang.

Laughed.

Chased each other.

Nobody was worried about checking off another famous Glacier viewpoint.

We were simply walking through the woods together.

Sometimes those are my favorite hikes.

An Afternoon on Lake McDonald

After the hike, we headed back toward Lake McDonald and spent the rest of the day on the water.

Lake McDonald is one of those places that almost doesn’t look real when the conditions are right.

The water is incredibly clear.

You can look down and see the rocks beneath you, including the colorful stones the lake is known for. Add the mountains rising around the lake and it’s easy to understand why people spend entire days hanging out along the shoreline.

We rented paddleboards and canoes and basically stayed until sunset.

And everyone found their thing.

For Macie, that was the paddleboard.

Paddleboarding has become something she genuinely loves on this trip.

She’d paddle out and then look back toward shore to make sure we were watching her.

She wanted us to see what she could do.

And I loved watching it.

Every time she gets on that board, I see a little more confidence in her.

Not just confidence paddleboarding.

Confidence in herself.

Lincoln?

He turned into a fish.

He put his goggles on and swam underwater, looking for fish and finding all the rocks he could.

Hudson bounced between skipping rocks and heading onto the water in the canoe with Uncle BJ.

Everyone eventually found their own little corner of Lake McDonald.

We stayed.

Relaxed.

Watched the mountains.

Ate ice cream.

And let the day stretch all the way toward sunset.

It wasn’t complicated.

It was probably one of my favorite days in Glacier.

Sunday: The Down Day That Wasn’t

Family left early Sunday morning.

We had planned to reset.

No big adventure.

Just relax, clean things up, and recover from a busy few days.

Hudson had other plans.

He ended up with two large bug bites that quickly became red, inflamed, and nasty enough that Jessie and I knew they needed attention.

So instead of relaxing around Apgar, we headed about 30 minutes away to urgent care in Whitefish.

They got Hudson started on medication, and thankfully within a couple of days everything had cleared up.

Not exactly the Sunday we had planned.

But after four months traveling with three kids, I’m incredibly thankful that something like this has been one of our bigger medical interruptions.

I’m also grateful for the medical team who took care of him and got us back on track quickly.

Another reminder from this trip:

Plans change.

Sometimes for fun reasons.

Sometimes because you’re sitting in urgent care looking at two nasty bug bites.

Slowing Down at Apgar

The next several days were quieter while Jessie worked.

And honestly?

We needed them.

The kids played around the campground.

They explored the trees.

We spent time around Lake McDonald.

We enjoyed being at Apgar without feeling like every day needed to become another giant national park adventure.

That’s something I’ve become much better at during this trip.

We don’t have to see something every day.

Sometimes living in a national park is enough.

Evenings Looking for Wildlife at Logan Pass

When Jessie finished working, we’d sometimes head back up toward Logan Pass looking for wildlife.

And Glacier delivered.

We found bighorn sheep hanging out near the road.

They’re huge.

And they often seemed completely unconcerned with the fact that people were nearby.

For Lincoln, this was perfect.

That kid loves animals.

He didn’t need to check another viewpoint off the list.

He just wanted to sit there and watch.

And watch.

Whenever we decided it was time to move on, we practically had to peel him away from the window.

I think if we had given Lincoln control of our Glacier itinerary, it would have consisted entirely of:

Find animal. Park car. Watch animal indefinitely.

Honestly, not a terrible itinerary.

One Last Big Day in Glacier

Thursday was our last free day before leaving.

And we decided to use all of it.

We got up early and drove Going-to-the-Sun Road one more time.

This time?

It looked like a completely different park.

Blue sky.

Sunshine.

No smoke.

No rain.

No clouds hiding the mountains.

Everything we couldn’t see on our first drive suddenly appeared.

The giant valleys.

The peaks.

The cliffs.

The waterfalls.

The road cut into the mountainside.

It was gorgeous.

I’m actually glad we got to experience Going-to-the-Sun Road both ways.

The rainy drive was moody and beautiful.

The sunny drive showed us the true scale of Glacier.

And that morning, we were heading back to Logan Pass for one of our biggest hikes of the trip.

Hidden Lake Overlook

First, we had to park.

And parking at Logan Pass is nuts.

During our visit, parking was limited to three hours, and the lot was still incredibly competitive.

Cars circle.

People watch for someone walking toward a vehicle.

Everyone is waiting for that magical moment when brake lights turn on.

If you want to hike from Logan Pass, my advice is simple:

Go early.

Once we finally parked, we headed toward Hidden Lake Overlook.

The trail begins behind the Logan Pass Visitor Center and climbs through the alpine landscape. The route to the overlook is about 1.3 miles one way with roughly 600 feet of elevation gain.

And the scenery starts almost immediately.

This is completely different from hiking through the thick forest near Lake McDonald.

You’re up high.

The mountains surround you.

Alpine meadows stretch around the trail.

And wildlife seems to be everywhere.

We saw mountain goats.

Bighorn sheep.

Squirrels who were extremely interested in everyone’s snacks.

Marmots making their whistling calls across the mountainside.

Hudson would stop every so often and pull out his binoculars to look for animals.

Lincoln would find a rock, sit down, and watch the goats and sheep.

There was no rushing them.

This was their kind of hike.

The View Over Hidden Lake

Then we reached the overlook.

And wow.

Hidden Lake sits below you surrounded by mountains, tucked into the alpine landscape beneath Bearhat Mountain.

It is one of those views that makes the climb immediately worth it.

Macie, Lincoln, and I decided the overlook was far enough for us.

We found our spot and settled in.

Jessie and Hudson looked down toward the lake.

And naturally decided:

Let’s go farther.

The trail continues steeply down from the overlook toward Hidden Lake itself.

So off they went.

The three of us stayed at the overlook for about an hour, enjoying the view and watching people and wildlife while Jessie and Hudson made their way down.

When they came back?

They said it was absolutely gorgeous.

Crystal-clear water.

Mountains rising around them.

Another adventure for the two of them.

And another example of something we’ve learned on this trip:

We don’t all have to do exactly the same thing.

Sometimes splitting up lets one kid go a little farther.

Junior Rangers and One More Part of Glacier

Back at Logan Pass, the kids worked on getting their Junior Ranger books checked off at the visitor center.

We ate lunch.

And then made a decision that, in hindsight, was slightly ambitious considering how much we’d already done.

Let’s go see Many Glacier.

We hadn’t explored that part of the park yet.

So off we went.

Many Glacier: A Completely Different Side of the Park

Many Glacier feels like its own destination.

Located on the east side of Glacier National Park, the valley is surrounded by huge mountains and contains some of the park’s most famous hiking country.

This is where you’ll find trails leading toward places like Grinnell Glacier, Grinnell Lake, Iceberg Lake, Redrock Falls, and Swiftcurrent Pass.

It also feels completely different from Apgar and Lake McDonald.

The mountains seem to close around the valley.

Lakes sit below towering peaks.

And at the center of one of the most impressive views is Many Glacier Hotel.

The historic hotel sits directly on Swiftcurrent Lake with huge mountain views behind it. Its Swiss-inspired architecture makes the building itself part of the experience.

It is beautiful.

It is also busy.

Very busy.

We drove around trying to find somewhere to park near the hotel.

And drove.

Eventually Jessie and I looked at each other and basically decided:

Enough.

We admired the lodge and scenery from the car and moved on.

Sometimes that’s national park travel in August.

Not every stop is worth fighting for a parking spot.

Looking for Moose at Fishercap Lake

We did want to get out for one more short hike.

So we headed toward Fishercap Lake.

Our mission?

Moose.

We had heard the lake could be a good place to look for them.

We walked in.

Looked.

Waited.

No moose.

Not every wildlife mission works out.

But we still had a fun family hike to a beautiful little mountain lake.

The kids skipped rocks.

We enjoyed the scenery.

And after the day we’d already had, that was enough.

Hot Dogs Over the Fire

Eventually, we made it back to Apgar.

Dinner needed to be simple.

Luckily, we knew exactly what would make Lincoln happy.

Hot dogs.

Specifically, hot dogs cooked over the campfire.

Hot dogs might legitimately be Lincoln’s favorite food, so the combination of fire + hot dog is about as good as dinner gets in his world.

We got the fire going.

Put the hot dogs on sticks.

Sat around camp.

And started talking.

Technically, we were supposed to leave the next morning and make the long drive home.

Instead, Jessie and I got a wild hair.

Why sit around waiting for morning?

Let’s go.

Leaving Glacier at 8 P.M.

So we packed up camp.

At night.

After hiking Hidden Lake.

Driving to Many Glacier.

Hiking again.

And cooking dinner over the fire.

Apparently, we hadn’t done enough that day.

By around 8 p.m., we pulled out of Apgar and started driving.

We put a few hours behind us, found somewhere to stop and sleep, and finished the drive the next morning.

By midday Friday, we were back in Whatcom County.

Home.

At least for a little while.

Four Months Down

Glacier wasn’t just another national park stop for us.

It marked the end of the first big section of our year.

Four months.

We’ve covered a lot of miles.

We’ve seen places I had only seen in pictures.

We’ve watched our kids grow.

We’ve had friends and family meet us along the way.

We’ve learned when to push farther and when to slow down.

And Glacier gave us a little of everything.

Family surprising the kids.

Rainy mountain drives.

Sunny mountain drives.

Paddleboards.

Wildlife.

Hiking.

Urgent care.

Campground days.

Junior Rangers.

Campfires.

And one last completely overfilled adventure day before pointing the motorhome toward home.

Now we’re going to stay put for a bit.

See friends.

See family.

Reset.

Recharge.

Catch up on life.

And honestly, I’m looking forward to it.

But I’m also already excited about what’s next.

There is still so much country left to see.

So many places we haven’t explored.

So many memories we haven’t made yet.

For now, though, we’re going to enjoy being home.

Recharge the batteries, love on our people, and get ready for the next stretch of the road.

Because we’re only four months in.

And this adventure is far from over.

-Kayla

Glacier National Park: Mountains, Family, and the Perfect End to Our First Four Months