I'm emerging from the rope ladder. Getting up to the challenge course really was the easiest part.
The big swing.
The rope ladder.
The spider web was the last challenge before getting to Katelyn and the high swing.
I'm getting down from the high swing. Jennifer was there to slow me down and help me onto the ladder. Thanks, Jennifer! Couldn't have done it without you! We were all glad to get down to the ground again!
The camp had a righ ropes course that we were invited to use. This is Katelyn, our amazing facilitiator on the course, who guided us from her perch high in the trees. It was Katelyn, bless her heart, that hooked us up to the high swing and pushed us off the ledge that we were on so we could swing down from the course. I screamed like a little girl.
This is Donna, the official photographer for the ropes course, with Rhonda, our other wonderful facilitator on the course. She guided us from the ground and did a fabulous job of talking us through each challenge and keeping us safe.
First, we practiced with our clips on the ground. Jennifer is pretending to be a tree and I'm supposed to "transfer" around her to the other side.
And of course, a group prayer before we head up.
Is a beautiful, old lodge in the park. President Roosevelt did some of his fire-side chats from the lobby of the hotel.
Lake McDonald was cold. One of the ladies with me wondered how long I could stand in the water. I think I made it to one minute. It was cold!
Here's a group pictures of us on the lawn. We are in the shape of a W - for Wild Women!
Here's a very nice random man. Our picture taker.
One of the ladies in our group was responsible for games to play during the long drive. One of the games she came up with was to try to get strangers to interact with you. As we sat on the "Going to the Sun Road", we tried to get motorists out of their cars and do the games with us. Jennifer played ring-around the rosy with this young man. His friend, below, played leap frog with her. As she talked to them, she discovered that they were doing an "Into the Wild" adventure of their very own and were headed to Mexico after driving through Glacier.
Here are the road construction crews along the road. They were hanging onto the edge of the mountain as we drove by. The logo on their trucks sais "Plum Crazy". No kidding!
This mountain goat was living in the middle of the snowy wasteland on what we called a Bonsai Island. It was a small island looking patch of trees that were misshapen and stunted and small. This goat just kept walking around it looking at the hikers and posing nicely for pictures. We wondered if he was trained to stay there for photographs and if there was a "tip" jar someplace.
Three exhausted hikers, smiling and glad they made it. The view was spectacular.
Hidden Lake is down there somewhere, under snow and ice!
I couldn't help but take pictures of every spectacular view I saw. The sky was an amazing blue and the clouds were incredibly white.
Hiking the Hidden Lake trail was tricky as it was under snow. Lots of snow. They had a 6 inch snow fall two weeks before our trip. I had shorts and hiking sandals on and luckily I brought socks with me. My feet were still frozen when I got back. The snow was also in the process of melting and was slippery. On the side of a mountain, I might add. I concentrated on not losing my footing because there wasn't much to stop me from sliding all the way down the mountain! That would have been a sight! I hiked with two other ladies from our group and we mentioned several times that we didn't think we could make it all the way but we encouraged each other to keep going and whenever we met someone on their way back, they assured us it was worth the trek. They were right, it was worth it! Unfortunately, Hidden Lake was still frozen so it kind of blended in with the snow around it but the mountains were still breath-taking from up there!
Did I forget to mention that it was really windy and cold at that elevation? Smart people were prepared with warm coats (winter type) boots and ski poles. We weren't that prepared but I was suprised how warm I was while hiking and sucking wind at that elevation and trying to stay alive. I'm still really thankful that there weren't any news casts regarding a fat woman from Minnesota wearing shorts and sliding down the snow covered mountain. At least not that day...
I was hiking with Deb, wearing the white striped jacket, and behind her are three men, one wearing an orange jacket, who were hiking together. The youngest of the group was 30ish and he was hiking with his dad and uncle. It was cool to see them traveling together and encouraging each other. We got brave and asked ages and the uncle was in his 60's if I remember right. The dad was older and wouldn't tell us his age! He was doing a great job conquering the snow and steep climb! I was amazed to hear so many different accents on the way, as well.
The famous "Weeping Wall"
Named because water seeps out of it and pours onto the road all the time. It sounds as thunderous as a waterfall and if you drive close enough to the wall, your vehicle will get a pounding good wash!
"Jammers" were built in 1936-1939 for National Parks to use for tourism. In 1989, some of them were renovated at a cost of $800,000 and are still in use today. They feature 17 seats and a canvas top that can be rolled back so you can get a convertible view of the park. I'd like to ride in one before I die. I guess I'll have to go back, won't I? ;-)
We toured Glacier National Park on Thursday and there will be several pictures of the park to follow! I was so excited to be going back there. I loved it the first time I went through and still love it now. I'd like to be there right now!
Look close. This waterfall is going under the "Going to the Sun Road".
After the wine tasting and a really good supper at the Tamarack Restaurant and Brewery, yes they brew right there... , we drove up Blacktail Mountain and found a beautiful view of the lake.
It's hard to find the words to describe this - exept "I want to go back"!! You can just barely make out the really big mountains in the distance. Someone said the forest fires in California were creating a haze that made them hard to see.
