I came back to write for awhile longer and once I was done I returned to the lake for awhile to enjoy the view. The rocks reminded me of our time in the upper Peninsula of Michigan a few years earlier. If only there wasn't already so much smoke!
I made some oatmeal and cinnamon toast for all the girls for breakfast and Dave an egg sandwich then I left to pickup Grammie and Brayden. There was a limit to the length of the vehicles allowed on the Going-To-The-Sun road so she planned a tour so she would be able to see it this day. Her RV was better left at the campsite with shade for Lola.
Once Brayden and I got back, the kids played for awhile as they hadn't all three been together without us moving from one site to another or activity for awhile. Ryan found my sunrise watching spot down by the lake. I'm not sure what they were playing but it was serious business!
We prepared all our hiking gear and headed to Rocky Point trail. The trail was easily accessible from our campsite. I recognized the spot we would be hiking as the one I photographed that morning. I'd debated with myself about hiking there this morning for more sunset photos but decided it wouldn't be safe.
Once we reached the point we climbed all around the rocks and skipped them too. Several times I heard Brayden say to his sisters, "I love this place" which made all the fighting and teenager attitude worth it. The water was so clear we could watch the rocks sink after we threw them in.
I wished I'd brought a picnic so we could enjoy it for longer. While the kids climbed around the point, I took some time to soak my feet in the ice cold water and enjoy the view. There were minnows all around me trying to figure out what I was. I told Dave we had a hike date for sunrise there in the morning. He wasn't thrilled but he's usually pretty good about going along with my crazy plans.
We had about 2 hours until Grammie was to return so I took some time to write more while the kids played in the woods behind our site. I'm not sure what all they were playing but I heard strange languages at one point as well as someone dramatically frustrated because they were lost. As much as we fill their time with hikes, ice cream, visitors centers, and programs, this is the time they enjoy and appreciate the most it seems. I appreciate they still play like this together at their age instead of staring at screens!
After lunch, we decided that Dave and Brayden would take showers while the girls and I went to pick up Grammie. As I got in the car though, I listened to a voicemail that she wouldn't be back for another 4 hours because the road back to the west side had been closed due to the fire. I sent her a text detailing our new plan and we headed to check on Lola then to the showers. There is not much better for us than a long, hot shower right now. The campgrounds and trails in Glacier are dusty with dark gray dirt that reminds us of Boy Scout camp. We all emerged with smiles ready to take on the world.
Brayden moved to the back with the camera to improve his mood and take some pictures. He's gotten really good over the last year!
Next we drove to Apgar to explore the village and hike a bit more. We had quite the ordeal trying to find the trail head for the route we wanted to take, but after a detour to look at t-shirts and an extra loop through the village we finally found the Oxbow trail. It was a nice easy trail through the woods along the Lake Macdonald Creek. The kids were grumpy for just about the entire time but finally perked up when we stopped for ice cream at the end. We had to destroy all evidence of that last stop as we were headed to pick up Grammie next. We had about 30 minutes so I hopped on the wifi to check email and update the blog until we found her. She'd called, texted, emailed, and sent smoke signals trying to let us know what was going on.
We drove back to our site and made a quick dinner of veggies burgers and caprese pasta salad. Thankfully Grammie had some lettuce and tomato we could use to make our dinner especially delicious! After everyone cleaned up and I did a little reorganizing for our traveling the next day we headed to the last ranger program of the season. Brayden and I were excited to see the topic was "The Legacy of the Civilian Conservation Corps"! We have always been huge fans of the CCC since seeing their work on our very first trip and repeatedly every year after that. We'd seen many historic exhibits about their work in several parks and had learned even more about them when we were studying the Great Depression.
This program was definitely added to my top 5 list with a wonderful history lesson about the program as well as photos and personal accounts of young men that completed a host of projects and conservation at Glacier National Park. To think of the age of these men and the amazing things they accomplished just in this park was inspiring.
Many of the men learned to read and write while there. Many of the men were still friends. Many of the men had fought in WWII together. Many had received an education and continued on after their work was finished. But the one thing they all had in common was an appreciate for a program that dramatically changed their lives for the better and taught them how to be men.
She told us of a reunion that had taken place at Glacier in 1983 that brought many of the men back together. They brought journals and photos to add to the archive. I wish we had access to that material as I'm sure we would learn so much!!
As we walked back to our site, Brayden mentioned this was definitely his favorite program we'd ever seen. I need to find him someone that actually participated in the program to befriend so he can hear their stories firsthand. I definitely need to find us both some books on the CCC.
At the beginning of the program, the ranger let us know the winds were shifting so the roads east would remain closed for the next day. The closure didn't affect our plans, but the wind shift definitely would affect our night as we'd gotten very accustomed to calm, quiet nights without any smoke. I tried to get to sleep quickly as I knew the wind would have me up during the night and we had a date in the morning!
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