Our last day in Glacier meant packing everything up. We got up at 7:29 and everyone gathered for breakfast at 8:30. Our daughters even brought their luggage with them and put it in the car right away. We had some food left for tomorrow, so we needed to keep it cold again. After our luggage was in the car, we all went down to the lake to take some rather atmospheric photos. The rain clouds from last night seemed to have gotten caught in the mountains at the other end of the lake. There was some nice mist at our end, due, no doubt, to the chilly temperature (61).
At 9:50, we checked out and we were on the road in three minutes with the odometer reading 2837.
In less than ten minutes, I parked at a photo stop on Going-to-the Sun Road. The descent and climb were tricky, but it yielded great photos.
By 10:28, I dropped the family off at Lake McDonald Lodge (2846), while I tried to find a parking spot. They went down to the dock to see if we could get on a boat tour. They were put on a waiting list. Meanwhile, I was wending my way through the prairie dog town and snapping photos.
While we waited, we took more photos of the lake and each other.
As the 11:00 tour filed onto the boat, it seemed obvious that we wouldn't get on. Sure enough, we were soon told that it wasn't happening. We had a back-up plan, so we used the restroom and left at 11:15.
I drove over the same bridge we'd ridden over yesterday and managed to find a parking spot on the other side at 11:23 (2846). Some folks were just getting back to their car and recommended that we cross Going-to-the-Sun Road to reach the trail that Ed had recommended yesterday. That way, the loop would bring us back to the car here and the falls would be more impressive. By 11:30, we were ready and headed off on the Johns Lake Loop, pausing to take photos on the bridge, as we crossed.
I wisely took my cane with me for added stability. The trail could be relatively steep at times. We passed some folks going in the opposite direction at times and there were a few people that we passed and vice versa going our way. We did not try to stay quiet to soak in the ambience, because we wanted to make sure that any bears heard us and stayed away. It had warmed up and we were in short sleeves now.
The woods were just lovely. "The woods are lovely, dark and deep." Well, not that dark, but still... There were some wildflowers, but mostly tall trees and random rocks left behind by the glacier. Sometimes, we caught the scent of Christmas trees, which was a treat. Johns Lake was visible through the trees, but there was no path to it.
The other family, which had some elderly members, said they'd gotten done in 2 hours, even while taking lots of pictures. We didn't want to be beaten out by then, so we did not dilly-dally. We did take lots of photos. I even had to change the memory chip in my camera.
When we crossed the Going-to-the-Sun Road again, we could easily hear the water of McDonald Creek. It was indeed impressive, when we saw the creek. There was a bridge that afforded good views and good selfies.
There were a lot of folks at the bridge and the path beyond was more crowded, as well. Generally, these people were considerate. There was one family that stupidly let their dog run around off the leash. On the other side, we had to really watch our step to avoid what the horses that had passed through earlier had left behind. We were following along the creek most of the way now. There were plenty of spots to get close and take dramatic photos. Any time you stood above the water, you could feel the cold wafting up, just as it had at Running Eagle Waterfall yesterday. The rocks that lined the banks were really cool, showing the erosion by the glacier and the creek. There was another waterfall further downstream, too.
As we realized that we were coming up on the two hour mark, we picked up the pace. We managed to get to the car at 1:28- 2 minutes short of two hours. We decided that the other family had rounded their time down. It was now a warm-feeling 77 degrees. Five minutes later, I had us on the road.
When we got back to Lake McDonald Lodge at 1:42 (2850), it was really tough finding a parking spot. I got lucky and found one on the exit road, when someone else pulled out. We headed for Jammer Joe's, which is in a separate building on the opposite side of the prairie dog town from the lodge. Outside, there was some nice landscaping, including short pines that looked like mountains from a distance, snapdragons and geraniums.
My husband got us a table, while the rest of us ducked into the restroom. None of us were in the mood for the pizza bar, so we looked over the menu. I ordered Diet Cokes for my husband and myself and the waiter kept them filled the whole time we were there, as well as my older daughter's Coke. My younger daughter opted for water. She also ordered the Chicken Cobb Wrap with a side salad ($9.50), because she really likes Cobb salad. My older daughter opted for a Lamb Burger with chips for $11.95. I chose the Double Wagyu Blend Burger, since we'd seen so much cattle on this trip ($10.25). My husband chose Tomato Penne ($12.75), which just seemed odd to the rest of us. They were all delicious.
When we left at 3:10, the parking lot was a lot less crowded. It took only 23 minutes to get back to Apgar Village (2859), which I wanted to return to in order to go to Montana House to check out their merchandise, since it was made in Montana. Naturally, all three women found at least one thing to buy. I was particularly taken with a paperweight containing wildflowers.
Luckily, there was a park service restroom nearby, so we didn't need to go to the visitors center. When we left at 4:12, it was a very warm 81 degrees. Fifteen minutes and nine miles later, I pulled into Glacier Distilling, whose ad my husband and younger daughter had seen in the airport. My older daughter and I stayed in the car, while they went in and had a whiskey tasting flight for $4. We left at 4:58.
Due to the hour, we headed for Kalispell, rather than the planned stop in Whitefish. Outside of town, we saw a sign that three of us liked: Apple Barrel- Glacier Sun Winery. While my older daughter checked out the produce area and the flea market area, my younger daughter and I spent $5 each to have a glass of Huckleberry Peach Wine. Delicious! My husband decided he didn't need more alcohol today.
In the grocery area, I got a spice mix and coffee. My younger daughter decided she needed to buy rhubarb to take back to Florida to make pie. The owner told her how to transport it. Then, we roamed the flea market area and I chose some small minerals that would be good for use in my miniature scenes. When we finally left at 6:09, they locked the doors behind us.
Twelve minutes later (2894), we arrived at the Hampton again and checked back in. I asked for a wake-up call at 4 am to be our absolute, drop-dead, get out call. We took all our luggage up to our rooms. At 7:14, we left with the idea that we should eat. None of us really wanted dinner, but we'd seen an ice cream shop on Sunday called Sweet Peaks and that sounded perfect. First, though, I wanted to drive down the main drag, having someone take pictures of the interesting wall sculptures we'd seen. There was a mountaineer on an appropriate store, a cowboy, and then a bank robber on a bank! The flowers hanging from lampposts were too photogenic to ignore.
I parked at 7:26 (2896) and almost immediately, we saw a sign we loved:
At the cleverly-named Sweet Peaks, which is a Montana chain, my husband chose a single cup of honey cinnamon ice cream for $3, while the rest of us each bought the $5 Black Bear Sundae. It was supposed to have huckleberry ice cream along with chocolate ice cream, hot fudge, chocolate chips and whipped cream. However, they were out of huckleberry. They let us substitute the honey cinnamon. The sundae was good, but the hard chocolate chips really weren't needed.
When we left at 8:02, we went to the Exxon we'd been to before. En route, we saw a country concert at the town park was ending. We arrived at 8:09 (2898). We'd gone 128.3 miles on this tank and got 4.243 gallons at $2.359 each. By 8:15, we were back at the hotel.
I went to the shop in the lobby to get some Kalispell postcards before going upstairs to do the dread re-packing job. Needing a shower, it was just not possible for me to get to bed as early as I should of, but I couldn't have slept that early, in any case.
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