Day Four | Going to the Top, Huckleberry Pie, Brownies and Fireworks

Immediately upon arriving at Glacier we spent time browsing Trail Maps discussing where we wanted to hike. We knew five days in Glacier was not nearly enough time to see this park, and we would have to focus on some agreed upon goals. Annelies summed up our goal in one sentence, "I want to go to the top!". So Day Four started in Medicine Lake (East Glacier) hiking Scenic Point; a fairly short hike (6.2 miles) but with the steepest climb (2,350 feet). We figured .. if we are going to do this, let's do it right!

Morning folks we are not, so our goal of hitting the trail by 9am didn't get met. But it worked out perfectly, as we stumbled upon a Ranger Led Hike when we got to the Trailhead at 10:30am. Pat Hagan was our guide and I absolutely fell in love with him. No, he wasn't hot, but he was entertaining. At times my girls get a little bored while hiking, "Are we there yet?", "How much further?", "My legs are killing me." Pat's entertaining stories about bears in Glacier, information about other wildlife and just about the Park in general made the hike go so much quicker. I loved him so much I stressed over the question  ... is it appropriate to tip a National Park Ranger? Since it didn't feel right, I instead went to the local diner, where we bought a piece of local Huckleberry Pie (yummy), and a copy of his book Seasonal Disorder: Ranger Tales from Glacier National Park. Looks like a great read.

But I digress  ... we were told this hike had 'great payoffs' within minutes. They weren't kidding. The best way I can describe the views was that I felt like I was living inside a postcard the whole way to the top. Amazing. Just amazing. I took 200 pictures on the way up and that was while saying to myself the whole climb, "Don't take too many pictures ... don't take too many pictures."

When we got home, Paradis made dinner while we all took showers (yes, we did sweat a little). We walked to the local diner (Luna's Cafe) and had Huckleberry Pie and a Brownie Sundae. Y-U-M-M-Y. Our first injury of the trip occurred when Paradis banged her head on the spiral staircase that leads to our Cozy Cabin loft. Ouch ... that hurt! Hopefully our only injury for the trip!

We came back to our Cozy Cabin and the girls sorted out the 'Independence Special' box that included millions of fireworks we had bought the day prior. Since fireworks aren't legal in Minnesota our girls were pumped about setting some off. We were having a grand old time just outside our cabin, which happens to be next to a road, until one of the fireworks started twirling into the air across the road just as a car started driving by. Scott and I just kept saying, "This isn't good ... this isn't good ... this isn't good " Once that sucker landed just feet from the passing car Scott and I said, "Time to wrap it up for the night!" and went inside with the hopes the owners of the car didn't dial 911 on their way past our little Cozy Cabin! We will do some more tomorrow night. In an open parking lot.

Day four: 35 miles (1,236 total); $0 on gas ($161.20 total); $0 on souvenirs (15.92 total); $10 tourist traps ($10 total); One state (Three total); 0 fights (0 total); 1 injury (1 total).