Today after sleeping in and taking the pups to the campground dog park, we saddled back up and biked into Leavenworth again.
Shopping, and Eating, and Drinking
We started off with some coffee for Cat. She found a spot that did a bourbon maple latte and had to try it.
We then started strolling through the town, popping into shops, and picking up some souvenirs. Along the way we found the Danish Bakery where we popped in for some turnovers. I got a raspberry cream cheese and Cat got cherry. They were both delicious.
Leavenworth is full of wine tasting rooms, so we did a few different tastings. We didn’t love any of the wine we tasted, but it was fun to try! We then finished shopping.
After all of the shops, we went to München Haus beer garden for some sausages, drinks, and Cat’s mini pretzel.
After lunch and shopping we hit the post office to drop off some post-cards, and pedaled our way back to the campground.
Lake Wenatchee State Park
While shopping in the local pet store, we overheard the owner telling another couple about Lake Wenatchee State Park, just down the road from our campground. After relaxing for a bit, we loaded the pups up and headed to the park to check it out.
Despite only being a few miles away, it was much windier and colder at the park on the lake than it was in town, but that never deters Woody from going for a swim!
Emmie and I wisely stayed on dry, warm, land.
After the park, we headed back to the RV, and started packing up to prepare for tomorrow’s journey to Anacortes!
Leavenworth is absolutely worth a stop if you are in the area! The town is unique and full of good food and cute shops and it is all surrounded by beautiful nature!
Today was one of our shortest travel days yet. A quick trip from Spokane to the Bavarian Village of Leavenworth, WA. When planning our trip, Leavenworth had come up as a bit of an attraction in Washington. Nestled into the hills of the Cascades is a small town completely made up to look like a Bavarian town. I figured it was worth a stop on our trip to check it out.
The Route
Like most destinations, we had a couple of route options. The first, take I90 from Spokane then cut north and reach Leavenworth via Wenatchee, or take the more scenic route 2 the whole way.
While on many of our trips we tended to stick to the freeways to maximize travel time, and truck stop availability, on this trip we are really trying to take our time, and enjoy the scenery. So we opted for the scenic route.
In total we are looking at about 194 miles, and about 4 hours of drive time.
The Journey
After a short trip through downtown Spokane on I90, we got off on Route 2 for our journey. Unfortunately this stretch of 2 just outside of Spokane was full of round abouts. We ended up going through 3 of them. Normally I do not mind round-abouts, but they can be a bit tricky going through in the RV, so I usually end up taking up both lanes to make sure I have room.
A lot of this journey was flatlands through Washington farm country. As we neared the end of the route we started to encounter our first of the Cascade mountains. Things started to get hillier, and or gas milage suffered.
Route 2 took us across the Dry Falls Dam, a part of the Grand Coulee water reclamation project. Apparently the Grand Coulee dam itself across the Columbia river is a sight to see in itself, so we have that marked out our list of things to see in our future adventures.
We continued on Route 2 until we ran into the Columbia River, then we turned south. Fun fact, we actually, sorta, encountered the very start of the Columbia River in our adventures in Banff. The Columbia Icefield that we stopped at to walk on the Athabasca glacier feeds the tributaries that lead to the start of the Columbia river, so on this trip we will follow that river from its start, through to its end when it meets the Pacific Ocean.
We followed the Columbia river south to the Wenatchee area, passing many, many, many cherry orchards. The season is in full swing and there were lots of roadside fruit stands. Unfortunately, we could not find any that looked RV friendly until we were well past, so we will have to plan to get our cherries at the Pikes Place Market in Seattle.
We were briefly delayed just north of Wenatchee by a vehicle accident blocking the road.
We were only stopped for about 20 minutes, giving plenty of time for a quite restroom break. The Joys of having a motorhome!
Once we got going again, it was a quick 20 minute drive through the Wenatchee river valley to reach Leavenworth.
Leavenworth KOA Holiday
It was an easy drive to find the campground entrance, however, to reach the office you have to pretty much drive through the entire campground first. This was a long winding journey with many speed bumps. We got checked in fairly quickly, waiting a few minutes for an escort to our site, and continued… all the way back to the entrance where our site was. Without remembering it, we had booked a deluxe patio campsite, so we had a nice extra long, extra wide site with a concrete patio, furniture, a gas grill, and a fire put. Unfortunately the area is in a full fire ban, so we won’t be able to put that fire pit to use.
Trip Totals
Total Miles Today: 175 Fuel Used: 19.8 gallons Day Average MPG: 8.8mpg
Trip Average MPG: 8.6 Trip Total Miles: 1822 Trip Total Fuel Used: 212g
Dinner In Leavenworth
Once we got camp setup and took the pups for a walk, we fired up the ebikes and took a short 1 mile ride right into town. There were lots of bike racks available, so we locked up the bikes and took a stroll through town, as well as through their riverfront park. After walking through the park, we went on the hunt for authentic Bavarian cuisine. We ended up at the Andreas Keller Restaurant.
Cat was on a quest for some German sausage, and I was looking for some schnitzel so we decided to split their sausage sampler, and a schnitzel. Some how Cat was not enticed by their large pretzel.
We wrapped up dinner with some apple strudel. This actually ended up being disappointing.
After eating a bit too much, we rolled our way out past the live accordionist, grabbed our bikes, and pedaled our way back to the campsite for the night.
This stop was mostly a chance to relax after being on the go for the first two weeks of the trip. We slept in and then made a late breakfast of french toast with some of the huckleberry topping we had bought in Glacier.
We decided to take the pups on a walk along the centennial trail that goes right along the river. Woody was desperate to swim, so we brought the dogs down to the water and Woody jumped right in. Emmie surprisingly walked in and stood in the water! This is a huge change from the first time we brought her to a lake and she stood as far as she possibly could from the water. I am hoping that we will turn her into a water dog! We walked about two miles and then went back to the campground to relax.
Ice Cream Time
After hanging around the RV for the afternoon. We decided to head into the city to go to The Scoop, an ice cream place that we had read about. I got a scoop of chocolate cupcake and a scoop of giants milk and cookies (vanilla with biscoff cookies) and Tyler got a raspberry ice cream with sprinkles and animal crackers. I love all ice cream, but I was not a huge fan of this. It was kind of icey and left a weird taste in our mouths.
We walked over to the River Front Park and I was blown away. Two giant rivers run through the center of the park and go down into a waterfall. We stayed there for a while and got to see the “No Kings” protest. It was beautiful to see so many people coming together to support each other and the pride outfits were great! We drove back to camp and made our go to lazy dinner of bread, cheese and sausage and watched a few movies.
Sunday
Coeur D’Alene
We had another lazy morning before heading to Coeur D’Alene, a lake town in Idaho about 30 minutes away. We walked through the shops and then along the water. We were jealous of all of the people enjoying a nice lake day and wished we had brought our swim suits.
After hanging by the water for a little bit, we walked and found a place to eat lunch. We decided on Crafted Taphouse. I am a sucker for a soft pretzel, so we started with a giant pretzel with a beer cheese and a sweet chili dip. It was delicious! We discovered that we were back in huckleberry territory and both got a huckleberry beer. I got a goat cheese, fresh berry salad that was amazing and Tyler got a burger on a homemade pretzel bun that was pretty good.
We skipped dessert there and walked down to the Bear Paw and got some big cookies, including a cookie for the dogs. We headed back home and spent the rest of the evening napping and relaxing.
Today we leave our great northern neighbor and head back to the good ole USA. Our travels today follow much of the same path that we took on our travels to Banff, however instead of crossing the border at Roosville we crossed at the aptly named Eastport, Idaho.
The other difference, some of the nice downhills we took coming in to Banff, we had to climb back up and over. This gave the ol’ Schlanni Bus a run for its money, but it handled it like a champ.
Departing Banff
Since we didn’t have full-hookups at our campsite, our first stop on departure is the dump station. This is the area of campgrounds where RVers can go to well, dump, their holding tanks. Our RV can be fully self contained with 90 gallons of fresh water, as well as 70 gallons of ‘gray’ water, which comes from showers and sinks, and 50 gallons of ‘black’ water, which comes from the toilet. At 4 nights, our stay at Banff was one of our longer trips without full hookups and we only ended up using about 1/3 of our fresh water tank. But that means we had about 30 gallons of not so fresh water to dump.
We left our site just before 9am and ended up waiting in line at the dump station for about 20 minutes. It took us about 10 minutes to dump, and we were on our way out by 9:30.
The Border
While our entrance into Canada was quick, easy, and friendly, our return back into the United States was a wee bit more complicated.
The adventure started just with entering the border crossing. The signs indicated there were 2 lines, one for automobiles & RVs, and another for commercial trucks. The commercial truck lane was pretty backed up, but we entered the automobile line. As we were progressing down the line, we were met by a very angry cattle hauling trucker who started yelling at us, and even threw his trucker cap at us as we drove by.
Unsure what was going on we continued on to the checkpoint where we ultimately found the automobile lane was closed and they were routing all vehicles into the commercial truck lane. Unbeknownst to us, we were ‘cutting the line’.
Once we realized this, we waited until all of the trucks that were in the line got through, and then merged into the open lane.
We had a friendly chat with the CBP officer and thought we were in the clear until he asked us if we had any eggs. Unfortunately, given the bird flu situation, eggs are not able to cross the border and we still had some of our home grown Schlanni Farm eggs. This led to us having to park and head inside.
Bonus shot of our Schlanni Farm Chickens!
We entered the building and spoke to the staff there, we walked through all of the items we had in the RV relating to fruits, vegetables, animal products, plants, and seeds. They then came out, had us take the pups out and they searched the whole RV top to bottom, inside and out. When they were done, they came out with a handful of items.
In total they kept/destroyed:
Our potted Snake Plant – as we couldn’t prove it came from the USA
Eggs
The 12 grapes left in the bag
Rice (purchased in the USA and still in the original bag?!)
Dog Food (We buy in bulk and keep it in a plastic tote. Since we didn’t have the original bag they couldn’t prove its origin and had to destroy it)
We were told we could have received a $300 fine as we didn’t properly declare everything (we forgot about the grapes, blueberries, and some raw potatoes) however they decided not to fine us. They also provided us with a list of banned items (that they do not publish on their website) advising us to make sure to dispose of those items before crossing the border. We were also advised to ensure we had a good inventory of everything in the RV before we cross the border.
Additionally they also asked to see the vet records for the pups to confirm rabies vaccinations, and to ensure we completed the CDC Pet Import form, all of which we had available.
Overall it was a very interesting experience. It seems enforcement has certainly been stepped up, as our past trips across the border did not include this same level of scrutiny.
Idaho/Spokane
After our border adventures, the rest of the journey down US95 was really smooth sailing. We have been quite lucky in avoiding traffic through this whole trip, but I expect as we continue west towards the coast our luck will run out.
US95 brought us down to I90, just west of Coeur D’Alene. We were running a bit low on gas (about 25% remaining) since we did not fill up at all in Canada, and there were very few options in northern Idaho. In pulling up our Open Roads fuel program map, we noticed there was a very significant difference in diesel cost between Idaho and Washington, with prices in Idaho being a full $1 cheaper per gallon.
Given that, we made a stop at a Maverick at the last exit in Idaho and managed to fill for $3.57 (before our discount) instead of right around $4.50 one more mile down the road.
I probably broke some Maverik code by wearing my Bucees shirt, guess I may need to pick up a new shirt on our next gas stop at a Maverik.
In total we added about 72 gallons of diesel for about $250 after our discount.
Arriving at Spokane KOA Journey
After our gas stop, it was a quick 10 minute drive down the road to our stop.
Trip Totals
Total Miles Today: 349.4 Fuel Used: 38.3 Day Average MPG: 9.1mpg
Trip Total Miles: 1630 Trip Total Fuel Used: 189.9g
Dinner in Spokane
Once we got camp setup and the pups settled we hit the road to find dinner in downtown Spokane. Our campground was about 20 minutes from downtown, and we were at the height of rush hour so we hit a bit of traffic.
We got into downtown, parked in a parking garage and took a walk through the downtown area, ending up at a small little restaurant called Durkins, which is known for their cheeseburgers.
We ordered a few cocktails. I got the The Blacker The Berrie, and Cat got the Whenever, Wherever (I also ended up getting one of these as well).
We both ordered the Durkins burger. It was quite delicious, and the fries were fantastic!
After that we continued our walk downtown, popping into the Lego store for good fun, then went back to the camper and called it a night!
We woke up early to head to the Johnston Canyon for a hike because we read that it gets really busy. Banff is super dog friendly, so we decided to take the dogs with us and see how Emmie did on her first hike. We drove about 30 minutes to the trailhead and started off. We got to the trail around 8:30 and there were only a few other people there. The plan was to hike to a waterfall and see how we felt and how the dogs were doing and then maybe hike to a second one. The path was paved and pretty flat, so it was a super easy hike. The only challenge was there were a few bridges that went over the river and Emmie did NOT like walking on those.
She was brave and after about .5 miles we made it to the first waterfall. It was beautiful, and you could walk into a cave and get right up against it. It is amazing to feel the spray from a raging waterfall, especially after a hike.
The pups were doing great, so we decided to hike to the next one. This was still a paved trail, but went up a little bit so it was more of a challenge. After about another mile, we made it to the second waterfall. You had to stand on a bridge to see this one and Emmie was not happy.
We did not stay too long and turned around to make the hike back. There were a lot more people on the trail when we headed back. The trail, especially the bridges, is really narrow so it is a little hard to hike when it is crowded. This was an absolutely beautiful hike, along a river with tons of rapids in an enchanting forest. At about 3.4 miles round trip it was just challenging enough for us. I would highly recommend it!
We drove back to the campsite to drop of the very tired dogs, and ate a quick lunch of sandwiches. We then jumped back in the Jeep to head off on our next adventure.
Beaver Tails
But first, we had a very important pit stop to make on the way. We drove into town and each got a Beaver Tail. Beaver Tails are fried dough that they cover in all sorts of goodies. Tyler got a maple one and I got one that was covered in Nutella with brownie and chocolate chunks. Beaver Tails are incredible and a must have when you are in Canada.
With our treat in hand, we got back in the car and started our long drive to Jasper National Park. There is a road called the Icefields Parkway that connects Banff to Jasper and it is full of amazing views, hikes, waterfalls and lakes. In total the drive is about two hours, but you can spend anywhere from 2-8 hours on the drive if you stop for hikes and sights. We had somewhere to be, so we mostly enjoyed the views as we drove, but we did stop for a few waterfalls that you could see from the road.
Athabasca Glacier
We made it to our destination, the Columbia Icefield, where we were going to get to walk on a glacier! After putting on lots of layers, we hopped on a bus that drove us just a few minutes up the road. We then got off the bus and got on a massive Ice Explorer vehicle that brought us straight onto the Athabasca Glacier
. We got out and walked on the ice. Tyler brought his water bottle and filled it straight from the glacier stream. Our guide introduced us to the “glacier facial” where he dunked his face into the stream. I couldn’t resist and I gave it a try. It was COLD but really refreshing. It was better than a cup of coffee to wake you up!
We got back on the Ice Explorer and drove back to the buses. A bus then took us down the road to the Skywalk. The Skywalk is a glass floored walk that hangs over the side of the mountain. It was pretty cool, but I would not have done it if it was not included with the Glacier.
We got back on the bus and went back to the visitor center. It was time to start the drive back to Banff. We made one stop on the way at Peyto Lake, and it was incredible! The water was a gorgeous color and there was a beautiful view of the sun behind the mountains. It started to rain, so we only stayed for a minute and then ran back to the car.
We got back to the campsite late, and packed up as much as we could because we wanted to leave early to avoid a line at the dump station.
Today we decided to spend the day around town and take it easy. We slept in and had a slow morning getting ready before hopping on our bikes and biking to town for brunch. We ate at Tooloulous, a Louisiana themed restaurant. They had so many breakfast options, it was hard to pick! Pretty much every style of pancake, waffle and french toast you could think of! I went with a strawberry and chocolate waffle and Tyler got french toast coated in Cinnamon Toast Crunch and deep fried. They both were amazing!
Shopping and the Banff Sign
After brunch, we hit the town and went shopping for some souvenirs. The town of Banff is so cute and we loved just walking around. We made sure to buy a new bottle of Ice Wine from the Wine Store and then got back on our bikes. Our plan was to bike to the Banff Gondola and take a ride. However, after two attempts, we realized that even with E-bikes, we were not going to make it up the steep hill you had to take to get there. We changed gears and biked along the river to the Banff sign to get some pictures. A few people were there in line, which worked out great because everyone was helping to take each other’s pictures.
We then headed back to our campsite to get the jeep to drive to the gondola. In total we biked about 14 miles, so our easy day was a bit more work than we planned.
Dog Park Break
Tyler was smart and checked if there were any tickets available before we left and lucky he did because there were not any for a few hours. We decided to buy tickets for later and in the meantime take the dogs to a local dog park. This dog park was the most fortified dog park I have ever seen! I am guessing that they take extra precautions to keep the animals out. It was also one of the nicest dog parks we have ever been to. It had beautiful views, trees, and grass covered hills. It had a walking path around the whole park.
Banff Gondola
We tired out the pups and then drove back to the campsite. We dropped them off and headed to the gondola. I was really excited for the gondola, because everything I had read said that it was incredible. Unfortunately there were some wild fires in the area, so it was really smokey and visibility was not great. Tyler and I decided to make the most of it and hopped in the gondola and headed up the mountain.
While the views were not great, it was still really cool to be going up the mountain like that. We got to the top and went to look around. They had some interesting history about Banff that we read through and then we walked the boardwalk to look at some big horn sheep that were hanging around. We also saw some very well fed chipmunks, that were so big, I thought they were squirrels at first!
We had to wait a little while before we could head back down the mountain so we got a snack and a drink. I got a Maple Chai Latte which was incredible and I need to find a way to bring them to the US. We explored the rest of the building and then it was time to take the gondola back down.
I am not going to lie, I was really disappointed that we did not have good views, because I would imagine it is absolutely gorgeous up there on a clear day! It is on my list to try again the next time we come to Banff. By the time we got back to the campsite, I had a really bad headache, so I went to bed pretty early, wanting to rest up for our last day.
Today was our first day in Banff and our agenda included the things that I was most excited for. We were going to hit two of the famous lakes in the park and one in Yoho National Park. We got up early and drove about an hour to our first stop, Emerald Lake.
Emerald Lake
This lake was stunning! At Emerald Lake, we were going to do more than just sightsee, our plan was to canoe on the lake. Neither one of us had canoed in years, so Tyler was convinced we were going to fall into the glacier lake. We even packed a change of clothes just in case! We walked around, took some pictures and then got in line to be one of the first ones in a canoe. They were doing some video taping of some people canoeing and I thought that is why we had to wait. Turns out we just got there so early it wasn’t open yet. Once we got on the water, I was in heaven. It was easily one of my favorite things on this trip so far.
It was easier than I thought it would be and so serene out on the water. We paddled around for about an hour and then went back to the dock. We grabbed a picture of Tyler’s water bottle with his new Yoho National Park sticker and then hit the road for Lake number 2.
Lake Louise
Our second lake of the day, Lake Louise, is considered to be one of Canada’s most famous lakes. Parking is really limited so we bought tickets through Park Canada to take a shuttle bus to both Lake Louise and Lake Moraine. We drove to the Lake Louise Ski Area and parked and were able to get right on a shuttle. After about a 10 minute drive, we were there! Lake Louise is beautiful!
I will say that some of the beauty was taken away by just how many people were there. It was really crowded and just not the peaceful nature sight you expect. Wanting to escape the crowds and get a different view of the lake, Tyler and I decided to hike to Fairview Point. It was only .7 km, so we figured it would be easy. Boy were we wrong! After going straight up hill for a few minutes, Tyler found a bench and said he would wait for me. I was determined to make it to the top. I was fighting for my life, going straight up hill and stopping every few feet.
But I made it! Luckily the view was absolutely worth it. Once I could see again through all of the sweat and sunscreen, I took some pictures and then headed back down to meet up with Tyler. We got back on a shuttle bus and headed to our last lake of the day, Lake Moraine.
Lake Moraine
We were on the bus for about 20 minutes until we got to the last stop. This lake was a little less crowded, but just as beautiful. It was not completely full, so we were able to walk right on the rocks by the water. We found a log to sit on and just enjoyed the lake for a few minutes.
After relaxing for a bit we walked back and took the shuttle back to our car. Our plan was to do the Lake Louise gondola at the ski area, but the restaurant at the top was closed, so we decided to head back to camp to take care of the dogs and go into town for some dinner.
The first restaurant we picked was closed for a private event, so we went to our second choice, The Maple Leaf. The inside of the restaurant looked like the inside of a fancy log cabin, complete with a big wood staircase you went up to find your table. Tyler ordered the half duck with risotto and I got teriyaki bbq ribs with sweet potatoes. They were both delicious, but we agreed that Tyler makes much better risotto. We order a maple crème brûlée for dessert and it was incredible.
I have replaced all things huckleberry with all things maple now and I am in heaven. We got back to the campsite and were treated with three beautiful elk coming to visit. After they scampered off, we set up a campfire and relaxed for the rest of the night, enjoying a bottle of Ice Wine that we had bought in Canada last year. Ice Wine is a super sweet wine that they make in Canada from grapes that have frozen on the vine.
Today (Monday, June 9th) we drove our motorhome about 307 miles from our campground near Glacier National Park, to the Tunnel Mountain Village II campground inside Banff National Park in Alberta Canada!
Driving from Glacier to Banff
When researching the route, we found 2 different potential routes, one going up the east side of the park and coming in from Calgary, and the other going up the west side of the park through Kootenay National Park. We opted for the more scenic westerly route.
We left our campground (Moose Creek RV Park and B&B) around 10:30AM and stopped right away to top off on gas. Despite many trips to Canada, I still do not understand their gas prices and figured it was best to top up before crossing the border as I seem to recall it being more expensive.
Border Crossing!
We meandered our way up US93 and crossed the border at Roosville around 12:30pm.
After a quick 2 minute chat with Canadian border protection, we were on our way, continuing on Canadian route 93.
We made a brief pitstop at the Rock Creek Rest Area near Caithness around 3:30. This rest area was a little different. Instead of an easy off-ramp/on-ramp type we see in the US, it was a turn off with a big loop turnaround to go back out the way we came. Not really designed for many big vehicles like ours, but did the trick.
Outside of some slow downs due to the construction of a wildlife bridge just south of Radium Springs, it was a lovely scenic drive.
Tight Squeeze
Once we got to Radium Springs and entered Kootenay national park we hit the mountains. Right off the bat we encountered a tight pass with rocks overhanging the road, and steep climb.
This stretch of CA 93 zigs and zags itself through various mountain passes so it was a mix of pretty river valleys and meadows, with steep mountain passes. Overall, it was very pretty, and not too difficult of a drive.
CA 93 met up with CA1, the Trans-Canada highway. Despite some climbs this was an easy divided 4 lane road with extensive wildlife management. The entire highway seemed to be lined with tall electrified animal fencing, and many wildlife bridges spanned the highway. This was a short stretch that brought us directly in the Banff.
Downtown Banff
Unfortunately, it brought us directly into Banff. Our route took us directly through downtown Banff, which is a hopping place with lots of pedestrians, bicyclists, cars, motorhomes, busses, as well as trucks pulling trailers piled high with river rafts. Not the most exciting of places to be driving a large motorhome, but we made it through slowly with no issues.
After passing through downtown we headed up Tunnel Mountain and made it to Tunnel Mountain Village II campground. After a short line of RVs checking in, we got our site and were on our way.
Tunnel Mountain Village II
Since this stop we only had electrical service, we stopped at the dump station on the way in and filled our freshwater tank up to the tippy top. This ended up being overkill as we only ended up using about 1/3 of our 90 gallon fresh water supply, but I would always prefer to have more water than we needed. If we needed more, we would have to breakdown the whole RV, drive back to the dump station, and take on more.
We then made it to our site, C1. This was the first time we have encountered a campground where all of the stops are just lined up on the street. So we just parked the RV on the shoulder and setup camp! In the future, I would like to stay at Trailer Court campground. Those spots were off the road like a traditional campground, and had full hookup, but it was hard enough scoring these reservations, so I will take it!
Trip Totals
Total Miles Today: 307 Fuel Used: 34.6 gallons Day Average MPG: 8.9mpg Check Engine Lights: 0 Trip Total Miles: 1280 Trip Total Fuel Used: 151.6g
Our third day in Glacier National Park was Tyler’s Birthday! I woke up and made him a big griddle breakfast that included pancakes with huckleberry syrup (of course). We then headed back into the park for the last thing on our list, biking Going To The Sun Road. While part of the road is closed to cars due to still being buried in snow peak, you are allowed to bike it. We drove to Avalanche and tried to find parking. It was crowded and they were turning people away. We made a loop around when the ranger had walked away and drove into the campground that they were using as overflow parking. We were able to find a spot pretty quickly and got ready for the ride.
The Ride
This was one of the moments where you look around with tears and your eyes and can’t believe you get to experience something so beautiful. The views were incredible and it was exciting to be able to do something that most visitors do not get a chance to do. With the help of our e-bikes, we made it 7.5 miles to “The Loop” and then headed back down. While the e-bikes were a huge help, it was still a tough ride up. The ride down was much easier, which was lucky because both of our bikes’ batteries died about 2 miles before the end.
We made it back to the car, packed up and headed back to Apgar Village for some last minute souvenirs and some food. Despite the impromptu dead batteries, biking Going To The Sun Road was a highlight of the trip.
Dessert
To save room for dessert we shared a bison burger while sipping on some huckleberry cocktails and then ended lunch with a warm huckleberry cobbler.
While the cobbler was good, it was no where near as good as the crisp we got in Missoula. We drove back to the RV to spend the rest of the evening at the campsite with the dogs and start packing up for our journey to Banff!
I learned from the day before and had a plan for our second day at Glacier National Park. We were going to take a boat ride at Two Medicine Lake and hike to Twin Falls.
Journey to the east
We woke up early and drove to the east side of the park. This was about an hour and a half drive, so I made sure to download some podcasts for the trip. We enjoyed the Night of the Grizzlies episode of Stuff You Should Know about bears in Glacier and the podcast, Headwaters, which is put out by Glacier National Park. On the way, we noticed a lot of cars stopped by the side of the road. We parked and were graced with our first moose sighting! A female moose was chilling in a marsh, eating away.
We got to Two Medicine Lake with plenty of time, which was good because I forgot my sweatshirt and it was cold out. I went to the visitor center and bought a new cozy one and Tyler found a sticker for his water bottle. We took the obligatory water bottle sticker picture and then it was time for the boat trip.
Boat Tour
As we were getting on the boat, we learned that the bridge was out on the trail to Twin Falls, and unless we wanted to forge a creek that was over knee high, we would not be able to get there. We were bummed but determined to enjoy the boat ride. The mountains were beautiful, but what we most enjoyed was learning about the park from the boat captain. She told remarkable stories about the park and its history. We were on the boat for about 45 minutes and then headed back to the car.
We made a quick stop at Running Eagle Falls which is just a short walk off the main road. It was my favorite waterfall in the entire park!
Many Glaciers
Because we were already on the west side of the park, we decided to drive another hour up to Many Glaciers and explore. I have been on a never ending hunt to spot a big ole daddy moose (aka a bull) ever since we moved to Colorado. I had read that the best place to see moose is up at Many Glaciers, so I was pumped. I had really wanted to take the Many Glaciers boat ride and do some hikes from where it dropped you off, but those tours did not start for a few more days. Instead we parked at the Many Glacier lodge, grabbed a snack and then hiked half way around Swiftcurrent Lake and to Lake Josephine. Due to construction, you could not go around the whole lake, so we turned around and headed back to the lodge. In total we did a nice and easy two miles.
We did not see any wildlife on our hike besides a few deer, so we went up to the balcony of the lodge with binoculars. We enjoyed the views for a little while and then headed to our next stop.
St. Mary’s
Just a few minutes down the road is St. Mary’s, which has the other half of the Going To The Sun Road. We decided to drive up it as far as we could. The views were otherworldly and we finally got to see our first glacier in Glacier!
Once we hit the closed section, we turned around and started the two hour drive back to the RV and the puppers.
