On Monday morning (after being cooped up in the car for the past two days) we had the itch to get out and see the park. The famous Going to the Sun Road was still closed due to snow so we talked to a friendly park ranger and took his recommendation to head to the remote northwest corner of the park for our first hike.
We drove to Polebridge and then on a very narrow one-lane, windy gravel road to Bowman Lake. I think now is a good time to mention that after this drive and the Helena cabin adventure, Kya's other new phrase is "bumpy road." Yes, Kya, it certainly was.
Way up in the boon docks.
The ranger recommended we hike the first half of the Quartz Lake trail, which would take us to the top of a ridge for a great view.
So we set off across our first river crossing at Bowman Lake and Bowman Creek. See the cool bridge? Keep that in mind for later ...
The trail took us way up in a backcountry mountain with lots of wildflowers. I just loved seeing these Calypso Orchids.
And then the trail led to this.
Spring runoff.
Unexpected 'crossing' for us novice hikers.
Corey tried to cross over the log but couldn't manage that maneuver with Kya in the backpack. Corey proposed he that he would cross it on foot if we took the log route. I attempted to cross the log but chickened out before I was even on the log.
I'm embarrassed to say we did not complete the crossing or the hike. We are chickens.
So we headed back down the mountain.
We had a scenic picnic lunch on a log along Bowman Lake.
Then we walked back to the car to use the pit potty before driving back down the bumpy road. This is the exact date that I discovered Kya is deathly afraid of pit toilets ... especially when they are in very dark out-houses. So I assisted Kya while she watered some plants near the parking lot. In doing this, she peed all over he undies and pants.
Major bummer.
Lucky for us, we were transporting a bag of my mom's clothes from Bismarck to Montana (for her vacation in a few weeks) so Kya got to borrow Grandma Z's shorts.
Since we had other hiking plans that afternoon, Corey washed her dirty clothes in the lake. As we drove down the hill, we dried the wet clothes using the heat vents in the car. By the time we were to the next hiking spot, Kya had her own clothes back.
The next hike was to Hidden Meadow (the trail is just south of Polebridge).
The lake and meadow were beautiful but the hike was rather boring.
Kya the explorer.
On our drive back to civilization, we came across this gem - Home Ranch Bottoms. It is literally in the middle of nowhere - in a national forest, bordering a national park, on a remote gravel road. The have ice cream treats. We left with happy tummies.
Corey too a very "scenic route" to the cabin and we stopped off at Lake McDonald Lodge (across the lake from our cabin). We enjoyed the sun and Kya practiced her rock skipping/throwing.
I don't have any photos of it, but we also took a boat tour across McDonald Lake.
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