Lake McDonald

Gabe has learned that his teenager card will be revoked if he keeps smiling in photos.

This is Liz. It is Mark's union-mandated night off from writing the blog. Today the Gownezios achieved yet another successful split in the kayaking/hiking subsets.

We dropped Mom and Dad off for the Lake McDonald Trail, a 6.6 mile one-way hike, moving from Fishing Creek area on the west side to the Lake McDonald Lodge moving toward the east side. The plan was for us to paddle around for a while and drive to pick them up at the end of a 4 mile Park Ranger access road. More on that later.

We put the kayaks in at the Fishing Creek picnic area. I, for one, put aside thoughts of my first-born child's college education fund today, and consider the money on kayaks, paddles, life jackets, car racks, etc. money very well spent! We had a most excellent paddle along the western shoreline of Lake McDonald. We saw areas of the park burned in our first visit here in 2003. It was pristine paddling, especially quiet but for the one motor boat on the lake and Isabella's cute and constant narrative. When reaching our lunch point, we actually caught up to mom and dad on the trail, paddled in a bit, chatted, and enjoyed the hike/paddle that no one in the entire park seemed aware of but us!

After lunch, the children jumped out of the kayaks and swam around our little inlet for 20 minutes. It was teeth-chattering cold. Gabe explored the use of the paddle outside the kayak, Kieran and Izzie explored keeping warm in snow-melt temperature waters. Good fun was had by all. On the way back to our put-in, Izzie and Kieran took naps and then swam a bit more while we loaded the kayaks on top of the truck. Though we worked hard, we were a little late in getting to our pick up rendezvous.

 Unfortunately, a park accident kept us from crossing a critical bridge to our pick up point. Mom and Dad's 6.6 mile hike became a 9.5 mile schlep... the last bit with the biting flies was the worst. It was all exposed to the sun, and most of the trail was through chest-high grass. Mom and Dad sang every song they have ever known to let the bears know they were coming. Otherwise, mom categorized it as “a butterfly heaven with flowers and wildlife that was the most isolated hike we have ever taken!”

A drive back home for pizza and other deliciousness from Glacier Grill. Yummy! And well deserved after today's adventures!