Day 11 - Horses and Hikes

Happiness is ... standing on a log with the love of your life!

Today was a slow start leaving the house. Everyone seemed tired and was quiet on the drive to the park. The line to get into the park past the gates was super long as the system to let people pass through isn't organized very well. They finally started letting cars go through that had the pass and had paid, so we were able to bypass most of the cars. We drove awhile along side the lake. 


Since it was almost 11 and we had to beat the stables for 12 for horseback riding,we had trouble finding a hike to do.

"Can I have a hug?"

Handing out at Lake MacDonald Lodge dock

We found a nice beach though, a little rocky but beautiful clearwater. We contind our drive up to MacDonald Lake Lodge and wandered around there for a bit. Saw an old wooden boat leave the dock and viewed the lobby of the lodge, which is very old and has lots of animal heads hanging around. The lodge was built in1914 and has lots of character with big wooden logs and pillars and a small organ and piano for people to play. When you drive up to the lodge, you are actually at the back of thé lodge. Guess why? (I'll give you a hint, there's water on the other side of the lodge). It's because long ago there were no roads, so people would travel by boat and arrive at the lodge at the dock which seems like at the back of the building but since it was the first thing they saw is actually the front.


We ate a small picnic lunch and then walked to the stables where mom, Chloé, Carling and Mairin were going to go horseback riding. After filling out lots of paperwork and safety checks, they got to mount their horses. Mom on Pal, Chloé on Shark, Carling on Moon and Mairin on Mr. Pink.




Since I (Tinsley) don't do horses, Dad and I went on a hike for a couple hours to Fish Lake. 

We crossed 3 streams

It was ~6 km round trip and ascended 1000 feet. It took us about 90 minutes to reach the lake, and then 45 back down. Shortly into our hike, we saw a young deer who passed us in the woods, and then headed down the trail behind us.

The climb up wasn't too difficult; similar to the Tea House hike last week, but much warmer.  There were 3 streams to cross, with bridges made from hand-hopped lumber. When we reached Fish Lake, we were the only people there.  It was so peaceful ... only a few ducks diving now and again among the Lilly pads.

Hike to Fish Lake ... looking down at Lake MacDonald

Lilly pads on Fish Lake

Fish Lake

We met up with the girls shortly after they returned. The girls seemed to all have a great time.


Tinsley (& Dad)

[over to Mom]

The ride on horseback was two hours long and took us through a 400 year old forest of Hemlock, Tamarack and pine trees. They all towered above us and created a very nice shade. We crossed the road and stopped traffic (17 horses in all) and then moved along 2 bridges. One bridge was a traffic bridge while the other was a footbridge all the people on there had to get off so as not to frighten the horses. When approaching the bridge, the horses actually had to walk down a set of stairs. All the girls did really well adjusting themselves in the saddles as need be. We also went through a tunnel in the rock before ending up back on the forest path. Our three guides had lots to tell us about the forest and Glacier National Park. When the park was established 100 years ago, there were 125 glaciers. Now there are only 25 left and scientists are predicting that the rest will be gone by 2030. Not only was it a great ride, but we learned a lot too!

This little guy came along while we were waiting at the stables.

We caught up with Glen and Tinsley and drove back to the little beach we had found this morning. We relaxed on the warm sand and enjoyed the sunny, hot day. Back to our cottage for snacks and drinks, which quenched everyone's hunger, so Glen and I went to look at the Hungry Horse Dam which he will talk about.
Jenn


[over to Glen]
There's a short 4 km drive up to the dam, which being on our own (sans filles) was a nice break. it's an Arch Dam (like Hoover Dam) and stands 560' above the South Flatbed Fork river. Despite my academic studies in Water Resource Engineering, i have never seen one of these things up close before, so it was quite cool. We took some pictures looking upstream to the reservoir, and then drove over the top. It was past 7pm, so we only saw 1 other car there, very peaceful - aside from the "humm" of the generators several hundred feet below. 



 When we got back to the cabin, i grilled chicken for everyone, and we had many laughs - as usual. Later, we made a fire and roasted Marshmallows for S'mores. Chloé is definelty hooked!
Glen


[over to Chloé]
Chloé :Cette après-midi, après un court moment sur une plage au bord du lac MacDonald, nous avons pic niqué. Après avoir mangé nous sommes allés nous renseigner sur la promenade à cheval. Nous avons signé des papiers qui mentionnés les risques, c'était un peu effrayant mais rien de tout ce qui était écrit n'est arrivé. Nous avons un peu attendu puis les chevaux sont arrivés. Pour ma part, mon cheval était un Mustang, j'étais très fière de monter pour la première fois un cheval et en plus un cheval réputé ! Son nom était Shark (requin en français). La personne qui m'a aidé à grimper sur le cheval était irlandaise et m'a dit adoré la France. Lorsqu'on est parti, une guide m'a dit que mon cheval adore manger de l'herbe durant le chemin mais que ce n'est vraiment pas bon pour lui de la manger car il peut y avoir du poison. J'ai pu constater que c'était la vérité parce que durant tout le voyage il n'a pas arrêté d'essayer de manger l'herbe. Au début, je ne savais pas comment faire, heureusement un guide était juste devant moi et a pu me dicter quoi faire, j'ai donc dû lui lever la tête et lui donner de grands coups sur le ventre. Je peux maintenant dire qu'un cheval est extrement fort ! À côté de ça le chemin a été super dans la forêt et puis nous avons traversé la route puis descendu sur un pont qui jonchait une rivière avec de nombreux rapides. C'etait impressionnant d'être en hauteur mais ça permet de voir plus de choses durant la promenade. À la fin je ne pouvais plus bouger mes jambes, je pense que demain ça va faire mal ! Après ces deux heures de promenade nous avons mangé un peu et puis nous sommes retournés à la plage découverte ce matin près du lac. Il faisait chaud, c'etait bien ! Nous sommes ensuite retournés à la maison qui est vraiment typiquement montagnarde. Nous avons mangé du poulet et des pommes de terre puis une glace. Après ça nous avons fait un feu à l'exterieur de la maison. Nous avons chauffé des guimauves pour les mettre ensuite dans des craqueurs avec du chocolat, c'était super bon ! On a bien rit parce que Carling a brulé les siens à chaque fois. La fumée venant vers nous, il faisait bon autour du feu. Puis ce fut l'heure de partir pour le pays des rêves.

Such good friends