Happy Birthday America! Zip Lining to Celebrate!

What an awesome Independence Day for us! We began the day with zip lining and ended it with an incredible hike in Glacier. Here are the deets:

We signed up for a 7-zip line tour at Whitefish Mountain Resort. We were there for 9; got fitted for our harnesses, helmets, etc. Dean put a GoPro on his helmet and I had one on a chest mount. The tour is a great design in starting you out on tiny lines, building to long lines. We started out with a short line to practice the different forms we needed to use while zipping. It was my first zip lining experience and I thought it was so exciting. I had no idea the lines coming up as we went up and down the mountain were going to allow us the speed we obtained! 

The first two lines were near the lodge and were short hikes. We then got on a chair lift to go up the mountain to line 3. The chair lift was definitely Becky's least favorite part but it is so very peaceful and sure as heck beat hiking up the mountain.  It is the newest line at the resort and was a site to behold! We were 250 feet above the ground on this line that was just under a thousand feet long.  The view was incredible but more impressive was the speed you could build up if you assumed the 'pencil' position all the way in. I laughed out loud the entire ride- such a thrill!

After each line, we'd hike to the next line. Going uphill was a challenge. Being able to zip made it worth it. 

It was an awesome experience that I would definitely do again.

Becky and Steven going down line 5

Nicky and Dean coming in hot!

We went back to the condo and gathered what we needed for an afternoon hike in Glacier National Park. On the way out we stopped at Piggyback Barbecue for a late lunch. It was delicious and so fitting for a 4th lunch.

We then drove into Glacier. We stopped at Apgar Village to look around and get a closer look at Lake McDonald. It was windy and very chilly. There were people swimming in the lake though. We were looking for our long sleeve clothing options. 

On our way to Avalanche Lake we stopped at Sacred Dancing Cascade along the highway. Beautiful area for great photos. We are traveling on Going to the Sun Road, but the stretch we covered today was very mild travel. No real mountain side driving yet. That will be further into the park.

Sacred Dancing Cascades

Behind the scenes shot of what it is like to travel with Dean & Nicky...

It was now after five in the afternoon which seems late to start a hike. However darkness does not fall into this area until after 9:30, closer to 10. We parked just up the road and began on the Trail of the Cedars which starts out as a boardwalk. Really nice family friendly hike. The boardwalk ends when you reach a beautiful gorge where Avalanche Creek is rushing through giant boulders. Gorgeous views and the sounds were so relaxing. Our hiking path then turns into a dirt path for the hike to Avalanche Lake. This hike was tougher on me than I thought. Lots of uphill trekking. Along the hike there Steven would question every person as to 'how was it' etc. He did this to every person we met. I would like to give you percentages here as to the responses but he was not keeping track. This led into my questioning him as to what he was planning on doing with all of the data he was collecting. He said he didn't have a plan for it. He was just curious. After what seemed like hours of huffing it, we arrived at Avalanche Lake and what a site to see! There are at least five waterfalls spilling down the mountains into the lake. So quiet and serene (especially after my labored breathing stopped...lol). We took some time to take it all in and get lots of photos.

Avalanche Lake - it was worth it

We were by this point considering the time and the long hike back. We started on our return trip just after 8 pm and moved somewhat easier downhill for the most part. I took out my portable speaker, attached it to my pack and put on a playlist for the hike back. Music motivates me and made the return trip so nice. It also helped with being noisy to deter bears. We shouted out every so often as a preventive measure. We also had our bear spray handy if needed. 

We saw deer, voles, birds but no bears (thank goodness!)

Our return hike had us back at our truck at 9 pm, it took 52 minutes! Much quicker than our hike in. 

We stopped at Lake McDonald Lodge for dinner and made it back to the condo just before midnight. I'm pretty sure we were all asleep within 5 minutes of hitting the pillows.