Cliff Jumping Galore: Glacier 2018

My very favorite national park in the whole wide world is Glacier National Park in Montana. The beauty there is unparalleled by anything I've ever seen in my life. My family drove all the way from Jasper National Park to go to Glacier while the Evans family stayed in Edmonton, Canada for a bit longer. They had a week in a condo while we were continuing to camp. But don't worry... they will still make some guest appearances because this is still all part of the Christmas torture trip with them.

Day 1

We literally just drove. I have no pictures. While we were crossing the Canadian-American border, I was really sick of the car. I jumped out of the car and definitely danced my way across the border until right before we got checked. I even did the Drake "In My Feelings" challenge. Ashlyn said I sucked though so she deleted the video before I got it unfortunately. Oh well!

Me right before bed with my poncho

When we finally made it to Glacier after around an 11 hour drive, it was pitch black and almost midnight. It was also raining, so we were hoping to find a hotel after seeing all the wet ground at our campsite. There was not a single hotel nearby with any vacancy. We eventually gave up and went back to our campsite. We set up camp in the dark using our phone flashlights and headlamps. We didn't finish set up until around 1:30am and it was quite an ornery process from everyone involved because we all just wanted to go to bed. It was definitely unique though and something I will always remember!

Day 2

We woke up early the next day so we could meet the Evans family to do a tour of Saint Mary's Lake. On the way there, we got to take the Going to the Sun Road, which is my favorite drive ever. The roads are really narrow and steep and follow the cliff side of a mountain. The views are amazing, however, so the scary driving is completely worth it!

View from the Going to the Sun Road

When we made it to Saint Mary's Lake, we met up with the Evans and took a boat tour over to another hike. The boat tour is really inclusive and covers a lot. When you make it to the access point for the hike, you can expect about a mile and a half long hike to another falls. Once we had made it to the falls, we went cliff jumping. There are a fair amount of places to jump from, including this bridge that is about 20 or 25 feet up. I didn't try to jump because I was in cute leggings and a nice shirt, but I did watch as Trevor, Matt, Abi, and Bri all jumped. I also made sure to watch the three little boys so Sarah could hike to Virginia Falls with Savannah. Savannah just takes a bit longer to hike because of her handicap. She's always a rockstar, though, and is unafraid to hike anything. I love her so much.

View from the Ranger Station

We eventually made our way back to the boat dock, where we took a pleasant ride back. From there, we split up with the Evans family. We had no food and went to lunch while they had sandwiches. We never caught up to them again because Uncle David always is on the move and wants to see absolutely everything. We ended up driving back to our campsite.

On the way back to our campsite, we ended up having a MASSIVE argument about who has to sit in the backseat. Dave had been growing a lot recently and felt it was unfair he always had to sit in the back. However, he is also the most annoying sibling and hardest to sit next to. Ashlyn was complaining so much. Eventually, she and Mom had it out and were not on speaking terms for the rest of the day.

When we made it back to camp, I went with Mom and Dad to the grocery store while everyone else stayed at camp. The triplets went for a bike ride and Ashlyn had a love affair with her phone now that she was back in the US and had service. At the store, Mom and I had a good time catching up on our own thoughts and feelings. We are really close and see things similarly, so it's always a good bet to talk to her and get her advice. She also tells me a lot of her problems so it's a symbiotic relationship. Mostly I just went to push the cart and make sure she didn't lift anything heavy because of her back problems. We eventually went back to camp and had dinner before an early bedtime to make up for the few hours of sleep the night before.

Sisters starting the Highline Trail

Day 3

Because it was a Sunday, we started the day out by going to church for sacrament meeting before driving up to the ranger station on the Going to the Sun Road. On our way up to the top, we actually were hit by a truck, who broke our mirror. The hit was not our fault, but the other driver honked and gestured rudely like he thought it was. I'm not sure how he thought that when he was the one over the line, but whatever. Neither of the cars had a shoulder to pull out into, so we ended up not getting any of the information. We ended up paying the cost to repay it out of pocket.

Family minus Dad partway through the trail

Once we made it to the ranger station, we started on the 11.6 mile one-way Highline Trail. We decided we wanted to hike going downhill. In the attached family picture, you can see a peak in the distance where we started. We hiked above the Going to the Sun Road for miles before taking this picture about 4 miles in. This hike is my favorite because it showcases a wide variety of wildflowers and sweeping mountain, canyon, and glacier views. There is also a nice historic chalet partway through the hike where you can stop and take in the views for a while before descending the final four miles of the trail.

Taking a break and enjoying the views

On the final four miles, my bum knee really started to hurt. I tore my MCL the day before my senior year of high school and it still gives me trouble on occasion if I do a lot with it or hold it still for too long (long car rides, planes, etc.). Luckily, I pushed through and we made it all the way to the canyon floor, where Dad picked us up. We finished the day off with dinner out and showering, a necessity after such a long day of hiking.

Day 4

I have no pictures from this day because we spent it on a full-day river rafting tour! The Evans family drove down from Canada again to float the river with us. We had two rafts and ended up splitting them by age. All the teenagers from Bri on up to Matt and Garrett came on our boat with the exception of Dave and Savannah. The other boat had all the little kids and the parents.

Our raft was CRAZY! We love to pirate other rafts and had a good time doing so. Pirating involves jumping on other people's rafts and then throwing them out. This way, you can take over their raft and make it your own. At one point, Jared jumped over to pirate the other raft and threw his dad overboard. His dad lost his glasses and was NOT happy at all. Jared had to replace the glasses. Even our guides got into it. Our guide told me that I should become a river guide, which is honestly a summer job I have considered quite a few times just because I think it could be quite fun.

We ate lunch on the river to give our booties a little bit of a break from the hard raft tubes that you sit on. At this point, we also got to play in the cold glacier river water. I took great pleasure in making sure each of the little boys got both splashed and dunked. I am a great cousin.

At the end of the rafting trip, you can see a bridge people jump off of. After getting off our rafts, we ended up driving over there to go both bridge and cliff jumping. I had bridge jumped here before with my siblings, but the Evans family had not. Most everyone went on some sort of jump. You can climb out under the bridge and jump from lower than the 35 foot drop if you want. Abi did this. There are also rocks around that you can jump off of.

Jonah really wanted to jump but was concerned if he could swim all the way to the side. Even though I didn't jump because I wanted to stay dry, I ended up getting all the way in so that I could swim to him after he jumped. He would swim a little ways to me as well and then take a rest while I treaded and held us both up. He would then swim the rest of the way to the side. It was really cute of him to want and need my help.

After our cliff jumping extravaganza, we got some huckleberry ice cream from the General Store before saying goodbye to the Evans family. They went back to Canada while we headed back to our campsite at Fish Creek. We had some chili cheese tots for a snack before bed and then hit the hay early.

Day 5

We packed up and began our drive home early in the morning. We drove home only stopping for gas and to pick up Ashlyn's car from the shop in Bountiful. I ended up riding the rest of the way home with her. She's a scary driver because she will Snapchat, change the music, and attempt to drive all at the same time. At one point, I warned her that she was gonna hit the curb. She protested and then hit the curb going 35mph about two seconds later. It was very exciting. Mostly I was just happy to have made it all the way home safely. I was a little emotionally drained because Ashlyn is really hard to be around sometimes, but things were fine overall. It was an amazing trip with the best company. I love spending time surrounded by nature!

Life Lessons

If your mom and sister get into a blowout fight, stay out of it.

Always go on hikes.

Don't ever forget to cliff jump if you know it's safe.

Book a hotel beforehand if it's raining and midnight at your campsite.