vivaeltaco

[vivaeltaco]

🐝 LINE FOR THE TREE LINE

So today, was INSANITY! Started off with the norm, munching on smoothies with a damn good view of the river from our campsite 🏕 but DAMN, things escalated quickly when we were torn on what hike to do for the day and decided on the dreadful Whistler’s Canyon... dun dun duuuuunnn! We arrived at the trailhead after a late start to the morning from sleeping in a bit (my fault) we started our 10 mile hike with a massive ascent to the top...I mean literally there was little to no flat area!! It was crazy! But it started in a beautiful forest 🌳 that led us up a windy and uphill path over some boulders, past some marmots, and finally up to the tippy top of Whistlers mountain! It was a long 2.5 hours of straight climb and our legs were screaming but we rocked it to the top. At the summit there was still another 1.5 miles to cross over a few nearby mountains to get a better view so naturally we did that as well and the panoramas that we took look at of this world 👽. And on the way back down we passed by 7 grizzlies - we were forced to run the whole way back while being chased by these ravenous large animals that were surely ready to catch us at any slip or fall....Gina fell 3 times and did this weird dance one time (like literally scooted sideways while running into place, you just had to see it) we hustled our butts to the car and locked the door and peeled out of there like a potato and made our way to Wapiti for the night.

If you’re reading this, this is a test...I repeat this is a test! We want to see if anyone is following along or not 😉 There were no bears, but Gina really did almost fall like 3 times one of which included the said dance above 🤣 let us know if you’re following, as of right now it’s just our mothers who are worried about us! good night y’all!

[vivaeltaco]

On the road again 🇨🇦

For some reason a flight to Atlanta followed by one from Atlanta is cheaper than just flying direct to Calgary...so we went south to go north, but it was an easy day of travel! The car service delivered the truck to us at the airport and we headed to the Airbnb which was just outside of Calgary! I have to tell you this is one of the cleanest cities I’ve ever seen! After doing some laundry we hit the pillows for an earlier morning!

After a quick run we headed over to Home Depot to get a piece of wood. We are meeting up with Jess and Shaun who are driving my Honda HRV out to Alaska in a few days and want to rig the camper to sleep the four of us. After a trip to Walmart for some groceries we hit the beautiful road for Jasper National Park. Jasper is the most north of the three parks that run through the Rocky Mountains and borders Kootenay and Banff. We passed through Banff and it’s beautiful mountain range until we arrived at the Icefield parkway. This road passes through Jasper and is surrounded by Glaciers on all sides and at every turn. It’s truly is breath taking and indescribable. Everyone should experience the drive through this marvelous part of Canada! We fit in a 6 mile hike before continuing on to the campsite for the night!

Our campsite turned out to be legend...wait for it...dary....LEGENDARY! Site 74 at Wabasso campground was by far the best in the whole place! Right on the river with epic views of the mountains and river! We enjoyed dinner 🥘 of chicken and rice with a epic view!

[vivaeltaco]

Byeee 👋

Headed to Delaware for a long weekend to celebrate Ryan Headley and Tracy Graham’s wedding! We will be back on the road through the Yukon next week and our friends Jess and Shaun will be joining the party!

[vivaeltaco]

Good. Morning. ☀️

With windy weather yesterday afternoon, we reluctantly woke up early in the 32° weather to make it to the parking lot at Lake Louise before it filled. We parked in the exact same spot as yesterday! The paddle boards pack into small backpacks so we easily carried them down to the lakeside to inflate them at the canoe rental dock for the Fairmont hotel. The going rate for canoe rentals is $115/30 minutes so I’d say the boards more than paid for themselves at this point! (Only $250 on Amazon) We were able to get into the water without getting our feet wet with some dockside logs and we set out across the lake around 8am. The water was smooth as glass and aquamarine blue. The backdrop was Rocky Mountains with beautiful pine trees and glaciers at one end and the massive Fairmont hotel at the other. We paddled all the way to the far end and back over the next hour and quickly warmed up! It was a precarious paddle though as any loss of balance could result in a fall into the lake and possible hypothermia. Luckily we both proved balanced and made it back to shore safe and sound! We let the boards dry in the sun while we did a quick 3 mile run on the lakeshore trail playing dodge the tourist! We headed back to the campground for a shower and grabbed a coffee before making the beautiful 45 minute drive south to Banff Village. It was a truly breathtaking morning!

Banff Village is a lovely ski town right in the heart of the National Park! There is a river with the lovely glacier water flowing right through town, a series of water falls and the Rocky Mountain peaks all around. We walked around town all afternoon soaking up the sun as the temps reached 67! There is another Fairmont hotel up in the hill on the edge of town that is truly indescribable as much of what we have seen has been! We grabbed a margarita on the deck and enjoyed the views before heading back in to town for dinner and an ice cream! McDonalds doesn’t seem like a likely stop in a town full of good food and local shops, but the ice cream is too good to beat! Canada offers a chocolate waffle cone with Vanilla ice cream for $2 Canadian dollars— $1.5 American dollars. You can’t beat it!

Our campsite was 5 minutes from town and we spent the rest of the night enjoying the unbelievable views while kicking a soccer ball and throwing a football! Tomorrow we head home to Delaware for the weekend and are looking forward to seeing our family and friends! Canada has been amazing so far and we can’t wait to see what else it has to offer when we fly back next week!

[vivaeltaco]

Lake Louise and some ☕️

Banff is nothing short of spectacular and has quite the hidden gem tucked away in the famous Lake Louise. Now, the thing about Lake Louise is that it is so famous that the parking lots (4 in fact) completely fill up by 7:30am. You better believe we were there by 7:29am and just in time to get one of the last spots.😬Back to this “gem” I was talking about... up on two of the trails that begin from the lake are two tea houses that are nestled in the mountains and are open for hikers to come through and enjoy a breakfast with a breathtaking view of the surrounding mountains and glaciers. To make it to the tea house, it’s gradual climb of about 3 miles which really limited the amount of people that stop in. We chowed down English Breakfast tea and some biscuits and plotted out the rest of the hike since we still had the entire day.

We decided to take the Lake Agnes trail back to the entrance of Lake Louise. It’s about 7 miles with views of other glaciers, mountains, and of course, Lake Agnes. This trail leads to the second tea house, but this time we decided not to stop in. It was extremely crowded with packed full of tourists (it’s the easier tea house to hike to). We made our way back to Lake Louise and checked out the water to see if it was calm enough for our paddleboards, but unfortunately it was a bit rough because the wind picked up quite a bit in the afternoon. We made a gametime decision to wait on the paddleboarding and risk it early in the morning when the water is generally more calm. With it being already late afternoon, we went back to the campsite and took a long hot shower 🚿 and cooked up some pulled pork for dinner.

It was only 7 by the time we finished everything for the night so we strolled back over to Lake Louise to check out the hotel a bit more and so we could enjoy the sunset 🌅. We popped into a restaurant to share a drink and spent the time playing some chess at the bar. Gina took game 1 with a spectacular 5 move performance and quickly trapping my king behind my pieces! ♟ But game 2 and 3 went to me, but I have to say she has been a formidable opponent! After entertaining the bartender with our chess antics, we learned more about the staff that worked at the famous hotel, the Fairmont and learned that they come from everywhere and they are offered housing at the hotel while they are employed. It was super nice to learn more about the area and people of Banff and on that note, we headed back to the site to crash for the night so we could be fully ready for our paddle boarding adventure on the lake in the morning.

[vivaeltaco]

Banff Bound!

Banff National Park borders Kootenay National Park on the Eastern border and is our final destination for the next three days. We head home to Delaware on Labor Day weekend to celebrate Ryan Headley and Tracy Graham’s wedding, but have a little more exploring to do until then! Banff, a part of Rocky Mountain National Park in 1884 was named after the Scottish Birthplace of George Stephen, president of the Canada Pacific Railway. We have heard nothing but great things and can’t wait to hear what all the buzz is about!

It was 35 degrees when we woke up, so it took us a bit to come out of hibernation. The temps slowly increased to 60 throughout the day, but took their time! We did a small hike in Marble Canyon on the East side of Kootenay before driving 45 minutes to the famed Lake Louise. We were warned that the parking lots fill quickly and to arrive before 7:30 AM. It was around noon when we got there so unfortunately the parking was full. They do have shuttle buses for a fee which looked torturous as the parking lot was over 10 km from the actual lake. We figured we would go see Moraine Lake, which sits at a bit higher altitude and has a little less claim to fame. As we arrived at the turn off for the 6 mile drive to the lake, the road was closed with an attendant. We roll down the window and she said the parking lot was full, but it was as if the word quotatio as we arrived at the turn off for the 6 mile drive to the lake, the road was closed with an attendant. We roll down the window and she said the parking lot was full, but it was as if the word “paddleboard” was the secret passcode as she said “oh we have a few parking spots up there for those!” and she opened it up and let us right in. We felt like we won the lottery! The lake was an emerald turquoise color with over 10 rocky mountain peaks surrounding it.

We did a quick two hour hike at a fast pace up and with a jog down to hopefully have time to paddleboard. This went through a beautiful valley and mountain pass with visible glaciers!

While we were on the hike the weather turned a bit south with storm clouds and periodic bits of rain. We decided against paddle boarding and made our way back to the campsite. The lake Louise campground prove to be beautiful. It was not actually on the lake but approximately 5 miles away. There was a beautiful blue Gatorade creek running just next to it and we reserved a soft sided campsite for the night which was surrounded by an impressive electric fence! This provided a little extra security and comfort. We got a warm shower and took a walk in to Lake Louise Village for an ice cream before heading to bed. We are planning an early morning tomorrow to get a parking spot up at Lake Louise!

[vivaeltaco]

Kootenay Day 2 🥾

Waking up to the sound the nearby river is definitely one that I won’t forget. Our morning consisted of us making pb&j’s with banana and putting together a quick breakfast so we could make the most our day. Another hike was on today’s agenda, today it’s Floe Lake, another 12 miler that passes through the mountain sides until you eventually come to a beautiful lake at the top. After reading some of the All Trails (Hiking app) reviews of the trail, we were skeptical about the hike. For example, one person said “it’s a lot of work just for a lake”. We didn’t let that deter us and we set out for our adventure. The path winded through the beautiful valleys and mountains like the description said and we kept our guard up as there had been posts about bears in the area, but we never even saw one!

The walk up was a mix of uphill and flat until we reached about mile 10 or so where the trail turned into a crazy steep ascent to the top of a small mountain where the lake resides. The elevation gain for the trail is 3,146ft - I truly believe 3000 of those were in the last mile and a half. We huffed our way to the top and came across the amazing Floe Lake! The temperature dipped into the 40s and snow was all around as the mountains were coated with them. Add in the fact that the lake was a unique aquamarine color much like that of Delta Lake and we were truly rewarded for our efforts to hike there. We spent about 45 minutes eating our lunch and exploring the area before setting back down. The path back was much easier as it was mostly downhill at this point and when we had about 3 miles left, we decided to jog the rest of it out to save time and also to get our workout in for the day 💪🏼.

The sunny day turned to period rain storms all night which dropped the temperatures down to the 40s early in the evening. We cooked spicy Italian sausage and pasta periodically in the periods of time when the rain stopped. Getting impatient Gina finished cooking the pasta in the rain and we enjoyed the meal in the truck!

Apparently this meal brings the rain as the same situation occurred the last time we made it! After a quick cleanup we turned in early to get some warmth! Tomorrow we move to Marble Canyon, another campsite 🏕 in Kootenay on the northern end of the park.

[vivaeltaco]

Kootenay National Park 🇨🇦

After going for a 4 mile run in the morning, we packed up from the Airbnb with some brussels sprouts and asparagus cooked as well as clean laundry. We drove into the town of Kimberly, which is a small ski town just outside the famed National Parks. We finished up booking the rest of the free nights that we had on our way through the Yukon and enjoyed a coffee. We made it to the national Park in the afternoon and found our campsite. The Canadian parks provide firewood and just require a fire permit. We didn’t even know what to do with free firewood — this was a pleasant surprise as most firewood in the US ranges from $5-$10 per bundle of 5 or so pieces and we refrained from purchasing it. With the temperatures dropping at night, this was going to be a bonus. The temperature dropped to 40° that night, but our sleeping bags kept as warm as they are rated to 0° and 20° (for Benny). Our campsite was next to a river which had water the color of a blue Gatorade. All of the water in Canada has proved to be beautiful!

We are planning a hike in Kootenay tomorrow on the way to our next site for the evening. The weather seems hard to predict in these Rocky Mountains and clouds come and go quickly, so we are hoping for no rain!

[vivaeltaco]

Canada oh Canada 🇨🇦

We wrapped up our time in Glacier National Park with a stop off at the ski town of Whitefish. The town was lively with tons of people strolling the streets stopping at the various restaurants and shops. Our destination was the brewery in town so that we could use our laptops to finish up some trip planning as well as share a brew. The brewery manager was super cool, he told us about different places to stop along the way to the national parks in Canada and he hooked us up with a ton of stickers!

After departing from the brewery, we had to cross the U.S. - Canadian border. Fortunately, it was really easy and they didn’t even search the truck or camper! We switched up our miles to kilometers and we were on our way to the Airbnb for the night. Once we arrived, we were greeted by the most large and beautiful Bernedoodle and made our way into our abode for the night. Very ironic as we were considering getting one of these rare mixes ourselves - mix between a bernes mountain dog and a poodle! It was an incredible place with our own kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and living area all separate from the owners who lived upstairs. We thought about checking out the town but, we decided that a night in would be nice for a change. We cooked up a pizza, macaroni, and asparagus...oh and some cookies! We settled in for the night and did some planning for the rest of the trip as well!

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Grizzly Bears in the morning!

We did some research in the morning for another long hike to do since we were staying one more night on the other side of the park (about 1 hour away). We found one called Siyeh Pass, another difficult hike and about 11 miles long with a good amount of incline. We prepared at our campsite until we saw people gather around at the bathroom, we went to explore the situation and there stood a grizzly bear 🐻! It was so docile and spent its time just hanging out and eating the berries next to another camper’s RV. The bear was literally using its paws to bring the berry trees down towards its mouth while it sat down to enjoy the feast. We all observed for awhile until the park ranger showed up and sprayed bear spray to make it run away. Crazy start to the morning!

We drove about 20 minutes to get to the Siyeh Pass trailhead. It’s about 9am when we start the hike and it scaled along the side of the mountains 🏔. We didn’t see anyone until about half way through (5.5 miles in) and it was an older guy who was going in the opposite direction as us. He asked us why we were going the harder way, we didn’t have a clue. Up until this point we were a little nervous because Glacier is known for their large grizzly bear population and it was just the two of us. The climb was super gradual for us up until that point, we had to climb a bit after for maybe a mile or two but, we finally made it to the summit! We had a few of the valleys below , mountains, glaciers, and even a few lakes! We started to see tons more people, but they were all heading in the opposite direction of us as well and honestly I think their hike was even harder 🤷🏼‍♂️. It seemed steeper for them so I wasn’t complaining as we made our way back into the forest and towards the end of the trail.

When we made it out of the trail, we were fortunate that a shuttle was literally pulling into the stop as we were and we needed it to get back to the car. The shuttle only stops every 20 minutes so that was lucky! When we got back to the car, we took the time to drive on the “Going to the Sun Road”. The road is famous for its views throughout the park and literally cuts straight through it to the other side. It’s about 50 miles long and has plenty of tight twists and turns along the edges of cliffs (rvs are not allowed to take the road for that reason and the low hanging cliff walls). We stopped off to take some incredible pictures of the glaciers and arrived at Abghar Village after about an hour. We had to stop off to get our FREE permit to go paddleboarding on the famous Lake McDonald. The inspection went well and we were approved!

Finally make it to our last campsite in Glacier NP, Fish Creek we quickly set up our site and made a delicious chili dinner so we could take the paddleboards to the lake. The water was calm and crystal clear, you could see straight to the bottom! There was only a couple of other kayakers on the water but it was pretty much all ours :) We paddles out and even dove into the lake for a bit. We brought our dinner out with us and we shared some chili and chips while we watched the sun slowly set. We took some time to skip some stones along the shore line and we thought we lost Gina’s jacket that she left on a log by the entrance, but we were super fortunate that some guys were holding it for us since they thought someone lost it 🙄. Back at our site we prepared for bed with a little Netflix (which has been so clutch without service! We downloaded a bunch of stuff to watch at night before bed) Tomorrow it’s on to Canada! 🇨🇦

[vivaeltaco]

Crown of the Continent!

We started our day the right way with one of Gina’s famous breakfast smoothies! We hit the road early toward a small area called Many Glacier. This tiny “town” is home to the most iconic hike in all of Glacier National Park, the Grinell Glacier Trail. We arrived around 10am to the trailhead after stopping in at the awesome Swiss based hotel next to an incredible lake. It was decorated much like Switzerland and even had Swiss names such as Interlaken Lounge! We took about 15 minutes to find the trailhead location (it’s not well marked at all) and finally went on our way.

The trail is 12 miles long with some incline, but after all the hiking we have been through, we were prepared for the challenge 💪🏼. It starts out back of the hotel and we slowly went around the lake until we got to a boat dock and we made our way through the forests until we had to climb up and up and up towards the side of the mountains. Down below were crystal clear lakes, unlike anything we have ever seen. The water was an indescribable blue and we were fortunate enough to see a moose out for a drink and a bear across the lake (thankfully).

We crossed around waterfalls and saw some mountain goats until after a few hours we made it to the steep staircase that led us to our destination for the day. We climbed and climbed until we made it! In front of us was a waterfall rushing water down into a beautiful lake that was filled with icebergs! Crazy thing is that it’s the summer time so it’s 85 degrees out and there are literal icebergs in front of us that came off the large glacier from above. We walked around the side of the lake to be a little more isolated from everyone else and set up our lunch. We lounged around for an hour or so and even touched a couple icebergs before we made our way back down towards the hotel.

We got back to the hotel to check it out a little more and started our way back to our site (St Mary’s Campground) for the night. Wine and mapping out our next hike was on the docket for tonight!

Fun fact: Glacier National Park has the highest density of bears than any other national park in the US - one bear for every half mile.

[vivaeltaco]

Montana bound!

We took off early from Mammoth Campground in Yellowstone and was ready for a long day (6 hours of driving). We passed through small towns until eventually arriving in Bozeman, a college town in Montana. We searched around for a Starbucks that was not apart of a grocery store (because that’s just weird) and finally found one so we hit the road again. One plus was that we got the drink for free because we used Gina’s birthday coupon!

We left Bozeman and drove another 2 hours to Helena (a bigger city in Montana) and stopped off for some necessary groceries not at Trader Joes :( but, at Walmart! We got food for the next 5 nights and packed the cooler. We thought we had some time to stop in for a brew at an awesome local brewery, Ten Mile Brewery. We both got a hazy ipa, stoke their WiFi to finish up some work and went on our way towards St. Mary Campground in Glacier.

The drive up to the national park was nothing short of beautiful! There were giant mountains ⛰ in the distance and wheat fields as far as you could see. We enjoyed the ride up and finally made it up the St. Mary’s campground. Upon arrival, the park ranger immediately told us that a black bear has been frequenting the area 🐻 and to make sure our site was clean for the night. So we hustled and cooked a quick dinner before getting some z’s — tomorrow we have a huge hike planned!

[vivaeltaco]

Bison roadblocks!

Waking up early, we took the advice from the park rangers and decided to climb the iconic Mount Washburn. This hike is about 6 miles long with a steady incline which is totally worth the trip for the views of the park from way up! Side note: this area had the best service in all of the park because of its elevation! We took the truck up Chittenden road toward the trailhead and made it to the parking lot at the top and decided to make a quick couple of phone calls to home before we made our ascent. It was super windy and I almost regretted wearing my hat as it nearly flew off my head a couple of times. We crossed through open fields and even some areas of forest. We were super fortunate to even see some big horn sheep on the mountain side! We climbed to the top of the mountain and were surprised that it was actually a visitor center as well! We enjoyed the panoramic views of the park and then headed back towards the truck.

Since it was nearly 1pm by the point, we thought it would be wise to go towards Mammoth Hot Springs to check in for our site and to check out that area before eventually heading towards Llamar Valley (the opposite side of the park) to see the animals at dusk. Upon arriving in the town of Mammoth, there were large elk everywhere! They were hanging out all throughout the streets and it was insanity! We made our way past them and to the campground. When we arrived, we were greeted by the nicest park ranger who asked us about our reservation...turns out the reservation we had was for a campground that was another hour and a half south (the wrong direction). We were super fortunate that the site still had availability and we decided to cut our losses and book with Mammoth. The ranger felt bad for us and gave us the best site in the park! He even told us about a river with hot springs in the area that you could go swim in so we decided to check that out after we claimed our site.

The hot springs were super packed and it was difficult to find a parking spot. It was about a quarter mile walk to the spot in the river where the hot springs and river meet and creates an awesome hot tub like experience. It was super unique because the closer you got to the thermal vents it would get super hot but the river was freezing! The springs were jammed pack so we didn’t stay long plus, we still had to drive about 45 min to llamar valley to see the bison! We gathered our stuff, stopped to cook dinner and sneak into the Roosevelt lodge cabins to take showers and then made way as the sun was setting.

Llamar valley was CRAZY! There were bison literally everywhere! They even stopped traffic at different points along the drive so that they could cross in between the cars 🐃 🚗. We stayed and watched them for awhile but decided to call it a night after a couple of hours. In the morning, we head to Glacier, which everyone tells us is one of the best!

[vivaeltaco]

Grinell Glacier, the most beautiful hike we’ve ever done

We started our day the right way with one of Gina’s famous breakfast smoothies! We hit the road early toward a small area called Many Glacier. This tiny “town” is home to the most iconic hike in all of Glacier National Park, the Grinell Glacier Trail. We arrived around 10am to the trailhead after stopping in at the awesome Swiss based hotel next to an incredible lake. It was decorated much like Switzerland and even had Swiss names such as Interlaken Lounge! We took about 15 minutes to find the trailhead location (it’s not well marked at all) and finally went on our way.

The trail is 12 miles long with some incline, but after all the hiking we have been through, we were prepared for the challenge 💪🏼. It starts out back of the hotel and we slowly went around the lake until we got to a boat dock and we made our way through the forests until we had to climb up and up and up towards the side of the mountains. Down below were crystal clear lakes, unlike anything we have ever seen. The water was an indescribable blue and we were fortunate enough to see a moose out for a drink and a bear across the lake (thankfully).

We crossed around waterfalls and saw some mountain goats until after a few hours we made it to the steep staircase that led us to our destination for the day. We climbed and climbed until we made it! In front of us was a waterfall rushing water down into a beautiful lake that was filled with icebergs! Crazy thing is that it’s the summer time so it’s 85 degrees out and there are literal icebergs in front of us that came off the large glacier from above. We walked around the side of the lake to be a little more isolated from everyone else and set up our lunch. We lounged around for an hour or so and even touched a couple icebergs before we made our way back down towards the hotel.

We got back to the hotel to check it out a little more and started our way back to our site (St Mary’s Campground) for the night.

Fun fact: Glacier National Park has the highest density of bears than any other national park in the US - one bear for every half mile.

[vivaeltaco]

Going to the ☀️ road & Lake Mcdonald

We did some research in the morning for another long hike to do since we were staying one more night on the other side of the park (about 1 hour away). We found one called Siyeh Pass, another difficult hike and about 11 miles long with a good amount of incline. We prepared at our campsite until we saw people gather around at the bathroom, we went to explore the situation and there stood a grizzly bear 🐻! It was so docile and spent its time just hanging out and eating the berries next to another camper’s RV. The bear was literally using its paws to bring the berry trees down towards its mouth while it sat down to enjoy the feast. We all observed for awhile until the park ranger showed up and sprayed bear spray to make it run away. Crazy start to the morning!

We drove about 20 minutes to get to the Siyeh Pass trailhead. It’s about 9am when we start the hike and it scaled along the side of the mountains 🏔. We didn’t see anyone until about half way through (5.5 miles in) and it was an older guy who was going in the opposite direction as us. He asked us why we were going the harder way, we didn’t have a clue. Up until this point we were a little nervous because Glacier is known for their large grizzly bear population and it was just the two of us. The climb was super gradual for us up until that point, we had to climb a bit after for maybe a mile or two but, we finally made it to the summit! We had a few of the valleys below , mountains, glaciers, and even a few lakes! We started to see tons more people, but they were all heading in the opposite direction of us as well and honestly I think their hike was even harder 🤷🏼‍♂️. It seemed steeper for them so I wasn’t complaining as we made our way back into the forest and towards the end of the trail.

When we made it out of the trail, we were fortunate that a shuttle was literally pulling into the stop as we were and we needed it to get back to the car. The shuttle only stops every 20 minutes so that was lucky! When we got back to the car, we took the time to drive on the “Going to the Sun Road”. The road is famous for its views throughout the park and literally cuts straight through it to the other side. It’s about 50 miles long and has plenty of tight twists and turns along the edges of cliffs (rvs are not allowed to take the road for that reason and the low hanging cliff walls). We stopped off to take some incredible pictures of the glaciers and arrived at Abghar Village after about an hour. We had to stop off to get our FREE permit to go paddleboarding on the famous Lake McDonald. The inspection went well and we were approved!

Finally make it to our last campsite in Glacier NP, Fish Creek we quickly set up our site and made a delicious chili dinner so we could take the paddleboards to the lake. The water was calm and crystal clear, you could see straight to the bottom! There was only a couple of other kayakers on the water but it was pretty much all ours :) We paddles out and even dove into the lake for a bit. We brought our dinner out with us and we shared some chili and chips while we watched the sun slowly set. We took some time to skip some stones along the shore line and we thought we lost Gina’s jacket that she left on a log by the entrance, but we were super fortunate that some guys were holding it for us since they thought someone lost it 🙄. Back at our site we prepared for bed with a little Netflix (which has been so clutch without service! We downloaded a bunch of stuff to watch at night before bed) Tomorrow it’s on to Canada! 🇨🇦

[vivaeltaco]

Old faithful was faithful indeed

We started the morning with a walk around Or West Thumb Section of Yellowstone which included many hot springs which were the most clear beautiful blue yoube ever seen. They look like you could jump right in, but are intact over 110 degrees.

We moved onto old faithful which erupts approximately every 70 minutes. Luckily the Geyser went off within 10 minutes of us arriving. It was pretty cool, just as we thought it might be. We moved onto the Grand Prismatic Spring and did a small hike to an overlook as well as waterfall before walking up to the actual spring. The water there was over 100° and it was difficult to even see due to all of the steam, but there was a precarious boardwalk that traveled through the center.

Ready to head to the campsite we passed through a valley and came to a bunch of cars pulled over to the side of the road. We got out and it turned out that a bison had died and a grizzly bear was now watching guard over the bisons body. At that site we ran into a Ranger who let us use her binoculars as four other grizzly bears approached the dead bison. We thought there was even going to be a fight! Not to worry the Bears were at least 300 yards away and across a small stream. What a great first day in Yellowstone national park!

[vivaeltaco]

Glacier National Park, Crown of the Continent

We took off early from Mammoth Campground in Yellowstone and was ready for a long day (6 hours of driving). We passed through small towns until eventually arriving in Bozeman, a college town in Montana. We searched around for a Starbucks that was not apart of a grocery store (because that’s just weird) and finally found one so we hit the road again. One plus was that we got the drink for free because we used Gina’s birthday coupon!

We left Bozeman and drove another 2 hours to Helena (a bigger city in Montana) and stopped off for some necessary groceries not at Trader Joes :( but, at Walmart! We got food for the next 5 nights and packed the cooler. We thought we had some time to stop in for a brew at an awesome local brewery, Ten Mile Brewery. We both got a hazy ipa, stoke their WiFi to finish up some work and went on our way towards St. Mary Campground in Glacier.

The drive up to the national park was nothing short of beautiful! There were giant mountains ⛰ in the distance and wheat fields as far as you could see. We enjoyed the ride up and finally made it up the campground. Upon arrival, the park ranger immediately told us that a black bear has been frequenting the area 🐻 and to make sure our site was clean for the night. So we hustled and cooked a quick dinner before getting some z’s — tomorrow we have a huge hike planned!