Exploring Glacier National Park and Lake McDonald - 2022/08/18

We're in Montana, wrapping up our time here at Glacier National Park! We had planned on going on a long hike today, but Alli saw the lake and really wanted to spend time on it. Let's go!

Our stop today is Lake McDonald, just a little north of the Apgar Visitor Center. We were here a little earlier this week, camped out overnight to try to see the Northern Lights, but had no luck with that. 

Alli really wanted to go out in the water. She'd seen others on paddleboards and boat and wanted to do something like that. That could get pretty pricey, so Theresa and I had talked about going to a store and buying something. Then after further thought, we decided the pool noodles and floats would be just fine. 

Our destination today. Beautiful!

The "beach" is more pebbles than sand. 

The water is super clear. 

And a little cold. 

Stay warm!

Forgot something. 

Pool noodles!

All of us were amazed by how clear the water was. 

A little further off shore there was a buoy the kids wanted to swim out to. 

It was something like 30 feet deep. Tied to an old engine block or something. 

I challenged the kids to retrieve a rock from the bottom. 

No luck. 

There was a noticeable change in the lakebed, where it changed from rocks and pebbles to silty sand. 

I went down to get a rock to show it could be done. 

We had fun swimming in the lake, but as expected, it didn't last more than an hour or so. 

But the kids had a lot of fun with it. Good memories. 

Tomorrow we're taking off for our next location!