A Trifecta of Fun

It’s amazing what a decent night’s sleep will do for your energy level and your general outlook.  The rain cooled everything off and the song of its pitter patter on the roof lulled me to sleep – even after my pre-dinner nap.  Sleep was good for the extra energy stores needed to enjoy our jam-packed day of adventures.  Early on in our trip-planning process months ago, we identified a “Saddle-Paddle” experience in the Glacier area that looked like “all that fun” (a phrase coined by the kids years ago at Orange Beach as we drove by an activity center with go-carts, bumper boats, and much more – and Isaac said, “I want to have all that fun!”)  The “Saddle-Paddle” experience included a two-hour horseback ride followed by a 3-4 hour whitewater rafting adventure.  Cool!

The best part of this adventure experience was that we didn’t have to be at the stables until 10am – allowing for another relaxed morning.  I’m afraid I’m getting a little too used to sleeping in, but for now I’m just going to blame it on losing the hour a couple of days ago.  Anyway… armed with more sleep and eager anticipation, we saddled up and headed out on the trail with our group to see the forest just outside the park in West Glacier.  Isaac was a bit nervous as he had a bit of a negative experience with horses at camp last year, but Abby couldn’t wait!  The horses followed each other easily, just as I’m sure they do every day.  We rode along, seeing things from a slightly different angle than we are used to on foot. 

Our guide pointed out the bear claw marks on a tree and told tales of “wolf lichen” (lime-colored lichen we’ve seen in several areas) that she said the Native Americans used to stuff inside of a deer carcass.  When the wolf ate the deer, it killed the wolf… (I may have to Google that one).  We saw a fawn, lots of wildflowers, a few great views of the surrounding mountains, and huckleberries all along the trail.  At one point, the guide dismounted her horse and gave us all a few huckleberries (famous in these parts) to try – yum!  They look just like blueberries to me, but had a slightly more tart taste.  Who knew we would experience culinary treats on our morning ride?  Before we knew it, we were pulling back into the stables…our ride complete… and Isaac only had one brief moment of panic.  I think in the end, even he ended up enjoying the new perspective.

Just next door was the headquarters for our afternoon whitewater adventure.  After a picnic lunch on site, other fellow adventurers began to stream in, donned in their bathing suits and shorts, ready to see where the river would take us.  We changed as well and headed over to get our helmets and PFDs before loading up onto the bus that would take us to the drop-off point at Moccasin Creek.  We were paired up with two older couples traveling together and our guide, James.  As we were putting the raft into the river, Matt and I became the designated front seat paddlers with the kids and others behind us.  We floated slowly down the creek, which allowed us time to get further instructions on paddling techniques before entering the Middle Fork of the Flathead River where the whitewater awaited us.

James got us up to speed on the various rapids we would encounter – “bone-crusher,” “pinball, “eye-of-the-needle,” and “Jaws” to name a few.  The two other couples we were traveling with told tales of how they had done this once before on another river and all fallen out of the raft at least once (one twice).  I began to wonder what I had signed up for… but I was ready!  As we navigated our way through each of the rapids, we had a blast – getting a refreshing douse from the glacially-fed river water more than once – but no one fell out.  We had one close call with a large boulder where we almost lost a passenger, but the repeated reminders to keep feet tucked securely under raft edges kept him from going all the way in.  Success!  Pulling into shore at the end of the experience, we all found ourselves wishing for more and talking about when and where we could have our next whitewater adventures…

Since we were already still a bit damp, we decided to make it a trifecta of fun day by renting stand-up paddleboards on Lake McDonald on our way back to camp.  The weather was warm and getting into that cool mountain water sounded perfect.  We grabbed a couple of boards and took turns paddling around for an hour – first the kids, then the adults, then various combinations of pairs…  As I stood on the board, gliding around the magical blue waters of Lake McDonald – mountains framing the background, it felt like the perfect ending to the perfect day of family adventures.  And I feel even more like owning a SUP may be in our future.