We could get used to these leisurely mornings! Elizabeth, Zoe, Joe and I finally hit the road close to 11:30 to go into the park and do a hike. Greg stayed behind to do some school work, as did Layla since dogs aren't allowed on the trails in the park.

We were going to go further into the park (to Logan's Pass) to do a hike, but it was the last day for that area to be open, and we knew it would be impossible to find anywhere to park. There are so many people here so the road through the park can get quite backed up.

We ended up choosing a closer trail just past Lake McDonald (which is the largest by far lake in the park). We did the trail of the cedars nature trail which wound through all kinds of cedar trees, as well as a small waterfall and river. Always wonderful to inhale the scent of pines and fresh air while walking through the forest. After that I headed "home" (we took 2 cars in) while Elizabeth, Zoe and Joe went on to hike the avalanche lake trail, which was definitely not Lisa friendly. It never ceases to amaze us how Elizabeth does these hikes with Zoe strapped to her back! Joe tried it once when he and I were out with Zoe in Anchorage and his admiration for Elizabeth was intensified as he found it quite difficult... and we were on a paved path for a very short period of time.

Due to the traffic and it taking longer to drive through the park (and the extremely narrow parts of it along the mountains which were quite challenging), it looks as though we'll loop around the southern side of the park on our way out tomorrow. Bummed as I would have really liked to get out to enjoy some of the areas on the western side of the park. The colors and scnery were quite spectaular on that side.

Tomorrow is Zoe's FIRST birthday, so we want to make it as pleasant of a drive to Billings as possible. Hoping we'll find a couple of spots to get out to enjoy along the way.