Day 1: we came, we hiked, and we were soaked!
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To the east we flew, across myriad mountains. I laid my eyes on the Great Salt Lake for the first time. I marveled at all that multi-colored marsh ringed by snow capped mountains. At Salt Lake City Airport, I felt slightly singular among the many blue-eyed blond people...We arrived at Whitefish, Montana, where we were united with the rest of our crew: Emily, Rong, and John. Whitefish was a surprisingly lively town, with nice looking shops and restaurants.

The next morning we woke up to an ominous sky. As we drove towards Glacier National Park, it started to drizzle, and the drizzle turned to pouring rain! At Apgar we ran into our hotel (The Village Inn), which sits right in front of a lovely lake scene, but we could not check in until the afternoon. As the rain goes on and off, we browsed the selection of gift shops ("Mamma don't shop like crazy!" adviced Emily).

Rain or not, a hike was due, as we were in a national park. So we charged along Lake McDonald, checked out the historical lodge, and started on the trail to Avalanche Lake. In the driving rain, equipped to various degrees of waterproofness, we trudged along a beautiful lush gorge, with white glacier water rushing through. This trip was oddly reminiscent of the one we had in Juneau, Alaska -- another walk in the rain with the same folks, plus our parents. Why are we always going on wet hikes together? I wondered... I was exceedingly thankful for my bicycle poncho dating from way back, when I was still a highschool girl in Beijing; and especially for my big hiking boot which provided support and dryness on the soggy trail; my pants were completely soaked, but that was just minor detail. Matthew, who had a high tech poncho that made him look like a kungfu master, but very un-waterproof running shoes to match, wore a despondent look on his face, judging by which I concluded that wet legs must be a lot preferable than wet feet. Our companions from the lush Pacific Northwest seemed to fit into this rainy environment well enough: Rong looked hardly wet at all in her outfit of REI clothing --children's jacket with men's convertible pants (which gave me some ideas as to which department I'd go to on my next REI shopping trip); while both John's jacket and his pants soon looked transparant, he did not look awfully concerned; and Emily cheerfully predicted that though her pants were wet now, she would get dry in just one minute (which was true enough, another testament to REI children's clothing)!

After what seemed like miles of the soggy path, the promised lake was still nowhere in sight. Finally we came upon some other hikers coming from the other direction, who informed us it was still at least half an hour away and really not that spectacular. We needed no further discouragement and promptly turned around.

Back to our hotel, everyone was feeling groggy and had a much deserved nap. Alas, we slept away the only rainless hour of the day! As soon as we were ready to move again someone had pressed the "rain" button, and our next ambitious hiking project turned naturally into a drive on a dirt road... We went to bed hoping sunshine would return the next day...

Day 2 AM: Going to the sun, through clouds...
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The sun was shining! We were so excited that we even skipped breakfast, in order to catch some view while the sun's still out. But the weather was toying with us, on "Going to the sun Road", the sun was going in and out of the clouds. At Logan's Pass (the continental divide) it was so cold and windy that I began longing for my winter hat. But as we drove east the sky cleared a bit, and we took the advantage to hike the pretty St. Mary's Falls trail -- a perfect two miles through the forest, flowered meadows, then along a river right out of "A River Runs through it", complete with a close deer sighting. It was perfect timing too, for as soon as we finished the hike it started to rain steadily again.

We left the park and drove toward the Canadian border, where we were greeted by a Canadian lady, who stamped Emily's passport as requested and inspired Emily's career goal to be a "passport-stamping person" when she grows up. It seemed a lot sunnier this side of the border, and we were treated to glorious views of the prairies meeting the mountains. We were all hungry by now, and looking forward to "high tea" at our hotel.

Day 2 PM: High tea in Waterton
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Finally we spotted it -- the historical Prince of Wales Hotel is strategically located right where the foothills touch the Rocky Mountains, on a bluff above sparkling Waterton Lake. It doesn't get any more postcard picture perfect than this. And who greeted us at the entrance but a young man in a kilt (How silly! giggled Emily). After depositing our luggage on our sixth floor rooms we came down for a much deserved "high tea" session at the lobby with those famous picture windows that look out onto a sweeping view of the windy lake, and layers and layers of mountains behind. The view was breathtaking, and made rather more interesting by an intimate wedding held outside, right now. The prettily dressed people looked ready to be blown away by the wind (did I mention that the hotel sits right in a wind funnel?), but happy.

"High tea" is apparently a misnomer, and should really be called "afternoon tea", or "low tea". (But what do we care, as long as we are fed, we are happy.) Whatever it should be called, we had a good amount of goodies served to us, by our cute waitress in kilt from Saskatoon. There was tea, of course, cucumber and prosciutto sandwiches, scones, cookies and chocolate covered strawberries... even we pigs couldn't eat them all! Everyone was satisfied.

Learning from yesterday's mistake we did not go back to our room to sleep after our meal, but went immediately for a hike, to Cameron Lake. But as soon as we arrived at the trail head it started to rain again! It turned out to be another wet walk around the lake. We did see another deer though... Afterwards we walked around town and Emily found a gift for herself that made her very happy -- a pair of clip-on earrings, which she proudly wore at the hotel lobby where we returned to beer and games. When asked what she liked best about coming to Canada, Emily answered: "Getting 'you know what'!" Until the next day, when something far more exciting happened...

Day 3: Raft and Ride!
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The long-awaited day arrived -- our "raft and ride" day! We could barely believe our good luck -- after days of rain and clouds, we woke up to a brilliant blue sky. After a rather disappointing buffet breakfast ("Who would know that you could starve in a buffet?" quipped John, an unhappy customer), we set off to Kimball River Sports, our rafting outfitter. We met our guide Craig, who took us on a bumpy van ride up the St. Mary river, near the US border (our trip is named "Border Run". The high tech raft (self bailing and all) was unloaded and we were taught some basic commands. And off we go floating down the river!

The sun was shining brightly, the breezes are soft, the mountains, the forests, the swallow nests on the shore, the glacier water underneath us... everything was super clear. As we moved swiftly down the river, oh-ing and ah-ing along the rapids, we were almost dazed by how good the weather was, and super appreciative after the last two days. Even Craig said we brought good luck -- it was the best rafting day this year, so far. He further praised our rafting "skills" -- he was surprised how fast our raft moved, with just four, no, four and a half paddlers. Probably it was just the river moving fast today, but we were happy to be praised.

Along the way mud swallows and their nests (made of mud, naturally) were a common sight, but then we also saw eagles. Rong was particularly good at spotting them. We saw one two three four... I lost count... golden eagles, and one bald eagle. Craig was a pretty good guide, full of anecdotes of the local geology, zoology, and people. Turned out that this area is a Mormon settlement. Craig could speak a Filipino dialect, from two years of missioning there.

The river twists and turns, and with Craig's "careful" steering we were soon all splashed wet. Luckily Matthew and I were sitting on Emily's side, because sometimes she was consulted as to which side of the raft would get wet next. We went through quite a few fun rapids (up to class 4 supposedly), and no one fell out! Emily's favorite maneuver was to spin the raft around in the rapid until everyone got dizzy.

At one point we came around one rapid and Craig pointed to the cliffs above and said: that is a good spot to jump into the river! Of course Matthew had to try this, so parked the raft around the bend and he and Craig climbed up the cliff, about 35 feet high. Then they jumped off one by one, scaring a whole colony of mud swallows! It sure looked like a lot of fun, but not for the faint of heart (I must admit I was one of those)!

A few hours of rafting brought us right back to where we started -- Kimball River Sports, where a riverside barbecue awaited us. The food was surprisingly good -- I was not expecting much really. There was juicy steak and chicken, veggies, and cookies. Of course we all felt very deserving of this hearty meal.

Then it was time to say goodbye to the river and venture toward the mountain meadows, and with an entirely different transport -- horses. At Mountain Meadow Trail Rides we were greeted by two of the most friendly dogs on earth. We were then introduced to our guide Dan and "our" horses: Andy the pony for Emily, quarter horses Shoto (for me), Bandit (Matthew), and Skitter (John), and there was also Dreamer (Rong), who was a different kind of horse (forget the name), with shorter mane. They all look somewhat intimidating -- Dan looked a typical silent and strong cowboy, and the horses, well, big, strong horses. Happily they all turned out to be rather friendly and nice. My Shoto for example was well behaved enough, if a bit piggy -- he never passed one single chance of eating grass on the roadside, or drink from the stream we were crossing.

We set out on a slow walk towards our cabins. Being beginners, we were all pretty nervous (I was, at least). It was only an hour's ride, but when we finally got off the horse all (except Emily) found ourselves standing on sore legs already. Luckily, there was a nice cedar hot tub waiting us.

As we wandered around camp, which consists of quite a group of log cabins of various sizes, outhouses, the afore mentioned hot tub, a kitchen area, etc. we were quite amazed at the ingenuity and skills of our host Dan, who somehow built most of the structures himselves, besides his regular work of training horses and raising cows, not to mention baby-sitting tourists like us. Everything was so neat and clean, too! Even the outhouses did not smell unpleasant. While we loitered (and some of us steamed themselves in the hot tub extensively), Dan was playing the role of cook. And he turned out quite competant in that area as well! We were thouroughly impressed. After dinner, we sat around campfire and chatted before going to bed. The moon was shining bright.

Day 4: Riding all day (most of the day, anyways)!
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Our night of sleep in the cabin was pretty comfy, except for the mosquitos that haunted the place. Mosquitos are my sworn enemies -- if there is one species on earth I wish could be extinct, they would be it. Unfortunately, with the recent abundant rain, mosquitos were numerous, and persistent. I was not even the only one complaining of them! In any case we got up to find another beautiful day, fresh with sunshine and the smell of the forest.

After a nice breakfast (better than the overpriced buffet at the hotel) and some more loitering we were ready to ride again! Dan gave us the choices or short or long ride. Emboldened by yesterday's rather eventless ride, we opted for a longer ride.

Off we went on our horses, riding up the hills to the south. I felt a mixture of excitement (what will the day bring? will we actually gallop?), apprehension (I'm not really a better rider today than yesterday, who knows what a horse can do to me?), and dare I say it, some relaxation -- it was a Beautiful ride, and hey, I haven't fell off the horse or anything.

Slowly we walked up wooded hills, waded occasional streams, and crossed grassy meadows. The meadows are my favorite part: gently rolling, dotted with wild flowers, and the Rockies as the dramatic backdrop, the setting was as gorgeous as a dream -- and even us novices on horsebacks looked like romantic charactors in a panoramic movie scene. We also passed another cabin -- this one was built by Dan's nephew -- it seems that everyone knows how to do such trivial things as riding horses and building cabins growing up here.

At the top of a steep hill we broke for lunch -- sandwiches, carrots, juice, and dessert. Half of our carrots actually went to the belly of Andy, whom Emily enthusiastically fed.

The way downhill was a little tricky and for the first time I felt the danger of falling off my horse! I even slipped a little as Shoto started to trot down a steep part but he immediately realized my incompetence and slowed down. After we got to the flatter parts, everyone relaxed a bit and started to let the horses trot a little. It was great fun! Riding (to us it was like a run) on a flowered meadow ringed by snowy mountains, in warm sunshine and gentle breeze, what can beat this? It was exhilarating when Shoto put on a little speed -- it felt so ... free. Although I was not always in rhythm with the ups and downs of the horse, and therefore had my butt bumped quite a bit sometimes, it was still worth it. Besides, the lower half of my body had not felt like my own for quite a while now, what's another bump?

As we drew near the ranch, the horses all quickened their pace, and soon we were back where we started, welcomed by the two friendly dogs. We said goodbye to all, Dan and the horses, the dogs, and two extremely cute new born kittens. I thought: I might even try horse-back riding again...

The highlight of our trip now over, we were all tired and sore but happy, basking in the glory of our experience -- we did not just survive the riding trip, we actually enjoyed it! We cross the border back to the U.S. -- this time there were no less than four armed young men greeting us at the checkpoint. To take advantage of the excellent visibility we drove by Many Glacier, a point we missed the other day because of foul weather, then onto our next destination, Glacier Park Lodge, at the east end of the park, where we had a much deserved rest.

Day 5: River crossings, and canoeing...
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Another beautiful morning! We started the day with a sumptuous breakfast at Thimbleberries, a local restaurant serving big waffles and other goodies. Then we went for a hike again, to Running Eagle Falls.

The hike was short, but with one obstacle right in the middle of the path -- a river runs through it. There was no obvious crossing point so we went downstream a bit and made the crossing on a make-shift bridge -- two tree trunks. Some of us were pretty shaky doing this. So after visiting the falls, we decided to take another route -- just wade through the water at the shallowest point. The water was FREEZING cold and I went across as quickly as possible. John actually made the crossing three times: first he went across testing the ground, then he came back for his family, and the three of them crossed together. Here is a short video documenting this slightly heroic effort.

After this we seemed to still have some energy, though not a lot, so we went on a combination canoe/hiking trip on the Two Medicine Lake nearby. First Emily, Matthew and I went on the canoe, while Rong and John traveled on foot. We met somewhere up the lake shore and switched teams: John replacing me and Emily on the canoe, he and Matthew then paddled to the foot of a waterfall and waded up the stream a bit, which sounds pretty cool. The girls hiked back to the dock.

Our trip was coming to an end, and at a good time too, as everyone was getting pretty tired. On the way to the airport we peered at some mountain goats from afar -- they were licking salt and resting on a cliff. Surprisingly we did not see many wild animals in this trip -- last time we came to Waterton/Glacier we had so many casual encounters (with bears, mountain goats, big horn sheep and so on) we thought it would be a given to bump into them again. But what we did see and do more than made up for the lack of animal sightings, and it was certainly a fun trip!