St. Mary's Campground is on the Mideastern side of Glacier National Park. It was a primitive camp with no hook-ups and very limited generator hours. Eager to start exploring, we rode our bikes to the visitor center to get information on hiking, etc. The rangers informed us that the shuttles were not running yet and most of the park wouldn't be accessible until July due to snow. Our RV was too long to drive the main road into the park so we would need to rent a car back in town in order to drive further into the park. There was a river nearby the camping loop so we walked over to check it out. The boys collected rocks and I found some driftwood to take home. It was very beautiful there. it was around 60 degrees in the camper when we woke. We drove up to Many Glacier Lodge and hiked around Swiftcurrent Lake which was 2.6 miles around. Then we took a boat tour across and hiked another 1/4 mile to Lake Josephine for another boat ride. On the hike, we crossed suspension bridges, small creeks, played in the snow and saw lots of beautiful scenery. That hike was another 2.8 miles. The boat was full and couldn't hold all of the people going back at 5:15 so a few of us stayed behind at Lake Josephine with a guide. The temperature was dropping and mom was the only one with a jacket. After our boat finally arrived and the tour was complete, we headed to the RV for our ride back to St. Mary Campground. In the parking lot, we saw some bighorn sheep looking for some handouts. The next day,we borrowed a car from some nice people that were on our boat tour and drove to Logan Pass which was as far as the road had been cleared and also marked the Continental Divide. The visitor's center was not open yet for the season but there was a ranger posted there. The boys built a snowman, which was a first. They also got sworn in for their junior ranger badges; although, I think Jason and I were more excited about adding another one to the collection than they were. Then we drove back down to Sun Rift Gorge for a 5 mile hike. There were many waterfalls along the way and the path was lined with beautiful wildflowers. It rained off and on which made the hike a little tough. We turned around before making it to the 3rd waterfall and started our trek back to the SUV. We came to a fork in the trail where no one could agree which to take. Nathan made a $100 bet that his way was right. We took Big Jason's path anyway. About 1/2 mile back, Big Jason knew this path was not correct. There were wild roses and numbered plaques marking the way. We had not seen these before. We emerged onto the road and began walking in the direction we thought was correct. Since everyone was tired and wet, there was not much talking going on which made it too quiet to warn animals of our presence. Big Jason came face to face with a black bear trying to cross the road. They were probably equally afraid of each other because the bear turned and ran back into the woods. As Jason caught his breath, he tried to get a photo but was unsuccessful. No proof that bears really do exist! He turned and called out "UNRA...EARBA" which means "RUN...BEAR" in pig Latin. This has been a joke in our family for the last year because we had not seen a bear yet in all of the National Parks we had visited. We waited around to see if he would re-emerge at another place down the road. Sure enough, about 100 yards away, he quickly crossed the road. I snapped a quick picture but my camera was on the wrong setting so it is not so great. At least we have the proof! By the way, never run from a bear....black, grizzly or otherwise. We were exhausted after the long day of rain and hiking and had managed to miss lunch in the process. Our RV was a welcome sight and we felt safe and secure there. This was one of the most beautiful National Parks we visited. I took about one thousand pics here.