Last year, my wife railroaded my trip idea to Glacier National Park because she was afraid the BP spill would ruin a life long dream visit to Sanibel Island, FL. It was a valid concern so we both agreed to take an impromptu vacation where my wife brought back suitcases full of shells. It was a great trip, but I was a little disappointed that we didn't go to picturesque Glacier NP.
This last weekend helped make up for that. We got Emily her first real backpack and a fancy goose down sleeping bag that weighs next to nothing and stuffs down to a basketball. We packed up and headed for Kentucky. We got in a little late and found a place to bunker down for the night.
It was a beautiful weekend and the crowd wasn't so bad. It was only well trafficked around Gray's Arch. The coolest wildlife we saw was wild turkeys. We were in black bear country, but unfortunately I didn't see any.
We ended the trip by going down to Muir Valley which is a free nature reserve set up for rock climbers. I did my very first sport climb (instead of tying the rope at the top, you clip into bolts on your way up the rock face) which was exciting and scary. I only made it a little more than half way. I got to a good ledge and couldn't go any further. It was a combination of my legs being exhausted by over 10 miles of hiking and being a little bit scared.
All in all it was a great trip with the wife and it was beauty all around. Here's some pictures: