Mosquito Lovers Do Glacier, 5: The Goat, The Chateau, The Easy Cheese

I was worried that after 4 days of hiking, I might have trouble convincing everyone to go for day 5, especially when that meant a 5am wakeup.  Happily, everyone was game and we got to the parking spot in plenty of time and joined the mass exodus of humanity along the 11 miler.  I was unimpressed initially--crowds, blazing sun, and my least favorite con, the road in sight.  Halfway in, though, we were encased in views, wildflowers, and a chateau.  

I was also worried about making the shuttle bus in time to make our flight home.  Shireen, "We can easily hitchhike.  I'll hold up a sign that says, 'Need iPhone help?'"

We even walked across snow pack, and took this picture for our children.

We had our eyes peeled for a mountain goat, and bet $10 for the first sighting.  Shireen was going to lose her mind if we did not find one.  Halfway into the hike, it was looking unlikely, and we took compensation photos of marmots.

AND THEN, OH!  This guy came along and hiked along the trail with us.  He even climbed up on a rock, turned his head to the view, and posed.

One of my favorite photos of the trip:

We had our final dried up lunch at the chateau, where we all pledged to sleep one day.

Cory: "Can we stay inside the building?  Do they have a restaurant?"

Shireen made an Easy Cheese feast in the prettiest place Easy Cheese has ever been consumed.

At lunch, we saw a lady in her late 50s with chiseled muscles and perfect hair.  I said to her, "You're hiking Barbie!"  In slow motion, Cory added, "Karen, you'll look just like her in..." (CRINGE, GROAN, and Brett thinks, "GO LOW and apologize to Karen later!," and Cory finishes, "...2 years!"

Our final stop of the trip was checking back in with Chad and Mary and meeting their kids.  It's amazing how fast life can change.  Mary is pregnant with baby #3 and promises she will come visit before the baby comes.

My original surf sister!

We arrived home (after a sneaky trip to Bombay House) to find Owen crashed out on the couch and kids eager to tell us all the fun and funny things that happened while we were gone: a full hour of catch-up that ended up being one of the top highlights of this trip.  I loved watching my kids and Cory/Kristen's kids talk with so much animation about their time together.  That night, Elise told Kristen that the days had been "the best five days of my life."  So sweet.  My kids will treasure it forever.

The next morning, we packed up and shipped off to Orem for the Nufer Family Reunion.