Bound for Glacier National Park

Peanut butter sandwiches never tasted so good. We had hiked five arduous miles uphill in Glacier National Park so we could eat those sandwiches beside the famed Grinnell Glacier.

It was worth every step and every ache--even the pain in my husband’s shoulders from carrying 35-pound Melanie in a backpack most of the way.

Along the trail, our children Matt, Reggie and Melanie watched mountain goats nimbly climb the cliffs above and tried to guess the names of the amazing array of wildflowers we saw, including red Indian paintbrush and yellow monkey flowers. They chatted with fellow hikers who told us that this was the hardest climb they’d ever attempted.

The kids amused themselves looking for bighorn sheep, moose and bear cubs, trying to outdo each other spotting animals while my husband and I reveled in the vistas: snow-capped mountains, clear lakes and green glacier-carved valleys.

Once we reached Grinnell Glacier--more than 200 acres of ice and snow--we set up our picnic while the kids busied themselves skipping stones between the ice floes, dipping their toes in the icy water and snapping pictures of each other to prove to their friends at home that they had indeed touched a glacier.

The chance to do just that, as well as to get a good view of beautiful Salamander Glacier, makes this one of the most popular summer hiking routes in the 1,800-square-mile Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, of which Glacier National Park is the U.S. portion and Waterton Lakes National Park, just across the border, the Canadian part.

In the winter, visitors come to snowshoe and to cross-country ski.

In the summer, they hike, fish, camp, horseback ride and canoe.

Many people like to raft the rapids on the Middle Fork of the Flathead River along the park’s southern border or float the calmer North Fork.

Most summer visitors to the park--my family included--drive the 52-mile Going to the Sun Road or take a tour on vintage red buses.

The road was completed in 1932 after three decades of work. It connects 10-mile-long Lake McDonald in the west, across the 6,646-foot-high Logan Pass over the Continental Divide to St. Mary Lake on the eastern border.

Stop at Logan Pass and take the 1.5-mile walk across the Hanging Gardens, which are filled with wildflowers and jagged cliffs, or take a hike along the Garden Wall, the cliff that makes up the central Continental Divide.

There are pull-offs and marked trail heads off Going to the Sun Road, and tourists stop to photograph animals, stretch their legs or simply admire the scenery. We passed through almost every kind of terrain that is contained within the park, from glacial lakes and forests to alpine tundra.

Clearly, this is Native American country. The Blackfoot reservation in Montana borders nearly all of eastern Glacier National Park and the Museum of the Plains Indian in the town of Browning. The museum houses a collection of Native American art and artifacts (406-338-2230).

There are also some wonderful old historic lodges and hotels, from the Prince of Wales Hotel on the shore of Waterton Lake in Canada to Many Glacier Hotel on the shore of Swift Current Lake and Lake McDonald Lodge on Lake McDonald.

Glacier hotels are open only from late May through September. For reservations at Lake McDonald Lodge, Many Glacier Hotel, Prince of Wales Hotel and others call (602) 207-6000.

Campsites are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

We found the sprawling Many Glacier Hotel, in the middle of the park, to be an ideal spot to anchor our visit--and memories of a special trip.

For information, call Glacier National Park at (406) 888-5441 or Canada’s Waterton Lakes National Park at (403) 859-2224. Ask about junior ranger and other programs for families.

The Glacier Natural History Assn. sells books that could be useful for families, including the “Hiker’s Guide to Glacier National Park” ($9.95, paperback) or, for families with young children, “Short Hikes & Strolls” ($5.95). Call (406) 888-5756 for a catalogue.

Travel Montana is also a good resource. Ask for the spring and summer vacation planner at (800) 541-1447.

Taking the Kids appears weekly.