We spent our first night in Glacier National Park at Fish Creek Campground, on the shore of Lake McDonald (or Old McDonald Lake as we liked to call it). This was one of the few campgrounds that you could reserve a campsite ahead of time (the rest were first come, first served), and we didn't want to feel rushed to get there early to get a spot. Penelope was very excited to be camping and was very interested in helping to set up camp. There wasn't much that she could actually help with, but we found small tasks for her, like bringing me the stakes and helping to tighten the rainfly to the tent poles. After setting up our campsite and trying to reorganize the camping supplies we had packed in our suitcases (having suitcases in the forest just felt wrong), we walked down to the lake and let Penelope play on the rocky shore. If we had brought swim suits, we probably would have gone swimming, because the water was a bit cold but it was a nice warm day.
After our lake time, we went back to camp to cook dinner, only to discover that we had forgotten one crucial item: something to start a fire. Another downside of flying in: we weren't sure we could bring our lighter on the plane (turns out we could have, but we forgot to check), so we decided to just buy one when we landed, but then we forgot to do that. So, with a pot of cold water sitting on our stove, Penelope and I went to a neighboring site and borrowed some matches. With our stove lit, we were then able to enjoy a nice dinner of freeze-dried chicken teriyaki and steamed peas.
Our bellies full, we went on a short walk along the lake. We saw an area that had been burned by forest fire and tried to explain what happened to Penelope, who seemed to understand it. We also talked about how there were bears in the park and that we needed to be sure to make noise as we walked so that we wouldn't startle them. As expected, having Penelope around eliminated the need for a bear bell, as she pretty much talked the whole time we were hiking each day (except for when she would fall asleep in the backpack). Penelope again got a chance to play on the shore and dip her feet in the water. Then it was time for bed.
Getting Penelope to fall asleep in the tent proved to be very difficult, which was surprising since she had been doing really well with our other recent trips. Of course, there is a big difference between falling asleep in a hotel room and in a tent. In the end, it took almost 2 hours for us to get her to fall asleep, since she was all excited and over-stimulated. This was despite her not even taking a nap that day, which usually means she's more tired by bedtime. Finally, she calmed down enough to fall asleep. Katie and I stayed up a bit outside the tent, but it was getting pretty dark by this point, and we had no wood and no fire. Katie headed to bed, and I grabbed my tripod and went down to the lake.
The moon wasn't out yet, and the sky was full of stars. It was incredible. Pitch black except for the stars. I could pick out Cassiopeia, but no other constellations. I could see the Milky Way very clearly, and many satellites zipping across the sky. I set up my tripod and tried to take some star photos. I got a few decent ones, but nothing I was that happy with, and I couldn't get a good Milky Way photo. The satellites were too dim for me to photograph (I really wanted a shot of them moving). After about an hour of star photography, I headed back to camp and went to bed.