Tags
Hiking, Montana, Museums, National Park, Scenic Drives, Travel, Waterfall
Glacier National Park sits at the very top of the United States in the Rocky Mountains along the Continental Divide. As such it is home to looming, knife-edged peaks divided by U-shaped valleys, the distinctive marks of glacial carving. Due to its remote nature, one can also find in abundance animals that are hard, or even impossible, to find in other areas of the Lower 48, such as Grizzly Bears, Hoary Marmots, and Mountain Goats. Glacier takes its name from the massive ice sheets that shaped the landscape the park preserves, but unfortunately, the few glaciers that still exist in the park are melting and will probably be gone within the next several years. For this reason we decided to spend five days in Glacier National Park last summer, and we found it to be an awe-inspiring place that we enjoyed and grew to appreciate more each day that we were there.
We entered Glacier from the eastern side (most people enter from the western side) in the evening after most places in the park had closed. We were staying in St. Mary’s Campground just west of the park’s east entrance. The campground is rather large, but our campsite was surrounded by tall grasses and shrubs, which offered some privacy from the other campsites. The best part of our campsite, however, was the large, rugged mountain that dominated the view from our tent window. This was our first view of the park, so we were excited to get started the next day.
We got up early the next morning and drove west into the park on the Going-to-the-Sun Road, one of the most scenic highways in the country and an engineering marvel. For the grandest views, take the road east, rather than west, but we needed to drive west into the park since we camped on that side. Coming from the east, we drove through pine forests with mountains overhead before gradually climbing up toward the Continental Divide. The road is cut into the side of the mountains, so the road looks down at the glacial valley below and the mountains across the valley. The drive is beautiful, and we stopped frequently to drink in the views.
We stopped at Logan Pass to hike the Hidden Lake Overlook Trail, a one and a half mile trail that gently ascends through meadows surrounded by jagged peaks to overlook a small lake in the valley. The trail was a great introduction to the many different parts of the park–behind you, the U-shaped glacial valley stretched as far as the eye could see; as you walk, you’re surrounded by meadows filled with wildflowers; mountains dominate the horizon in front of you and to the sides. We were there during the end of July, so the wildflowers were out in abundance, blanketing whole areas with reds, yellows, purples, and whites. As we marveled at the flowers, we spotted a hoary marmot eating already preparing for hibernation. As we walked on, we spotted several mountain goats, some even coming within a few feet of us. At the end of the trail we took in the small, brilliant blue lake lying at the base of a tall mountain, creating what looked to be a lovely oasis. We returned to the trailhead, still enjoying every second of our hike, constantly turning this way and that to take in all the sights around us. We stopped at the visitor center on our way back down, which provides some great information about the types of flora and fauna you can see in this area and throughout the park.
We continued down the Going-to-the-Sun Road (most drive it the opposite way, providing better views of the Continental Divide in front of you), which was breathtaking for another reason–the road is narrow with steep drop-offs to one side. This does afford great views of the valley, however, as well as views of the mountains in the distance. Since the morning had turned to early afternoon, the park was becoming very busy, so we headed out of the park for a bit and had a bite to eat and some beer at Backslope Brewing in nearby Columbia Falls. The roads and parking lots can get quite congested in the late mornings to afternoons, so avoiding heavy traffic areas can make the trip more fun, relaxing, and productive.
We drove back into the park the way we came. Since it was evening, the light played off the shadows in a way that gave the park a much different perspective. The animals were also out, so we drove slowly along the park road, going back and forth between different turnouts in attempts to see some of the abundant wildlife the park has to offer. We were rewarded when a black bear cub popped out behind a tree stump on the side of the road and walked right behind our car on its way to the other side. Once it got dark, we returned to our campsite.
The next morning we drove to the Many Glacier area of the park, which is on the eastern side in a more remote area. There’s lots of great hiking in the area, including one of the park’s most well-known and popular hikes, the trail to Grinnell Glacier. On our way to the trailhead, we spotted the cutest little fox running alongside of the road, before it darted into the underbrush. We arrived at the trailhead and, after getting ready, got on our way. The first part of the trail wound its way through a pine forest and along Swiftcurrent Lake, before emerging amongst brush and smaller trees alongside Lake Josephine. In this area we noticed bear scat along the trail shortly before finding a grizzly to the right of the trail about 30 yards away. Bears frequent this area, so be careful (you can find more on bear safety in the park on the national park service’s website). We continued on the trail, eventually gaining elevation as we climbed up along the side of the glacial valley, walking amongst more rocky areas and less foliage, while looking down on the lakes below. Our hike also took us through a waterfall that we got to walk under and through blankets of all sorts of wildflowers. We eventually made it to the end of our hike, where we were greeted by a large sheet of ice, Grinnell Glacier, and a small, piercing blue lake that snowmelt from the glacier had caused. A small waterfall streamed off the craggy peak above the glacier. It was an incredible sight to see, although the glacier has, unfortunately, grown smaller over the last several years.
We spent a little time at the glacier before making our way back down the trail. We had the most beautiful views as we came down–wildflowers colored the foreground, as the glacial valleys, filled with chains of lakes, extended to the horizon, framed on either side by mountains.
We enjoyed the views, most especially the wildflowers, as we descended, and were quite proud when we reached the trailhead again, nearly twelve miles after we started. We rewarded ourselves with a nice meal at the Snowgoose Grill, a small restaurant at the St. Mary Lodge just outside the park. We enjoyed a bison burger and nachos, both of which were excellent. After we cleaned up and relaxed at our campsite, we decided to look for animals along the park road that evening, and again were able to see some wildlife, this time, a grizzly and her two cubs on a hillside.
The next day we journeyed to Canada to go to Waterton Lakes National Park, which you can read about here. After our time in Alberta, the drive back afforded us some fantastic views of Chief Mountain. In St. Mary, we stopped at a local cafe and had an enormous slice of huckleberry pie with vanilla ice cream, which was absolutely delicious. We again went critter hunting that evening, seeing a large bull moose and an owl.
In the morning we hiked the short trail to St. Mary Falls, a beautiful little waterfall in the valley along the Going-to-the-Sun Road. It was a nice way to stretch our legs and see a different area of the park aside from the mountaintops.
After we returned to our car, we saw a grizzly and her two cubs at the same spot we had two days before. Then, we continued along Going-to-the-Sun Road–even though we had driven along the road several times, we never tired of seeing the glacier-carved landscape, and we felt like we could really see the park and experience it by immersing ourselves in it. At the western edge of the park, we stopped at Apgar Village, where we shopped for souvenirs and had huckleberry ice cream, which was delicious. We decided to leave the park again since it was early afternoon, this time driving to Whitefish, a bit further than Columbia Falls. We had a nice lunch at MacKenzie River Pizza Company, and then sampled some beer at Great Northern Brewing Company. We drove back to Glacier and ascended Going-to-the-Sun Road as the light faded and the people were sparse, lending a serenity to the landscape. We stopped off at many of the points along the road, drinking in the mountains and valleys, and the light playing off each. At one such stop, we turned around from taking pictures to be greeted by a black bear, no more than twenty feet away from us. Thankfully, the bear was more interested in eating berries than us, so we were able to back away slowly. At another stop, we saw a number of mountain goats, along with their small kids. We hiked a bit on the Hidden Lake Overlook trail and looked for more animals on the way back to our campsite, before finally returning to our tent.
We packed up our campsite in the morning and drove to the Two Medicine area, a remote part of the park in the south. When we reached the campstore at the end of the road, we were greeted by another gorgeous glacial lake surrounded by mountains on all three sides. We hiked a short trail through pine forests and shrubs to Aster Falls, a beautiful waterfall in a secluded area. On our way, we came across a large number of tiny frogs along the trail, with which we were fascinated for some time before continuing. We made our way back to the trailhead, looking through the store and enjoying a huckleberry muffin before leaving the park.
The more time we spent at Glacier National Park, the more we were struck by its beauty and sublimity. We found ourselves staring at the same features we had seen each day, but seeing it in a new way, or simply enjoying the view more because it didn’t get old to just keep staring. Because Glacier is in such a remote place, wildlife exists there is abundance, and this was another facet of the park that we were thrilled to enjoy. We spent several days at the park, but already would like to go back, such is the way that Glacier enthralls its visitors. Its landscape is difficult to put into words, but it is an utterly beautiful place that one can only describe as magical.
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