Glacier National Park
As you can see I was excited to have finally arrived at Glacier National Park (and that the poison ivy rash on my arm had finally almost healed). I had heard many great things about this park and my expectations were higher than usual. However, after spending some time exploring the park I can say without a doubt that Glacier exceeded all expectations.
Welcome to Glacier!
Located in Northern Montana the park encompasses over 1 million acres and borders Canada’s Waterton National Park. Together they are known as the Waterton/Glacier Peace Park.
Glacier National Park is known for alpine meadows, rugged mountains, spectacular lakes and pristine forest. Home to over 700 miles of trails, Glacier truly is an adventure seekers paradise. The park is also home to 762 lakes (130 named), water lovers rejoice, you are going to love this place! There are also numerous glaciers (obviously), 26 to be exact but that number is shrinking so visit while you can! Just for reference there were over 150 of them in 1850.
(The U- Shaped mountain valleys below were formed by glaciers thousands of years ago)
Going to the Sun Road
If you have ever heard anyone mention the park there is no doubt you have heard of the “Going to the Sun Road”. The famous 50 mile road bisects the park from east to west and crosses over the continental divide at Logan Pass, the parks highest point at 6,646 feet.
You will definitely want to set aside a half-day at minimum for this scenic drive. I promise you will not want to be rushed on this one of a kind experience. Not to mention, sections of the road can be narrow and there are few, if any turn around points along the way. There is many places to pull over to gawk at the views and take plenty of photos.
(Notice in the picture below, going the sun road can be seen skirting the edge of the mountain)
Trails for days
As I mentioned Glacier is home to over 700 miles of trails. I would have loved to see every mile but due to time constraints we settled for the avalanche lake trail. A moderate 4.5 mile round trip hike through a damp, cedar and hemlock forest. The trail follows along the avalanche creek gorge (which can be seen below, not sure why their was a Cairn there but it seemed like a decent foreground for the picture).
A little crowded…
I knew going into the hike that it was going to be a little more crowded than I would have liked. Simply because it was located right off the road and was rated “easy-moderate”. Trails like this attract all the drive by tourist and families uninterested in a back country hiking experience. If you are like me and prefer a quieter and less crowded hike, choose one rated as “hard-difficult”.
None the less, I was happy to be out of the car and on a trail. If anything it opened my eyes to how ill-equipped and uneducated people really are. As mentioned the trail was rated easy. But not exactly a place where I would attempt to push a stroller, or walk 5 miles in flip flops. Both were witnessed on multiple occasions.
On the opposite end of the spectrum I also saw at least 200 people carrying canisters of bear spray. I may have related more to them but was still not worried about a bear attack. I knew I could easily outrun everyone wearing flip flops.
Worth fighting the crowd
My jaw nearly hit the ground when we walked out of the dense forest and laid eyes upon avalanche lake as seen below.
Back to the car…
I started getting pretty hungry as we headed back towards the car. I guess Jess was not in the mood to hear me bitching so she took off down the trail, taking this as a challenge I took off right behind her. We made it back in no time and my mood quickly changed after having a PB&J.
“There’s a goat! Grab the camera!”
As we approached the continental divide at Logan Pass we stopped at a lookout point and noticed a huge mountain goat across the valley. The mountain goat is the parks official mascot and I was thankful to have seen one. Even if the picture turned out a little blurry (I did not have time to grab a camera tripod).
The road is almost over…
I was utterly disappointed after the quick stop at Logan pass. I knew soon we would reach the end of going to the sun road, a bitter sweet moment. The park had instantly jumped to the top and became my favorite park. I never can seem to get enough of the deep valleys surrounded by jagged, knife edged mountain ridges.
If you plan to visit
I would suggest planning a trip during the warmer summer months. Logan Pass (pictured above) becomes inaccessible during winter due to avalanche risk and inability to snowplow the road. Kalispell, Montana is the nearest airport. Accommodation can be found during the park and ranges from primitive camping to high-end lodge experiences.
We opted for Red Eagle, a private campground located on the edge of the lower two medicine lake on the south east edge of the park. We paid $30 for the night and for the most part had the place to our self. I would highly recommend if your looking for a quiet camping environment. Although there were no showers. So the next morning I rinsed off in the river below. It was freezing but refreshing.
Have you visited Glacier?
Leave a comment below with your favorite sight, experience or tip! I would love to hear about it.
For more information about park conditions visit the park website here.
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