Last winter a buddy of mine reached out about visiting Montana. While I had been to Bozeman and Billings, there were still many areas of Montana I wanted to see, especially the Flathead Valley, known as the gateway to Glacier National Park. Turns out, this was the same place my buddy had in mind to visit.
Little did we realize how quickly overnight camping and the chalet’s fill up in the park. However, we found a VRBO tiny home in Columbia Falls that fit all of our needs. Being in the park or closer would have been great, it also requires a year in advance planning and costs a lot more than the trip ended up costing. In the end, our accommodations were exactly what we needed.
One thing we heard, was to be prepared the crowds. We had vehicle reservations every day but always found ourselves inside the park gates before 6 a.m. in order to make it to our trailheads and actually find parking.
Avalanche Lake (Day 1)
Day one we decided to acclimate ourselves to hiking and wanted to find something moderate in length but also something worthwhile. Settling on Avalanche Lake and Trail of the Cedars off of Going to the Sun Road, did not disappoint. Certainly we had wished to see some wildlife on the trail but the view at the lake was amazing.
The Trail of the Cedars started out with us walking through old growth forest (one of my favorite features of nature) and then into the slight incline up to this glacial lake. Beautiful views and some of the bluest water I’ve ever laid eyes on made the 3ish mile hike up well worth it. There were even a few locals who knew the game of getting ahead of the tourists there fishing and catch a few cutthroat trout.
After an hour or so walking the lake, we opted to head back. As we were descending the tourists came in waves making the trail very, very crowded. Starting the first mile in the dark was worth it as the trail got very crowded headed up.
The Highline Trail (Day 2)
There was going to be one day where we did a long hike. The east side of the park at Many Glacier was out of reach due to Iceberg Lake Trail’s closure, coupled with a 2.5 hour drive we opted to do the Highline Trail.
I’ve heard mixed things from it being too crowded and the Grinnell Glacier overlook is the best part (more on that later), but nonetheless, hiking the Continental Divide was a unique opportunity. Undaunted Courage by Stephen E. Ambrose chronicles the expedition of Lewis & Clark. It’s one of my favorite history books and while they crossed the divide farther south than Glacier, I still had to see it.
Logan Pass is one of those spots where the trailhead fills up long before the sun rises. Looks like another early morning ahead.
Parking and the start was a non-issue. However, despite it being August, it was cold. Logan Pass is 6,600′ feet so it comes with the territory. I would hike in the cold over the heat any day, especially coming from Northeast Ohio where every time you try and hike in Spring or Summer, you deal with the humidity, which Montana has none of by comparison.
We went into the day with an open mind, not sure whether we’d do the Highline out-and-back or go down to The Loop and take the shuttle back. Either way we were going to the Granite Park Chalet. I read Jack Olsen’s Night of the Grizzlies this summer, which documents the 1967 grizzly attacks in Glacier I wanted to see where one of the two attacks happened. This book is highly recommended, but not for the faint of heart. In the decades since, the National Park Service has drastically changed their practices although some people still don’t pack everything out and not feeding wildlife is still mentioned way more than it should be.
Through the hike, we reached a peak of around 7200′ feet. Some of the incline made it really tough on us especially with heavy fog cover alongside the trail. While the fog faded in and out, we didn’t spot any wildlife except for this marmot. Surely there were goats, bighorn sheep and other critters possibly around, but fog limited our views throughout the Continental Divide.
En route we ran into a local woman who encouraged us to check out the Grinnell Glacier Overlook. Despite being a trail less than one mile long, it is straight uphill. Not sure if or when I’d return I thought I’d give it a try. My buddy, had to take care of a few things from bake home so he proceeded with a group up to the chalet and the local woman and I hiked up to the overlook. Ascending was tough and challenging. And about halfway up people began flooding down en masse saying the view was non-existent. Talking it over, we decided to turn back around. Having someone waiting for me and another 4-5 miles to hike I couldn’t spend all day waiting for the fog to maybe burn off. Disappointed we turned around and I went up to the chalet for a snack and to meet up with my buddy.
The hike down The Loop was not fun. Straight downhill you may think to be easy, but not on your knees. Going back the Highline Trail wasn’t in the cards though as we headed down past the Granite Park Campground and then back to the loop. There were a few picturesque sights over the park and Indian Paintbrush along the trail. It wasn’t as pretty as some of the other things we had seen, but convenience was also a factor. We had miles to go and two more days to hike and see everything nature threw our way.
In the end, it was a great hike. One of the coolest things I’ve done in walking the side of a mountain across one of the United States’ most popular and beautiful National Parks.
Day 3– Lake McDonald— Wildlife Search
After a 13-mile hike, we opted to stay close to the park entrance and check out Lake McDonald. Driving by it the first two days it looked pretty awesome so we took advantage of the sunshine and opted to walk it’s beaches and take some photos.
The peace and quiet around the north side of the lake was welcoming after seeing the crowds on Highline and Avalanche Lake the last two days. We took some photos and then settled down into one of the beaches where I opted to take a swim. The water was not warm, but not as cold as I thought. Surprisingly I adjusted better than I expected to the cold. My buddy thought I was crazy and while that’s not something I disagree with, swimming in the lake was definitely an experience.
That evening after cooking up some steaks at our tiny home, we wanted to find some wildlife, especially Grizzly Bears (one of my favorite yet most feared animals). Striking out, we did see the St. Mary’s section of the park which was so cool, especially the Wild Goose Island in the middle of St. Mary’s Lake. We did see a massive thunderstorm roll in and were able to capture very neat photos of the storm rolling in.
After a long hike the prior day, an easier, slower-paced day was just what we needed. The only thing that could have made it better was an opportunity to photograph some wildlife.
Day 4– Hidden Lake
On our last day in Glacier we wanted to go to Many Glacier, but with reservations, limited parking and Iceberg Lake close due to bear activity, we decided to head back up to the pass and hike behind the visitor center.
It was unremarkably cold, 45 for an early August day when we arrived in the morning and it was pouring rain. The fog was thick and we knew views would be few and far between. Unfortunately, it was our last day so we didn’t have the choice to not go. We would make the best of it.
Through dense fog and rain, we set out on our hike to Hidden Lake. Reading this was a good chance to see a mountain goat and there were some grizzlies in the area, maybe our luck would change of seeing little to no wildlife. With the fog though, it didn’t seem to be in our favor. Again, we would make the most of it.
The first part of the hike was all boardwalk. The views were non-existent with the fog and rain but we powered through the 2 miles to get to the overlook. When we got to the overlook, the lake was completely covered in fog, a complete opposite of the view shown on a mural in the Logan Pass Visitor Center.
We went down past the bear frequenting sign to visit the lakeshore. A tough hike as going down would be tough on our knees, back up it was a very high vertical.
As we descended in elevation, Hidden Lake came more into view descending below the fog. The views from this angle were incredible. The trees were a different shade of green and the water was cleaner and bluer than anything I’ve encountered. Glacial lakes are easily one of the coolest things I’ve ever come across and with so many of them within the boundaries of Glacier National Park, it’s no wonder these lakes are so popular with tourists.
At the bottom we had a mule deer doe walk up to us. While we had sene a few deer (we have those in Ohio) this one was a unique experience and she walked right up to us and a bunch of tourists who were down at the base of the lake.
After some time at the bottom we decided to hike back up. While there weren’t any picturesque views on the way up, looking at the side of mountains, it was not as bad of a hike as it looked. The mile or so back up, we decided to head back to the overlook to look and see if things had improved from a fog perspective and they hadn’t. So with that we headed back down the boardwalk to the car. Unfortunately at this altitude, the fog hadn’t lifted and the rain returned.
Four days was all we could muster for the trip, with work starting soon for me and my buddy having to get back to responsibility. When I return, I’ll definitely go to the east side of the park and visit Many Glacier. Not knowing things fill up 13 months in advance in Glacier definitely put us at a handicap for things to do in the park. But, getting to visit Whitefish and Kalispell and the surrounding areas were nice and our accommodations were incredible in Columbia Falls.
Glacier is truly remarkable and to experience it this summer was definitely something I can check off my bucket list. Now, it’s just a matter of knowing when to return so I can check out the Many Glacier Valley and maybe this time, see some more wildlife.