Glacier National Park 2021
Day 0
We left after work, flights were Savannah to Atlanta to Salt Lake City and finally to kailspell (town right outside Glacier). The flights were all on time so no issues there. The airports were super packed, ive never seen Savannah with such a long line, it was literally out the door, thankfully I have pre-check so no waiting for me!
When we landed we got our car very smoothly the lady at the counter was super nice and friendly. It was a little Toyota Camry but was plenty of space for just the two of us. The drive from the airport to the place we’re staying, glacier acres was 15-20 minutes away. The place was a little tiny home/cabin. It was super new and had everything you needed. we went to bed pretty late.
Day 1
Today I woke up super early (around 4am local time) because I had to work. I worked most of the day while Becca went out to get groceries and explore the nearby town. Unfortunately my phone (personal not work) died randomly today :(. It had previously gotten some water damage and I was somehow able to revive it, but I guess time was ticking. Luckily it happened before we took any cool pictures, so everything was backed up and no data was lost!
After work we went whitewater rafting on the flathead river. The guides were super hyped up and energetic, it was fun! There was also an Amish family there that had people that couldn’t swim, not sure who thought that was a good idea. The rapids were okay there were some pretty fun ones and the views were awesome. We volunteered to sit in the front which meant we got splashed a ton with the glacially cold water, it was a blast! Near the end of the ride there was a spot you could jump out of the raft and swim, the water was cold but refreshing (it was super hot out, heat wave). There was also an old bridge we passed under at the very end that we learned that you could jump from it. So of course we drove and did it. It was pretty high! Probably 25-30 feet or so, I jumped from the top of the railing which was a little nerve racking to try and balance on.
Afterwards we decided to drive into the park. We drove up to the top of lake Macdonald and then turned around and went back to the south near the entrance. There was a lodge and shops, we got ice cream (they’re known for their huckleberry) and ate by the lake. I also picked up a new hat from one of the stores.
After ice cream we made our way back to the cabin and grilled some brats and corn for dinner. A storm was close so it was really windy and a little drizzly (it never rained that bad though). After dinner we got ready for tomorrow and went to bed.
Day 2
Today we woke at 5:30, ate some cereal for breakfast and then hit the road to get into the park (we’re about 15 minutes away). Our first stop was the lake Macdonald lodge. There we parked the car and then took the sperry trailhead (across the street) to the mount brown lookout. The trail was 5 miles (one way) and extremely steep! It was around 4,300 feet of elevation gain. The interesting thing was many of the trees we hiked through were burned and scorched by the fire a few years ago so there wasn’t a whole lot of vegetation. It took us about 2 hours and 15 minutes to make it up to the lookout but the views of the mountains and lake Macdonald were worth it!
After resting for a minute at the summit we decided to try and continue on to the summit of mount brown, which we could see was relatively close. Becca got tired on the way so I continued alone. I was really close to getting to the summit when I came across some very sketchy terrain that would require rock climbing. Although it wasn’t that steep and was totally doable, if you did happen to slip it was a shear drop off the side of the mountain. So sadly I decided to turn around and head back to Becca.
We continued down the trail, it was a real leg burner going downhill for so long. Eventually we made it back to the car a little after 12 with our legs completely exhausted. Once at the car we decided to drive up to Logan’s pass (about 45 min away). The drive there was awesome with great views the whole way. Unfortunately the two trails that begin there (high line and hidden lake), which we were planning to hike tomorrow, were both closed due to snow and bear sightings :(. However I think we found a good back up for tomorrow.
After hanging out at the pass we made our way back down to the avalanche parking lot stopping at various vistas and waterfalls along the way (there were plenty of them). One called redrock, was a little spot to swim in the lake with another spot to cliff jump!
We lucked out finding a parking spot right by the avalanche lake trailhead. The trail starts off on the trail of cedars for a little less than a mile and then goes mildly uphill for another almost 2 miles till you get to the lake. This trail was significantly more crowded than the one we hiked this morning.
Once we finally got to the lake we were greeted with some stunning views. Of course we decided to take a dip in the icy cold glacial water (it actually felt very refreshing with the 90 degree weather). We hung out at the lake for a while before heading back to the car.
From there we went back to redrock (only a mile away) and I did the cliff jump and swam around in the icy river for a bit (it felt really good on the sore legs). After redrock we drove back stopping to fill up on gas and pick up a few groceries.
Back at the cabin we grilled steak and corn and had salad for dinner, it was delicious!
Day 3
Today we woke up around 5am and packed all our stuff in the car (tonight we’re staying on the other side of the park). We drove into the park and made our way to the loop trailhead. Luckily we were able to get the last parking spot, I’m not really sure if it was a spot since it was literally right in front of the stairs, but oh well we didn’t get a ticket.
We were hiking the loop because the trail we originally wanted to do, highline, was closed. The loop takes you to the same place granite chalet, it’s just a steeper route. The hike was fairly steep but only took us about one and a half hours to make it up the 4 miles to the chalet. At the chalet we stopped for a quick bathroom and snack break. The views were awesome!
We decided to head up another trail called swiftcurrent lookout (another steep, about 3mile hike to the summit). Right when we started the trail we ran into a girl named Amanda and her friend coming back down who told us they had just saw a grizzley bear a short way up the trail and asked if we had bear spray (we did not). She decided to go look and see if there were any rangers at the chalet. In the meantime another couple showed up, Miles and Beth, they were also planning on hiking the summit and they did have bear spray so the five of us decided to go as a group up the trail.
Fortunately we didn’t run into the bear (although it would have been cool to!). We did however run into a ton of marmots which are basically mountain raccoons, they’re really funny and have no fear of humans. We made it up the the peak in about an hour, the views were great. We rested at the top and ate some snacks before heading back down to the chalet.
At this point Amanda left but Miles and Beth went with us to hike up another lookout trail called the grinnel lookout. This one was much shorter but also steeper. Also at the point in the day the sun was beating down on us. We were exhausted but made it up to the view. From the lookout I climbed up some nearby rocks, there was a guy trying to rock climb up to the final peak (unsuccessfully) but I stopped there, it was way too sketchy.
After the grinnel lookout we made our way back down the loop trail. We also found out from other hikers that the highline trail had opened. The hike down the loop was alright, I had my knee brace sleeves on which helped. The bigger problem was the heat/sun, we were baking. We chatted with Miles and Beth on true way down which helped pass the time. By the time we got to the car we were exhausted and chugged the water we had in the car (we ran out of water in our packs).
From the parking lot we drove up to Logan’s pass and stopped to fill up our water bottles. We also saw a bunch of big horn mountain goats across the road. After we filled our water back up we continued east toward the other side of the park and stopped at one last trail called saint marys waterfall. The trail was only 2 miles round trip. The waterfall was cool and had a spot you could cliff jump from so of course I did! We hung out in the cold water for a bit before heading back.
Once back at the car we drove to saint marys (town) and stopped to get some dinner at a Mexican place. Somehow we ended up getting another persons food order and they let us keep it so we had a ton of food. It wasn’t the best but we were starving!
After dinner we drove another 10 minutes to duck lodge, where we were staying. Unfortunately this place doesn’t have ac but it cooled off enough at night that it was fine. They also shot off some pre 4th of July fireworks.
Day 4
Today we woke up early around 5:30 and drove into the park. This was a separate entrance on the east side of the park. The initial road was gravel and super dusty but once we got into the park it was paved again. We got a prime parking spot at the iceberg lake trailhead.
We ran into a solo hiker, Sam, who asked if she could hike with us so of course we obliged. The trail actually ended up being fairly crowded. The distance was only about 3 miles to the lake so we got there pretty quickly. We had brought our bathing suits to jump in but the water was literally ice cold so we abandoned that idea pretty quickly. I did however manage to make it out far enough to jump in one of the icebergs which was kinda fun!
After hanging out at the lake we explored the area a little more and ran into some deer right on the trail. We started making our way back about a mile to where the trail forks and decided to go up the other trail to a place called ptarmigan tunnel, about another 2 miles away. This hike was a bit steeper and took you to a cool little lake and then directly up the side of the mountain to where they built a tunnel to get to the other side. Becca decided she was too tired so she decided to wait for me at the lake while I climbed up. Unfortunately the tunnel door was locked so you couldn’t go through. There was also a really weird ranger or volunteer sleeping at the top and telling everyone that they had “nice legs” when they got up there.
After enjoying the view from the top I started to make my way back down I noticed that there was a large patch of snow up the one side of the mountain and it wasn’t super steep so I decided to take the quick route and slide down! It was pretty fun, the only downside was somewhere along the way I lost my selfie stick :(.
After meeting back up withBecca we somewhat hurried back to the car, I was a little worried the ranger would try to come down and yell at me. Back at the car we drove to the nearby grocery store and got some Gatorade and ice cream! This time I got a mix of vanilla and berry.
Next we drove a little further to the Many Glacier hotel for lunch, I had the huckleberry pulled pork sandwich which was pretty good. This hotel was definitely fancy! We hung out near the lake for a bit, I decided to do the short 2.5 mile trail around the lake (it was super flat) while Becca chilled at the shore near the hotel.
After the lake we made our way out of the park and had dinner at a place called two sisters cafe. It was one of the only places near the entrance of the park so it was packed! We had to wait about an hour to get a table. I had a double burger with bacon, pulled pork, and a bunch of other toppings, it was delicious.
After dinner we made our way back to the lodge. They had a bunch more fireworks to shoot off and also a random laser show going on the barn (one of the laser designs was a lady dancing on a stripper pole 😂). Needless to say it was very redneck.
Day 5
Today we woke up at 5:30 again, loaded up the car, and made our way to the grinnel glacier trailhead. On the way in we stopped for a quick photo at the park sign. Once we were at the trailhead we ate a quick lunch, I had two bagels and a leftover taco. Then we got ready and made our way down the trail.
This trail started near the many glacier hotel and went up alongside the swiftcurrent lake, lake Josephine, and grinnel lake. The trail was about 5 miles one way. Unfortunately however the trail to the glacier was blocked by snow. We had our crampons but Becca was uncomfortable continuing. I went on myself for about another mile until I ran into more steep icy terrain which I promised Becca I would stop at, so I turned around with seeing the glacier :(.
After turning back and meeting up with Becca we made our way to the car and the drove back out of the park and around to the other entrance to get to Logan’s pass. This time Logan’s pass was PACKED. We ended up driving around the parking lot for an hour before we finally found a spot. The reason was both the hidden lake and highline trail were open today.
After parking we decided to do the hidden lake overlook trail. This trail was short but fun, there was a ton of snow you had to hike through and the view at the end was awesome!
After the lake we hiked back to Logan’s pass and decided to hike part of the highline trail since it was open.
We ended up hiking about halfway (3.5 miles) to created butte before finally turning back. The trail had amazing views and we even saw a big horn sheep right on the trail literally 10 feet from us!
After getting back to the car we drove back down to lake Macdonald for some well deserved ice cream! The we made our way out of the park, stopped for some dinner groceries and gas then made our way to the cabin (the same place we stayed originally) to grill our steaks.
Day 6
Today we woke up around 3:30am for our early flight just to find out that it was delayed until 9:40! With that news we decided to go back to sleep! Once at the airport the rest of the flights (to salt lake, Atlanta, and Savannah) went smoothly. We did end up getting back way later than originally planned (around 10:30).
Overall it was a super fun and exhausting trip! I think we averaged close to 20 miles a day and 4,000 feet of elevation gain! Looking forward to the next trip!
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