Glacier National Park, Montana, USA
As both a birthday and wedding anniversary celebration last summer, we ventured to Glacier National Park in Montana to experience this amazing landscape. It's said that in twenty years, the glaciers that gave the park their name will no longer be part of the landscape. We decided to hike it and experience it to the fullest sooner rather than later.
We spent four full days at the park. Two of these days were spent on day-long hikes to Iceberg Lake and along the Grinnell Glacier Trail. Grinnell was first. This 8-mile roundtrip hike takes you through beautiful scenery along the Grinnell Glacier Trail, leading you to Upper Grinnell Lake. I recommend taking the water taxi to avoid tacking on an additional 3 miles to the 8, parts of the trail are quite steep. The water taxi takes you from one end of Swiftcurrent Lake to the other, where you then walk 1/4 mile and then transfer to another water taxi at the start of Lake Josephine. The water taxis are the only boats on the lake - I've never seen a lake more clear than these. The bluish-green color of the lake is a result of the glacial run off. It's quite something. During the hike we saw a moose, marmot, and up at the top of the lake, big horn sheep - a herd of 30 or more!
Iceberg Lake, at 9-miles round trip was a fairly easy, steady climb. Iceberg Lake, as one would assume from the name is filled with small Icebergs. The lake seems quite deep with towering cliffs surrounding it in a crescent shape. Ever vigilant with bear spray in hand on each hike, I was surprised when we finally did see a bear! The juvenile brown bear was just grazing along the trail, completely ignoring the spectators on both ends of the trail mounting and watching his every move. I have to admit, I had my finger ready on the bear spray trigger, ready to use it at any moment, but the bear eventually moved on his own, and the hikers going both up and down the trail were back on their way.
In addition to the two long hikes, we took a number of short hikes, very easy at two to four miles roundtrip each. These included Avalanche Lake, St. Mary Falls, and Running Eagle Falls. My favorite was Avalanche Lake. At the top is a pristine lake fed by five dramatic waterfalls, falling from 1500' or so each.
To break away from the hiking, one day was spent on a guided rafting trip down the Middle Fork of the Flathead River. Go with
Glacier Guides. The river cuts between the National Park and federal forest land, making for a scenic trip with minimal distractions along the way. While the river has class 2 and 3 rapids, it was an easy, enjoyable trip for us, a great value, and a good way to get to know the area.
So, how to enhance the beautiful scenery of Glacier National Park? With food of course. These were our favorite places to eat near St. Mary:
The Park Cafe (serves just about everything and has amazing pies),
Two Sisters (Mexican). Then there's the
Whistle Stop Restaurant in East Glacier. Our home away from home was the
Isaak Walton Inn, right along the Amtrak Empire Builder route from Seattle to Chicago. Nightly, as Amtrak passes, the staff and guests run out to the lawn to wave hello to the passengers as they go by. Glacier National Park is truly an amazing place, beautiful scenery, lovely people, and an unforgettable experience.
Date of Completion: July 2009
