Glacier National Park, September 2015
In July 2015 a fire started in Glacier. Then another and then a third. Also there were many fires in Washington and Idaho. The smoke blew east. About a week before our trip you couldn’t see 20 feet in front of you. The smoke was so thick. Then the weekend before we left to go to the park it rained! That knocked down some of the smoke.
Friday: We flew in on Friday but one of the flights was delayed so we arrived around midnight. We stayed 1 night at the Super 8 Kalispell. It was a comfortable clean room.
Saturday: Had blueberry and lemon pancakes at Perkins - yummy.
Then we went to Replay Sports and bought 2 cans bear spray for 15.00 without holster and 25.00 with holster because the bear spray has been previously rented. Then we can sell it back to them if we don’t spray it. Also bought a pair of socks made in Vermont (Darn Tough) 25.00 ouch but they will replace if they get a hole etc. These are thick soft socks - love them.
Took pictures at Glacier sign on the west side and the hubby got a senior membership. Went to visitor center near Apgar.
Then tried to check in at Lake McDonald but we were too early. Going To The Sun Road (GTTSR) is closed at Logan Pass because it’s snowing up there! We took the shuttle to Trail of the Cedars .8 miles. Nice paved trail. We took the shuttle back to Lake McDonald and drove to Johns Lake Loop 3 miles round trip. It wasn’t flat but it wasn’t too bad (we're flat landers). Then we checked in. We were in value room 211. I loved the bathroom because it had a heater right in front of the toilet so I didn’t have to be cold coming out of the shower.
Had a Flathead Lake Huckleberry Riesling at 7:30 pm in the Lounge. We ate at Joe Jammer's Grill because the restaurant at the lodge is expensive. We had pizza which was not that good and bison sausage which was good.
We took a selfie while at McDonald Falls. Went to a ranger talk by Olivia about the visitor experience at the parks.
Sunday: Woke up in McDonald Lodge – slept well and comfortable. Went to window to listen for rain and heard it.. not so excited about that.
Got ready for the day and packed bags & went down to eat the buffet breakfast at the lodge. Had eggs and sausage and bacon and French toast with fruit and oatmeal with fruit and a little coffee. This was the second best breakfast of the trip – next to Perkins. Next we loaded up the Forerunner. Tonight we are moving to Swiftcurrent Motor Inn on the East side.
Then we drove as far as we could on GTTSR toward Logan’s Pass to see what we could see. We saw snow but it was not actually snowing where we were. Then we drove back to Apgar – the internet connection was good in the village by the Inn.
We drove the long way around the park and missed the turn at East Glacier OOPS and ended up in Browning (nothing there but a Holiday Inn and a casino) we took 89 to St Mary. 89 was being worked on and was unpaved part of the way. I saw a bald eagle fly over us here.
We stopped in the visitor center at St Mary and then went for pie at Park Café we had razzleberry and huckleberry with ice cream. I read about this place during my research for the trip. I'm pretty sure we'll be back for MORE pie later. We saw a bear on the way BEAR sighting # 1, and some goats on the side of a mountain.
We saw BEAR #2 sometime around when we bought our boat tickets for Wednesday (for the Grinnell Glacier Hike).
We checked in at Swiftcurrent Motor Inn, our home for the next 7 days! We got room 27. Loved it. When you walk out the front door you have a mountain view in front of you and you are only steps away from the beginning of the iceberg lake trail and other hiking trails. We had dinner at the Swiftcurrent restaurant – we had a pasta dish and chicken and mashed potatoes and then went back to the room to figure out what hikes to do and hopefully it won’t rain!
Monday: Our day started at the Swiftcurrent (SC) restaurant at 6:30 am which is when they open. I had 3 egg frittata. As we ate one of the employees looked out the door and said hey – look at the mountain with the sun on it … wow! Beautiful.
Then at 8 am we started on the trail to Iceberg Lake. The beginning is difficult – a steep incline. Actually the whole trail was at an incline just not as bad. It was a difficult 5 miles for a flat-lander who hasn't acclimated yet. There is a pit toilet about ½ way in. I hear there is one at the lake too but I didn’t see it.
When we got to the lake it was snowing. I loved that. Unfortunately there were no icebergs. There were terrible wind gusts that felt like 40 mph. When they came up I just braced myself putting my back to the wind. E-gad. I had hoped to enjoy the area for a little while but we did not stay long. Didn’t even explore the lake area which was a mistake and I felt disappointed later. But I was heaving for breath when I got there tired from all the uphill climbing (others breezed by me like it was no big deal) and then experiencing those wind gusts I was out of patience. I wish I would have used some trees to block the wind or something and just taken a minute to relax.
I had dressed appropriately and felt good in that regard. I had on my long johns top and bottom and a T-shirt, and then a long sleeved button up shirt over that and a jacket over that. I think I wore my knit hat. Had to take some clothes off on the way up and then put clothes back on once I got near there (not all of the clothes – was too tired/frustrated heaving for air), and then removed some again on the way back down. I think I also was wearing my vest (where I kept photography equipment). In the back pack I had the water hydration bladder with about 24-32 oz of water and a poncho, extra pair socks and food – an Epic meat stick and gorp/snacks etc. Pack was heavy but I did drink most of the water. My nose got burned … I should have opted for the ear/headband and the wider brimmed hat.
ON the way back saw bighorn sheep and BEAR #3 from afar.
Going downhill hurts (bad knees) and my legs are like jelly once I get closer to the end. EVERYTHING hurts. Thank you GOD for the pit toilet I used on the way back. It took 4 hours to get to the lake and 4 hours to get back.
The colors here are so amazing. Green, blue, red, purple and that is just the rocks.
Saw several chipmunks – most were too fast to photograph.
When we got back to the room I took off some clothes and just laid there on the bed and wrote these notes. We went to the camp store and got some BenGay which was soothing for my swollen knees. I had the garlic pasta tonight with chicken. While in the store I discovered they have soft serve ice cream and root beer so I can make a float. Tonight I’m thinking I have earned a glass of wine.
Everyone we pass on the trails says hi and thank you when we let them pass I did a video of a stream going over the trail – there was a lot of those… love that. Also did video of sheep and bear BEAR #4
And Logan Pass REOPENED today!!
Tuesday: Note that there is a lodge just outside the gate at St Mary’s that looks nice… there is a restaurant and gift shop there too. This is also near the Park Café where we had pie at least 3 times.
Went to SwiftCurrent restaurant for breakfast (we usually get there by 6:30) had the 2 egg breakfast and tiramisu pancakes which were ok but not as great as the name sounds. There was no sauce.
Then we walked to Fishercap Lake to look for moose. Found none. We did see ducks .
Then we drove to St Mary’s to go to Logan’s pass. Everything up there was covered in snow and it was very windy and we were shrouded in clouds most of the time. So we didn’t stay long. We checked out the visitor center – not a lot there really – plus it was chilly in there too. Then we left and had not gone far when we stopped to take pictures of mountain goats from afar.
Then stopped again at Park Café because we wanted homemade pretzels and bratwurst but they were out of the pretzels so we opted for just pie. We had huckleberry this time and huckleberry cream pie.
Then we went back to Many Glacier Lodge where we had a beer and a Stormy at the Pass w/coconut rum and ginger beer. We sat looking at the water and a mountain where we spotted BEAR #5 which may have also been bear #3, because it was in a very similar location.
We decided to take the short hike .7 miles, to Fishercap to check for moose. There weren’t any – but this may be the time we saw deer on the way back – and it was sprinkling.
Went back to SwiftCurrent and had veggie penne pasta with chicken and Caprese salad and then we went back to our room and spent a long time preparing for the Grinnell Glacier hike tomorrow. We took it pretty easy today since there was a big hike yesterday and then one tomorrow. This is a big hike and I am a little …. Worried about whether I will make it or not. Iceberg took me 4 hours and I knew the elevation gain of that was less – plus we only have so long to make it back to the boat. We could walk all the way back but I knew I wouldn’t be in great shape for that.
Wednesday: Ate breakfast, 3 egg frittata, and went to Many Glacier Lodge by 7:15. Boat boarded at 8:20 and we went across Swift Current Lake in the Two Gun Chief boat then got out and walked ¼ mile (1/8 of which was steep uphill) and then got on the boat Morning Eagle (of course I was last to get on it) and rode across Lake Josephine and started the hike with the ranger. For a very short time I was able to keep up. But the trail was very steep for a long time. This was extremely difficult for me. I tried not to stop too much, going slow instead. VERY slow. The group was going to stop around 10:30 for a snack and then be at the glacier by noon. Eeek they were on a schedule. We aren’t sure where they stopped for a snack but it may have been where we eventually stopped. Big red boulders here that another tour group was sitting on and having a snack. Then we looked way up there and saw our group… holey moley – it looked as far up as it seemed we had already come. Now I know what ? 900 feet I guess elevation gain feels like. To go all the way was 1800 feet elevation gain over 4 miles of trail. I just could not get enough air… and I felt crushed when I realized I probably was not going to make it up there. After all, once I made it up, I’d have to come back down…. And how long would that take. Once we decided we would not go further we spotted a nice herd of big horn sheep. There were a few males in that group. And the area we were in was really beautiful. One thing that made me sad was that I was so busy heaving for air that it killed my desire to do one of my fav things which is take pictures. How could I enjoy myself without that? That was another reason I agreed we should go back. I took a bunch of pics here and we had our lunch. Got some nice pictures of a chipmunk and a golden mantled squirrel. We could see the glacier from where we were.
Saw a snake on the way back down – just the last half of it as it slithered into the brush. Gorgeous colors once again. In the rocks and the brush. Spent about 2.5 hours walking up and maybe 1.5 hours going down.
At the bottom we decided to do the trail to Grinnell Lake. It is a nice place to sit and eat or just enjoy the quiet but the lake is much prettier from above where you can see the color of it. You can hardly notice that down at lake level. When we saw it from above we could see little dots on the shore which were people. So when we were sitting there by the lake we looked up and could find people walking the Grinnell Glacier trail. How did the other people manage I wondered? How were they able to accomplish that?
The trail to the lake felt longer than it said it would be – but maybe that’s because of that horrendous climb I just did. There was a swinging bridge on the way … which seemed to amuse some people. Perhaps they’d never been on a swinging bridge before. The trail was pretty easy. Near the end I spotted 3 or 4 ptarmigans with just a very few white feathers. Saw another chipmunk and a dipper bird.
We took the 4:15 boat back and at Many Glacier Lodge the boat captain pointed up at another 4 BEARS! This was BEAR 6, BEAR 7, BEAR 8, and BEAR 9. One of those bears was probably also #3 and #5. We also saw more mountain goats before we left Lake Josephine. We got Dust Cutter drinks Huckleberry Lemonade at the Lodge and sat by the fire.
Then came back to SwiftCurrent and got sandwiches, chicken salad and pepper turkey in store and sat in the lobby and sent messages to Lee and Karen (Dad’s wouldn’t send) and ate sandwiches in our room.
Tomorrow we may try to do Two Medicine instead of Logan Pass. I would like to rest my knees for a day before trying the Highline Trail. I also want to see Fishercap before breakfast to look for moose.
Thursday: I think both my knees are swollen but the left one is worse. The good thing is it doesn’t hurt though.
Today I ate a cheese stick and we walked to Fishercap Lake before having breakfast. No moose. But we did see ducks and deer down at the misty end (left side) this was just as it became light between 6:30 and 7 am
Then we went back and had breakfast today I ordered 2 eggs a la carte and toast with cream cheese.
Then we drove to Two Medicine. But right after passing the turn for Many Glacier Lodge and around the corner we stopped because I saw a brown bear on the hillside. BEAR 10 and BEAR 11 turned out to be a grizzly momma and cute baby! These are the only grizzlies we saw on the trip but we did see them 2 or 3 different times.
Then on to Two Medicine. First we did Running Eagle Falls. The top fall was dry but the bottom was good. Weather today was great.
The road ends at the camp store parking lot. Their camp store was closed for the season. We went to look at the lake and a lady came over to point out a black bear BEAR # 12 and 2 moose at the edge of the lake (hard to see).
Then we went and found a place to sit by the lake and ate lunch. A big bird with a fish flew overhead. Next we did the Paradise Point Trail. It ends up with you on a beach. You go up and down on the trail and then to the beach. We would have seen the moose better from here. It was about noon.
Then we went back to scenic point trailhead and did the Apopski falls. Not a fabulous falls but it was ok. I wouldn’t do it again – not scenic enough for the length of the walk. Then we started back. I went to bathroom at running Eagle falls because it was a very nice pit toilet – fresh smelling. We had cell service for a short while between the park and highway 49.
On the way back we stopped because we saw the grizzly again but the light was bad – there was a glare on the lens and could barely see her.
Then we went to lobby to check email/do texts and bought sandwiches for dinner. This is working well because the sandwiches are good and between those and drinks and/or chips we only spend about $17. Last night I had chicken salad with cranberries. Tonight I had peppered turkey. They were good.
Before we ate them we walked to Fishercap and saw a female moose in the middle of the lake eating. We were about to leave when we heard someone say the male was coming. A bull moose with a fairly big rack came from the left end of the lake where we had seen the deer. He was grunting and thrashing his antlers on the bushes. MOOSE #3 and #4.
Then on the way back to our room there were 2 deer momma and young one eating right near the trail and she didn’t run. That was ? around 8pm because it was barely still light.
Then we ate our sandwiches and chips & I showered and got ready for bed and now it is 9:52 pm as I write my notes.
Noisy neighbors next door banding and dropping things. It was warm today. I unzipped my pants legs and had shorts on most of the day.
Tomorrow we go to Logan’s Pass to hopefully see mountain goats closer than near the top of a mountain. There is snow on the ground there so I guess I will wear long underwear and lots of layers. You can’t get a specific forecast here for a certain location. They post the forecast for Babb, MT in the lobby. Winds are 3-5 mph tomorrow and high in the 70s. So hopefully it won’t be frigid and windy, just cool, we’ll see. This place is fabulous.
Friday: Today we ate breakfast as usual. We had 2 eggs and biscuits with sausage gravy and 2 eggs with oatmeal. Meh… it was ok but I wouldn’t have the oatmeal again.
Then we got our stuff together for a hike at Logan’s pass and left. I prepared to be cold up there since I knew there was snow on the ground so I put on long johns and a t-shirt and took my jacket but didn’t wear it. I wore wool socks and toe sock liners. My feet never got cold. I didn’t need the jacket. It was sunny and warm with a high near 70 none of me got cold. There was much less snow than there had been 2 days ago. I wore my green hat and ear band around my neck. Stopped to see Wild Goose Island on the way.
We decided to start with the Hidden Lake overlook trail. It was about 500 foot elevation gain over 1.5 miles. Felt like longer than 1.5 miles but maybe that was because my knees were already swollen and there were many steps on the boardwalk which is harder for me than just an incline. Up up up looking down is like… wow.. we’ve come that far up? It probably took us 1.5 or 2 hours. But we were taking pictures although probably not enough. It’s all just wow gorgeous. Meadows, boulders, color, snow. We had hoped to see mountain goats but NO not even 1 goat.
We did see 2 pika but neither of us got a picture of it. On the way down we got pictures of 3 marmots. The view of hidden lake was pretty and we sat up there and ate lunch. At least I did, Michael was not hungry. Is saw a golden mantled squirrel under the viewing platform. We could see people down on the beach of the lake.
We started back down ? at approx. noon or a little after. Stopped halfway or so just to sit on boulders and look around. Before that we crossed a big patch of snow and the hubby’s leg sunk to his knee. We hated to leave but knew we would need a bathroom soon. Got back to the visitor center and was hot so I took off my long john top in the 4runner – but it was too hard to take off the pants so I went to the bathroom to do that. By this time the parking lot was full. I touched a badger pelt. I asked about the highline trail for tomorrow. There is about a 700 foot elevation gain on that trail. Then we left and stopped at St Mary Lodge for gas. I bought an I’ll be your Hucklebeary sleep shirt. at their gift shop. Before we got there we had BEAR sighting #14. A black bear ran across the street about 3 cars ahead of us (Just after the Rising Sun I think). St Mary campground closed temporarily due to increased bear activity probably due to low berry crop because of the drought.
Then we went on to Many Glacier. Before reaching the lodge we stopped and took a picture of BEAR #15, a black bear.
Then we drove thru SC campground to see what people were camping in. Saw a variety of tents, pop-ups, pop up truck campers, trailers, casitas, motor homes, etc. 21 ft. limit on gong to the sun road but St Mary’s is where you pick up GTSR, not many glacier.
Then went to our room 27 put our junk inside and went to store to get sandwiches and root beer float. Am writing my notes at 8:45 pm.
I think we will do Highline and red rock trail tomorrow not sure in which order.
Saturday: this was to be our last day in the park
Went for breakfast as usual, about 6:30 had 2 eggs, ham, potatoes and toast and ½ cup coffee.
By 8:15 we were on the trail to Red Rock but before we got to Fishercap we passed a guy who said a female moose was in the lake feeding so of course we went there.
Started taking pictures of her and saw her pause and look off to the right – down there I saw a calf and then another female there were people down there trying to get closer so of course she walked further right to get her calf away from them. We left those 2 alone and took more pictures of the one in the lake. Then went on to the Red Rock trail till we got to Red Rock Lake. Next time we come we’ll have to hike over to the falls. This time we want to head back and go to Logan’s Pass to do the Highline. It is 9:30. We get back to our room (didn’t see any more animals) about 10:30.
I drove us to Logan’s Pass. We were there by 11:30 I guess and it was already too late. The parking lot was full. Nice day, a Saturday, should have known. A ranger later told me you have to get there by 10:30 so we plan to try again tomorrow.
Then we went to Apgar visitor center to get a goat patch. They only had the patch/pin combo but a ranger told us we could get one at the train stations tore. We went and there they were.
Then we went to Kalispell to return the bear spray to replay sports then went to see where our hotel was for Sunday night. The Kalispell Grand.
Then decided to head back to our room but stopped at a pie factory and got 2 sour cherry sodas Flathead gourmet (very good – not too sweet), and 2 pieces of huckleberry pie to go. Saw a wind sailer on St Mary’s Lake. It took 1.5 hours to drive the entire GTTSR without stopping. It takes less than 30 mins to get from St Mary gate to Swift current. In same spot as before we saw momma grizzly and baby ..lots of scopes were set up so she must have been there awhile.
Then went and got sandwiches at the store and we had those and I just finished pie and it’s 8:56 pm.
Tomorrow we check out and go to highline trail and head to Kalispell and Big Fork
Sunday: Got up, ate a bison meat stick (Epic) and went to check out and then to restaurant and had French toast.
We left and didn’t get far before spotting a black bear and then up higher a smaller bear – maybe a cub? That was BEAR #16 and BEAR #17
Then we drove a little further and saw the Momma and baby grizzly which was bear sighting BEAR 18 and BEAR 19… but we have seen her at least 3 times I think .
Then we went to Logan’s Pass and started the Highline trail. This was exciting and I videoed part of it. We didn’t get too far. We just went to about the end of the handrail section I think and we turned back. The height and narrowness of the trail was making one of us fairly nervous.
Then went to Big Fork to Flathead Brewery restaurant on Flathead Lake. We had the elk brat and Chili verde beef and a flight of beer. The we went to check in at Kalispell Grand. Unfortunately most shops were closed on Sunday. We printed our boarding passes for the flight and ate dinner at HOPS I had ahi tuna and a yak burger – both were good. Got cookies in the lobby for the flight and there will be breakfast tomorrow. It is 10pm now. Flight boards about 10:30 am tomorrow. We enjoyed staying at this hotel.
Monday: Unfortunately I woke up about 3:40 with a horrible headache. I took a couple of aspirin and after about ? 40 mins or so took another one. By about 5am it was better. We went ahead and got up since neither of us was sleeping.
Breakfast – had quiche and cake/bread and yogurt at the Grand. Nice room. Comfy bed. Boarded plane at 10:40. Didn’t want to leave… I feel like I belong here.
The end of another great vacation. I was worried about the smoke from the fires obscuring the views but that didn’t happen. It sprinkled the first 2 or 3 days but it wasn’t a washout and we got to use our rain ponchos. This was the most beautiful park I have seen yet.
Itinerary:
We spent 9 days in the park plus one day to travel there and one day to get home.
Fri: arrived Friday night and spent the night in Kalispell, MT
Sat: Went to Relay Sports store to buy bear spray in Kalispell and then left for the park. Stayed at Lake McDonald Lodge just one night. Did the Trail of the Cedars and John's Lake Loop.
Sun: Moved to Swiftcurrent Motor Inn on the east side. Drove to Logan's Pass. It was closed because of snow. Drove back to Apgar and took Highway 2 to get to Swiftcurrent. We bought our tickets at May Glacier hotel for the boat ride to do the Grinnel Glacier hike which we'll do on Wednesday.
Mon: Did the Iceberg Lake Trail. I'm an out of shape flat lander and so this hike took 4 hours.
Tue: Logan's Pass opened today. We walked to Fishercap Lake. Then Drove the Going to the Sun road to the west and back to the east.
Wed: Attempted to do the Grennel Glacier hike but only made it ? about 1/2 way I would guess. 1,800 ft elevation gain felt like too much for me. We also did the trail to Grinnel Lake and then caught the boat bak to Many Glacier Lodge.
Thur: Walked to Fishercap Lake. Drove to Two Medicine and saw Running Eagle Falls. Walked the Paradise Point Trail. Next we went to Apopski Falls which was Ok but I wouldn't go back. Then went back to Swiftcurrent and walked to Fishercap and saw moose.
Fri: Went to Logan's Pass and did the Hidden Lake Overlook Trail.
Sat: Did the Red Rock Trail and Fishercap Lake. Then drove to Kalispell to return the bear spray (we had also driven to Logan's Pass but the parking was full).
Sun: Checked out of Swiftcurrent. Drove to Logan's Pass to do part of the Highline trail. Then we Drove to Big Fork to eat at the Flathead Brewery and then drove to Kalispell and checked into the Kalispell Grand Hotel. Our flight left on Monday.