Glacier National Park

Leaving Yellowstone behind us we travelled up the west side of this beautiful park. To get there it was a little in Idaho, a little Wyoming and then a lot of Montana. We had to make a side trip – visiting a Mindi target – Big Sky, Montana – along the way. It was slightly more impressive than Saddlestring! (At least it exists!)

We camped one night along the way at Canyon Ferry on the Missouri River.

The following day we made our way to Apgar Campground in Glacier National Park. We had managed to secure one of the few remaining campsites for 4 nights – even though it was Memorial Day weekend now. We expected the place to be busy – and it was, but nothing as bad as Yellowstone! We decided to separate the camper again as it makes travelling around so much easier.

Late morning (as is us!) we drove along the ‘Going to the Sun Road’ to the trailhead for the hike to Avalanche Lake, only to find it impossible to park the truck. The Going to the Sun Road in Glacier was closed (snow) at the trailhead but was open to bike traffic and it was a popular ride. We ended up walking the Sperry Trail. An interesting walk, with entertaining wildlife, but to call Sperry a lake is a misnomer – it’s a pond at best!

The following morning we resolved to get an earlier start and were able to secure a parking spot for the hike up to Avalanche Lake. It had spectacular views both along the way and at the final destination. We spotted our first bear across the lake.  We walked past some beautiful waterfalls along the way.

We rented a boat the next day and got an awesome view of the majestic mountains. We also chatted with the park wardens about the possibility of taking an overnight hike with our tent.   In order to do that, we had to update our equipment. We rode in to Kalispell Montana REI to purchase a bear-proof container, poop bags – and more bear spray.

We left Apgar and took a ride north – even though we were told the roads were closed due to snow – but made it to Bowmans Lake – very pretty but a very bumpy ride up.

Going further north was indeed not possible due to snow.  We made our way south and towards the east side of the park, landing at Two Medicine campground. What a spot! We had decided to come here for our overnight hike. We asked the ranger about it when we checked in. She said  the designated campground we’d chosen was reportedly under snow. Fortunately, we met a young French couple that had done the hike we were planning – in one day – so we decided to have a go.

It was a really nice walk – and included a side trip to the impressive twin falls. The wildflowers were in bloom and there were so many different colors and blooms. It was our first 10 mile hike. 

Two Medicine has been my favorite location to date – the mountains are spectacular and the narrow canyon emphasizes them. It also had the best wildlife so far with deer, Moose – including cow and 2 calves wandering right beside our campground. There was also a Grizzly and cub that came visiting one morning, though we didn’t see her. 

We carried on up the east side of the park to St Mary’s driving through the Blackfoot reservation. We saw our first coyote wandering through the great plains.  It looked like a rather down-trodden environment, though everyone seemed pretty happy.

We hiked to a couple of neat waterfalls – St. Mary’s and Virginia Falls. On the way we got a long-distance peek at two Grizzly cubs rolling down the mountain side and playing – our first such sighting.

We carried on north- into Canada to see the northern section of the park – and the Canadian Rockies. We camped at Waterton Lake, the Peace Park, for a couple of nights.

While based here we visited Cameron Lake, Red Rock Canyon and the impressive Prince of Wales Hotel.

I think while enjoying a pint at the hotel admiring the awesome view, we made the decision that we should head to Alaska next!