Glacier National Park

I’ve wanted to visit Glacier National Park for years, but I finally did it this summer! It was everything that I dreamed it would be and more. My niece and her husband recommended that I go to West Glacier so that is where I started. Glacier is one of the National Parks that require reservations for entrance to the park. Most of the parks that have the reservation system have an exception that if you come before 6am or after 3pm you don’t need to have a reservation. You may still need reservations for things in the park for instance at the time I was there you needed reservations to drive the “Road to the Sun.” I didn’t have reservations, so I timed my arrival for right after 3pm. I sailed right through the check station. My America the Beautiful Senior Pass makes it so easy to gain access to the National Parks, National Campgrounds and has many other perks. If you are over 62 and don’t have one already, I would highly recommend it.

I was hoping that since after 3 you do not need reservations for “Road to the Sun” after 3 either. Well, I was wrong, plus my RV was too long (24 vs 21) to drive over the pass, I could go half but that was it. I was bummed but decided to drive what I could and make all the stops so I could take pictures as the shuttle doesn’t stop at every stop. I’m posting some of those pictures. Since reservations anywhere near Glacier must be made way in advance and I didn’t know I was making this trip until March I didn’t have a place to camp so I stayed in the parking lot. There were a few other campers, vans and cars in the lot with me, so I didn’t feel so bad.

The next morning, I was up early to get in line for the shuttle. When I got there at 5:30am there were already 38 people in line ahead of me. I knew the number as there was a park ranger counting the people and telling us which shuttle we would be on. This was fluid as they would bring people from the lodge, and they would go to the front of the line. My shuttle changed four times before I finally got on which made me anxious as the point of being early was to catch the shuttles that didn’t stop to pick up and drop off passengers, after a certain time in the morning that switched. I did make the cut off but just barely after waiting for almost four hours.

The shuttle I made it on did have to make one stop to pick up some passengers. The driver was awesome and filled with knowledge, she was the director of the transportation department and had a wealth of knowledge about the park.  The views on the way up were amazing. I had only been able to make it halfway up the mountain so there was a lot that I had missed. When we got to the top I decided on a hike and took off just as I went around the first corner there were a bunch of people standing around, so I went off the trail to go around them, as I got around them, I saw that they were all watching two goats at the side of the trail. When I say they were at the side of trail, that’s exactly what I mean, they were not two feet from the trail. Let me tell you I was hightailing it out of there (after I took a couple of pictures of course while I was hiding behind others!) After going down the trail a bit I talked to a couple that was coming the other way, they said the trail got really steep and at that point I decided to go back to the top as I had a couple of other hikes I wanted to do. On the way back I ran into a park ranger who asked me to step aside as he had a couple of dignitaries that were coming through. Another couple and I stepped behind some bushes and I switched my phone to video and started recording, not sure what I was going to get. What I got was the cutest mamma sheep and her babies!

The next hike I started on was to Hidden Lake. There was a notice at the start of the trail that we could only go part way as there had been a grizzly bear sighting at the lake. Yikes! The hike up was busier than the other hike had been, not sure if the draw was the grizzly or the lake itself. It was a beautiful hike and I’m sorry to say that I never made it to the halfway point. The number of stairs on this hike are crazy and my knees just couldn’t take it, I was so disappointed. The views I did see and the pictures that I got were fabulous so I definitely would do it again. By the time I reached the bus stop I was ready to go back to the RV and on to the next excursion.

The bus driver and a passenger had talked about the Northern Lights Viewing Party that was going to be held that night at Bowman Lake up the North Fork. There had been several of us that were interested in attending so the driver told us the best way to get there and that there was a little store on the way that had the best bakery. When I got back, I headed up the Outside North Fork Road, eventually going through Polebridge and getting to the Polebridge Ranger Station. I found out at the ranger station that I would NOT be attending the viewing party as once again the RV was too long (24 vs 21!) I turned around and headed for the Polebridge bakery and the sugary sweetness that I would find there! After purchasing several yummy looking pastries, I went next door to the restaurant. On the menu was Poutine. Do you know what poutine is? I do as Luke had served that as part of his school project before I left on this trip. I decided to try them to see how they compared to Luke’s. The serving I received was huge, it could have been a serving for two! I was not a huge fan of their poutine, maybe it was just an off day for me. Oh, what is poutine? It is French fries with gravy and cheese.

After eating I went back to the main lodge as they were having a Ranger led astronomy program in the parking lot and I was hoping they might discuss the Northern Lights. I got back early and knew it would be a late night so I took a nap. Once it got dark out the program started, I think many people were hoping the topic was going to be the Northern Lights as that was the topic right off the bat and the Rangers were having none of it! After three questions, all regarding the Northern Lights, the response was a terse “No, we are not viewing the Northern Lights tonight! No one will be seeing the lights anywhere in this area, if you want to see them you will need to go to Canada. Can we proceed with our program now?” You could hear a pin drop, but no one got up and left nor did another word get said about the Northern Lights. The program was good, and we eventually were able to view the stars through several telescopes that had been set up. When the session was over, I decided to head over to the East Entrance. If I timed it right, I could make it before 6 am.

It was a great decision as I got some excellent sunrise pictures as I was getting into the mountain areas of East Glacier. I spent too much time taking pictures as I got to the East entrance after 6am and I couldn’t get into the park. While I was a little sad about not getting into the park, I kept thinking about the Northern Lights and how the ranger had said if you want to see them you need to go to Canada. Well, I had never been to Canada, I had my passport, and I was right there by the border. Oh, what the heck! Yup, you already know how that went.

All in all, I loved Glacier NP and I will return again someday, maybe in something 21 feet or shorter!