Glacier in a Can

Here are some of the details of my recent trip to Glacier National Park — stuff you don’t care about. But since I haven’t really done anything worth writing about since my return I may as well get another post [or two?] out of it. [I did have a dream a couple nights ago in which I was wearing my pants inside-out. I have no idea whether that means anything and it certainly doesn't warrant a post.]

So, we flew into Calgary because it was cheaper — as near as I can recall it was about $150 less [per person] than flying directly into Montana for the dates we needed to travel. I don’t think I would go that way again though. It added a few hours of driving at each end of the trip, time I would rather have spent hiking or something. The drive from Calgary was pretty boring — very flat, mountains sometimes visible to the west, nothing but farms to the east — pretty, but boring.

On Highway 2 south of Calgary

We stayed one night in Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta before crossing into the USA for Glacier National Park. The most striking thing about Waterton was that the campground was totally riddled with ground squirrel burrows and there were lots of deer that were obviously used to people. Most people respected them as wild animals. I saw a few that tried to feed them, pose with them, or allowed their children to chase them. People are idiots. [That's why I hate people.]

Overall, I wasn’t all that impressed with Waterton. [To be fair, we didn't spend enough time there to really explore it.] It was kind of cool though to take the Chief Mountain Highway to the U.S. border. We caught a glimpse of a grizzly bear just a few feet from the road. But it wasn’t safe to stop at that point on the road so I have no photos. Just minutes prior to that we had passed two people on bicycles and I wish I could have seen their faces when they pedaled past!

Canadian border marker

We had reservations for two nights on the West Glacier side of the park and then three nights on the East Glacier side of the park. We chose the only campgrounds in the park that took reservations [because wouldn't it suck to travel all that way and then have to scramble for a place to stay?] and one night [the first of our three on the east side] at a KOA. If I go again, I’d rather stay in one place. The free shuttle bus system inside the park is pretty good [as long as you remain a little flexible in your schedule] and there are outside shuttle companies that go places the park shuttles don’t. Besides, private vehicles are allowed almost everywhere except that large vehicles [like our RV] are prohibited on parts of the Going to the Sun Road. Also, the KOA in St. Mary is big and ugly and the staff was rude.

Here’s something you’re not likely to see a lot of in Glacier National Park: glaciers. Most of them have melted away completely and those that are still there are rapidly shrinking. But they leave behind some gorgeous topography. Here’s something I saw a lot of in GNP: wildlife! We saw marmots, deer, mountain goats, and longhorn sheep [oh, and more ground squirrels -- those things are everywhere!] in close proximity to people on more than one trail. We heard reports of sightings of bear, elk, and wolves — all of which I’d have liked to have seen. One of the trails we hiked had been closed a couple days prior to our hike due to bear activity. The Park website has extensive lists of plants and animals and where you might spot them.

One of the reasons we traveled north was to get a break from the oppressive heat of a central Florida summer. Turns out we landed in a heat wave — daytime high temps in the 80s every day! At least it was cooler in the evenings, but the weather did curtail my activity a little. [Not to mention that we packed cold-weather clothing that was totally useless.] I bailed out on our first big hike and took an easy day the next day because the heat and the altitude [more than 1800 feet elevation gain over about 3.3 miles] just sucked all the energy out of me. To be fair, the description of the trail [the Apgar Outlook trail] did explain that due to a loss of foliage to a fire the trail is in full sun pretty much the whole way. Plus I could be in better shape. My friends both continued on to the summit, but one of them took it easy the next day as well.

Fortuitously, the rest of my hikes I weathered much better and there is a lot to see even on easy hikes. In fact, that Hidden Lake Overlook is just 1.5 miles [and only 460 feet of elevation gain] from one of the visitor centers. Even with some of the trail still covered in snow as it was [in late July!] it was well worth the effort. [If you make the trek in flip-flops or high heels -- as some people do, believe it or not -- you will be the source of derision to the better-prepared hikers. Probably not to your face though. We'll just shake our heads in bewilderment and laugh at you behind your back. But if that's how you want to enjoy your travels, more power to you, I guess...]

Overlooking Hidden Lake

For sheer panoramic beauty I loved the first one-third or so of the Highline Trail. Acrophobes won’t be comfortable with the sheer 1000 foot drops at the edge of some parts of the trail though. We hiked the whole 11 miles [it has a shuttle stop at each end] but that first part was by far the best.

Watch your step on the Highline Trail

The only other longish hike I did was to Iceberg Lake — 4.8 miles each way with 1200 foot elevation gain. The first half mile is pretty steep but the rest pretty gentle. We almost skipped this hike because it had been raining since the night before and there was thunder and lightning even as we ate breakfast. We got a really lucky break though [because, honestly it was a rather foolish decision] when the rain stopped shortly after we set out. Three hours later we were sitting in the sun next to icebergs.

Iceberg Lake

Would I go again? Yes. There are over 700 miles of trails and I covered a small fraction of that. The park rangers and volunteers were all friendly and ready to help and answer questions. The wildlife viewing was terrific. The only drawback… there’s still so much else in the world I want to see….