I have no problem saying that Glacier National Park is the most beautiful place in the U.S. I was lucky enough to spend 7 days there with my sister a few years ago and have been excited to go back since day 1 of this trip. We finally got there in hopes of having a few days at a beautiful place.
We entered the park from West Glacier and tried to find a campsite there, only to find that campgrounds in the area were full. We made the best of it by driving the Going-to-the-Sun Road through the park and got some great views along the way, including some mountain goats and a hoary marmot.
Our epic first day in the park didn't end there. We were unable to get a site anywhere in the park (apparently everything fills there every day in the summer) so we had to drive the whole length of the Going-to-the-Sun that first day and camp in a KOA in St. Mary, MT on the East side of the park.
We have had good experiences with KOA Kampgrounds so far on our trip. They are usually pretty nice and have showers and pools, but they are expensive. This one was $36 for a night and our freakin' site didn't even have a flat spot to pitch a tent :(
We made the best of it by taking advantage of the hot tub and the showers, but were pretty unhappy we ended up there. In addition, there were two grizzly bears wandering around the campground that the fish and game people were unable to find. Needless to say, the Krappy KOA (see how I used the K again there, not a typo, just a bad joke) really made us want to get into the backcountry of the park the next day. That desire caused us to do the unthinkable... we got up early!
Because of our early wake up we were able to score a coveted backcountry permit at Gunsight Lake! The lake is a 6.6 mile hike from the trailhead along a river and, in some cases, through some pretty overgrown and thick brush. The overgrown nature of the trail made for some interesting corners where we were convinced a grizzly was going to jump out and eat us both. We did carry bear spray (really hardcore pepper spray that shoots 30 feet) and made a lot of noise on the trail like we were told (we played categories and other games that kept us talking), but were still not sure if we'd see a bear or not. At one point we even crossed two guys coming out on their hike that had seen a bear down by the river, but it took off as soon as it heard their voices (always good news).
Anyway, we made it to the lake and it was awesome!
The hike down the next morning was good, and we were ready to explore more of the park by car. We drove up to Many Glacier and did not regret it.
Exploring Many Glacier was great, but it didn't come without problems. Because of our extra exploring we missed our chance at a campsite in the park. That was a bummer, but we drove East to Cut Bank and got a site at an RV park. It was not great, but you take what you get when you don't make reservations I guess.
Now it's on to Bozeman to spend a couple days with some friends before starting the last leg of our trip. Can't wait!
We entered the park from West Glacier and tried to find a campsite there, only to find that campgrounds in the area were full. We made the best of it by driving the Going-to-the-Sun Road through the park and got some great views along the way, including some mountain goats and a hoary marmot.
A hoary marmot
Mountain goats (really awesome to watch them for a while)
Our epic first day in the park didn't end there. We were unable to get a site anywhere in the park (apparently everything fills there every day in the summer) so we had to drive the whole length of the Going-to-the-Sun that first day and camp in a KOA in St. Mary, MT on the East side of the park.
We have had good experiences with KOA Kampgrounds so far on our trip. They are usually pretty nice and have showers and pools, but they are expensive. This one was $36 for a night and our freakin' site didn't even have a flat spot to pitch a tent :(
We made the best of it by taking advantage of the hot tub and the showers, but were pretty unhappy we ended up there. In addition, there were two grizzly bears wandering around the campground that the fish and game people were unable to find. Needless to say, the Krappy KOA (see how I used the K again there, not a typo, just a bad joke) really made us want to get into the backcountry of the park the next day. That desire caused us to do the unthinkable... we got up early!
Because of our early wake up we were able to score a coveted backcountry permit at Gunsight Lake! The lake is a 6.6 mile hike from the trailhead along a river and, in some cases, through some pretty overgrown and thick brush. The overgrown nature of the trail made for some interesting corners where we were convinced a grizzly was going to jump out and eat us both. We did carry bear spray (really hardcore pepper spray that shoots 30 feet) and made a lot of noise on the trail like we were told (we played categories and other games that kept us talking), but were still not sure if we'd see a bear or not. At one point we even crossed two guys coming out on their hike that had seen a bear down by the river, but it took off as soon as it heard their voices (always good news).
Anyway, we made it to the lake and it was awesome!
St. Mary Falls
Lacey and I at St. Mary Falls
Lacey on a rickety old suspension bridge
Gunsight Lake
Gunsight lake the next morning in clear weather
The hike down the next morning was good, and we were ready to explore more of the park by car. We drove up to Many Glacier and did not regret it.
The road to Many Glacier
The view from the lodge deck
More mountains
Exploring Many Glacier was great, but it didn't come without problems. Because of our extra exploring we missed our chance at a campsite in the park. That was a bummer, but we drove East to Cut Bank and got a site at an RV park. It was not great, but you take what you get when you don't make reservations I guess.
The view from our tent
Now it's on to Bozeman to spend a couple days with some friends before starting the last leg of our trip. Can't wait!
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