I left the Black Hills excited to check out Glacier National Park. Although I didn’t know much about the park, I had heard from a lot of people that it was incredibly beautiful. I had planned on spending two full days and one night in the Park, but when I arrived at the St. Mary Visitor I found that getting a campsite was going to be trickier than I thought. On the ranger's advice I drove down a bumpy dirt road for 5 miles to Cut Bank campground, which had a couple spare spots. After finding a spot, I holed up for the night and buried myself in a book. I woke up the following morning at 6 am and drove to the Many Glacier Campground, intending to get one of the first-come first-serve sites. In spite of arriving early, I still found a decently long line for campsites in front of me. It turns out that Many Glacier is the most desirable campground in the park, due to its proximity to amazing hikes. After waiting an hour or so, I got my site and immediately decided to jump into one of those much touted hikes. I settled on Iceberg lake - a 6 mile loop that gains a couple thousand feet and deposits you at an incredibly blue alpine lake surrounded by imposing crags.
Panorama of the approach to Iceberg Lake.
I took a couple hours at the lake to soak it all in, and then headed back down to take a hot shower and eat. As I ate dinner a friendly deer wandered through my campsite and spent a few minutes munching on some leaves.
Iceberg lake at midday.
The following day I wandered around Many Glacier. My original intention was to take the Grinnell Glacier trail, but I was feeling lazy and needed to work up the motivation.
By the lake in Many Glacier.
After a turn around the lake, I was ready to hop onto Grinnell Glacier trail, which took me past multiple alpine lakes and bright bursts of wildflowers. Due to unstable snow, the trail was closed a short way before the glacier itself, but the views on the way up and down were definitely worth it.
On the way back from my hike, I stopped at the Many Glacier Hotel, which has panoramic views of the lake and mountains that surround it.
The lake at Many Glacier, with the Hotel to the left.
That night, as I waited for my laundry to finish, a massive bull moose wandered through the campground. It was exciting for everyone but the park ranger on duty, who kept having to follow it at a distance and warn other campers that bull moose are incredibly dangerous and can’t be intimidated or coerced into doing anything they don’t want to.
Hidden Lake from the overlook.
After experiencing two days of hiking and wildlife, I decided to drive the Going-to-the-sun Road, which had just opened. The ~40 mile road bisects the park from east to west, crossing the continental divide and offering dramatic views of the mountains. I took my time driving the road, stopping at lookouts along the way and at the Logan Pass visitor center right on the Continental Divide, where I hiked up through the snow to Hidden Lake. On the way down from that hike, I was fortunate enough to come across a mountain goat and her kid, who walked right past me as I snacked and drank in the scenery.
The trail to Hidden Lake, covered in snow.
I wrapped up my trip thoroughly awed by Glacier National Park. I definitely want to return - preferably at the same time of year. When I do, I’ll make sure to put aside a week to do some serious backpacking.