Wow. Wow, wow, wow!! It's hard to find words to describe Glacier National Park. The scenery is by far the most dramatic we've seen on this trip. The mountains are enormous - some reaching nearly 10,000 feet in elevation - and the ranges seem to go on as far as the eye can see. The lakes and rivers are a beautiful turquoise color from the mineral sediments shed by the glaciers. And forest hikes smell like Christmas thanks to all the fir trees!
On our first morning in the park, we started off exploring the Two Medicine area. We took a short hike to a waterfall that pours from the mouth of a cave.
This the view from the lake at Two Medicine.
From there, we went on to Many Glacier. The lake is several miles long and is a favorite area of the park for many visitors.
After we finished exploring this area, we went on to the main attraction: Going to the Sun Road. This is the major road that traverses the park for over 50 miles and reaches an altitude of over 6,600 feet at its highest point, Logan Pass. Even at this high elevation, the mountains continue to rise upward far above the road. The road is only open from June to October because it is covered with snow for the rest of the year.
Look Ma, no guardrails!
Although this drive is not for the faint of heart, the views are just incredible.
Once we left the higher altitude, John and Reed wanted to swim in the river that ran adjacent to the road. They started out wading in a rocky part of the river, but about a mile down the road we found a better spot where they went waist-deep in a beautiful pool. It goes without saying that the glacier-fed water was COLD, but they had a great time playing and splashing anyway.
Down the road just a bit farther, we went on a popular hike called Trail of the Cedars. It was a beautiful wooded boardwalk with a waterfall and a bridge over the river that was an unusual milky light blue color.
At the west end of the park was Lake McDonald, which is over 10 miles long and has another rustic lodge. This was one of several National Park lodges that served as inspiration for the Wilderness Lodge hotel at Disney World.
Tourists who don't want to drive Going to the Sun Road can ride in these 100-year-old red buses from one end of the park to the other. They are an iconic and charming feature of the park.
On our second day in the park, we went on a boat tour on Lake St. Mary. Fun bit of trivia: This lake is the one referenced by Forrest Gump when he said, "It was so clear, Jenny. It looked like there were two skies, one on top of the other."
This was the same lake we had seen from above on Going to the Sun Road during our first day in the park. While were admiring its beauty, we spotted a grizzly bear eating a fish on the shore! The pictures are blurry because we were a good 150 feet above, but Eric was thrilled to capture it on video. When he zoomed in, he realized that the bear's fish had another fish in its mouth! A 2-for-1 lunch special for the bear!
Sadly, I didn't get any other wildlife photos, but during our two days in the park we had clear sightings of a bobcat, an otter, blacktail deer, chipmunks, and a moose with her calf.
To show some perspective on how MASSIVE these mountains are, the tiny white boat at the bottom of this picture is the same as the one we were on. Also, notice all the dead trees at the base - this was due to a wildfire in 2015.
It was a bit chilly on the bow, but worth it for the views.
Never one to be bashful, John asked the boat captain if he could drive. Ask and ye shall receive! Reed got to have a turn too.
After our boat tour, we did another short hike near the overlook where we saw the grizzly bear.
Glacier is wild and remote, but the scenery is absolutely stunning and I'm glad we went several hours out of our way to come here. This place will be forever etched in our memories!
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