Glacier National Park, Montana

Monday, Sep 21: We awoke to an outside temperature of 36F, but it was warm and cozy inside our cabin. After showers and breakfast, we drove the seven miles to Glacier National Park, stopping first at the Apgar Visitor Center, then Apgar Village to rent binoculars and bear spray. The one million acre park, established in 1910 on land ceded by the Blackfeet people in an 1895 treaty, is one of America’s most popular. On the Canadian border, it is part of the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, and is home to more than 130 named lakes, 700 miles of hiking trails, 1,100 species of plants and hundreds of species of animals, including grizzly and black bear, elk, moose, mountain lion, bighorn sheep, lynx, wolf, mountain goat and wolverine. Map link: Glacier National Park

We took a family road trip to Glacier in mid-June of 2013, and the park was not yet fully open due to snow in the mountains. A hike to Sperry Glacier was cut short when we encountered snowfields just below Sperry Chalet and we were warned by a park staffer not to continue without proper gear for hiking in snow and ice. We prudently turned back, but not before eating lunch and enjoying the view, while our every move was watched by a very curious mountain goat. Here are some photos from our 2013 trip: 

On this visit, all of the park was accessible, although some facilities had turned off the water for the season, and working bathrooms were sometimes hard to find. Regardless, it was still busy, and we joined the throng of tourists on the Going-to-the-Sun Road, the two-lane, 53-mile drive that bisects the park east to west, which was closed east of Lake McDonald in 2013. The views were amazing at every turn on the historic byway, completed in 1933, although Kathleen, our driver, had to pay close attention on the narrow, twisting switchbacks. At times, we envied the people on the vintage red tour buses, called Jammers. The 33 canvas-topped, 25-foot, 16-passenger vehicles, built between 1936-39, are the oldest touring fleet in the world and they appeared to be skillfully handled by their professional drivers, letting everyone else gawk at the scenery. 

When we arrived at the Logan Pass Visitor Center on the Continental Divide (elevation 6,646 feet), cars were circling the completely full parking lot looking for a spot, and park staff eventually closed it. We opted instead for a roadside overlook and ate our picnic lunch admiring the stunning view of the valley and mountains just east of the divide. 

Five miles down the road we stopped to view Jackson Glacier, one of 26 named glaciers in the park, down from 81 when Glacier National Park was established in 1910. Jackson Glacier has shrunk by about 40% over the last 50 years, and looks like a small snowfield from the several-mile distance, although it is the seventh-largest of the park’s remaining glaciers. A short hike away was an old tunnel built for horses before motorized vehicles were the norm.

We kept driving east to St. Mary’s Lake, another large, beautiful glacial lake easily accessible from the road. We found parking there, competing for a spot with two different wedding parties who were there for photos. Our group split up to do various hikes near the lake, and Jay spotted a black bear on a distant mountain slope. The weather was perfect, with sunny skies, temperatures in the low-70s and a moderate breeze. We reversed course on Going-to-the-Sun Road, stopping at Lake McDonald Camp Store for souvenirs and a snack, then drove to North Fork Pizza in Columbia Falls for takeout pies, which we ate back at our cabin.

One of the dark dots above the tree-line is a black bear

Bonus Question: True or False? Albert Einstein failed math in school.

Tuesday, Sep 22: We left the cabin at 8:00 AM to try to beat the park crowds, but found the lots already overflowing with vehicles at the Trail of the Cedars, although we eventually found a spot in a parking lot that was posted as Full. Danielle and I took the boardwalk nature trail, admiring the western red cedars that can live for more than 1,000 years, while Kathleen, Amy and Jay took the two-mile trail to Avalanche Lake and back.

After reuniting in the still-full parking lot, we drove to the Lake McDonald Lodge, where we ate lunch in the dining room, then explored the beach, dock and walking path along the beautiful 10 mile-long lake. 

Our last sightseeing stop was at Hungry Horse Dam, about 15 miles from the park entrance, and a place that we also visited in 2013. Completed in 1953 and containing 3 million cubic yards of concrete, the dam is 564 feet high and is used for hydroelectric power, flood control, irrigation and recreation. The name “Hungry Horse” comes from a local legend of two sleigh horses, Tex and Terry, who wandered off from a logging camp during the winter of 1900-01. They were apparently found months later, emaciated but alive and were nursed back to health. We drove across the top of the dam, which amazingly is allowed, then went back to the cabin for naps, reading, leftover pizza and gin rummy. 

Atop the dam in 2013

Wednesday, Sep 23: We woke up at 6:30 AM, ate breakfast, finished packing and left our cabin at 9:45 AM. After dropping off Danielle and Jay at the Glacier International Airport in Kalispell, we went to the area recycling center to drop off our waste (see above pic), then drove the 100 miles back to the Missoula Airport, going down the west side of Flathead Lake, getting a different view of the stunning lake and mountains. We dropped off our rental car, checked our bags with Delta Airlines, then ate a lunch of cabin leftovers before heading through security and boarding our direct flight to Minneapolis-St. Paul. After a Lyft ride home, we ate Crisp & Green salads for dinner and relaxed, unwinding after 20 days away from home this month, and Amy’s first night in the condo in more than a year.

Bonus Question Answer: False. The idea that Einstein flunked math as a youth is a popular myth, but school records show that he was an excellent student, especially in mathematics. He did do poorly in non-scientific areas like history and language on the entrance exam for the Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich, Switzerland, and was denied admission. Einstein was 16, two years younger than the typical applicant. He had already mastered calculus and aced the math and physics sections of the exam.