Of all the paths you take in life, make sure some of them are dirt.

Glacier: Day 1

While we were sad our time in Yellowstone ended, we were excited to see what we would experience next. We left our hotel at about 5:45 AM to head to the Glacier General Store, which was about a 7 hour drive. Our first stop was about 4 hours, at a cute little coffee store called Caffee Dolce in Missoula. Our second stop was about an hour from our stay at the Flathead Brewery. We ordered some beer and wings before ending at our final destination.

The Glacier General Store was just the cutest little place to stay. The owner was more than hands on...he built all of the little cabins, ran the general store, and also wore the hate of housekeeping. He gave us some great ideas for things to do in West Glacier and also some great suggestions for hiking. Our cabin was perfect! It had a little kitchen, one bed, a couch, and a bathroom. We opted to take a quick nap before heading into the park.

When we made our way in, we first experienced the beauty of Lake MacDonald before arriving at our hike to Avalanche Lake. This hike was about 6 miles & was pretty flat for the most part. It was pretty crowded, but since we started it a bit later it wasn’t too bad. After about 3 miles, we ended up at a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains. Mark led us to a beautiful little spot along the water that was away from the crowds and we just laid on the blanket he brought & took in the beauty.

After we got back from our hike, we showered and went to dinner at a restaurant right up the road called Josephine’s. The food was delicious...the perfect way to end our first day in Glacier.

Total Miles: 7.36

Total Elevation: 753 ft.

Glacier: Day 2

We began our day around 6 AM and started our journey up Going to the Sun Road. I quickly realized how this road got its name as we climbed and climbed up the mountain in our car. The road was not very wide and the rails were not very high. Honestly, I had to close my eyes for some parts of the drive because I thought we were going to fall right over the cliffs.

Some of the things we stopped for along the road was the Loop Lookout, Berlin Bend, looking at the Wild Goose Island...which was a famous view from the movie The Shining. Finally, we ended at the Many Glacier Hotel. This lodge looked straight out of a movie. Our plan was to take the boat to one of the trail heads to shave off about 5 miles from the 11.5 mile hike. Unfortunately, we did not get there early enough and would have had to wait a few more hours if we wanted to go by boat. Instead, we opted to suck it up and do the whole 11.5 miles. This was literally the best decision we could have made.

We began our hike, which was pretty flat and desolate. We had great views of the Swiftcurrent Lake and Lake Josephine while we moved along. At one point, we heard a noise and we could not figure out what it was or where it was coming from...we both kind of brushed it off and assumed it was the boat (that we could see) letting the passengers know when it was picking them up. About 5 minutes later, we heard the noise again. This time, we looked down (about 300 feet) to see a bridge & (due to not having my glasses on), I thought we were looking at a goat. Does anyone remember in Jurassic Park when the guy says…”Maybe it’s the power trying to come back on”? That is kind of the thought process we were having. When we took out Mark’s Monocular, we saw that it was not a goat, but in fact, it was a momma Grizzly bear playing with her cubs. It was definitely one of the coolest and scariest things that we saw-as we were far enough away, but still very alone! After our encounter, we continued on our journey.

As we continued up, we saw the most beautiful powder blue water-Grinnell Lake-to our left and caught views of Angel Wing & Mt. Gould. A few more miles in, we spotted a moose amongst the fields as well as Grinnell Falls. The last half mile was pretty steep, but absolutely worth it! We ended at the Grinnell Glacier viewpoint. Witnessing a beautiful glacier lake. We ate lunch and soaked it all in.

The walk down was just as magnificent-we ran into a ram on the trail & saw the moose again amongst the meadows. The overall hike was about 11.8 miles and it was probably the most beautiful, intense, exhilarating moments of my life. I can still see the blues of the lakes so vividly and the steps of the path so clearly. If you go to Glacier Park, this is an absolute MUST hike. Don’t be afraid of the elevation and the mileage-the journey you will partake is much more exhilarating than your brain telling you that you can’t do it.

After our hike, we headed back to our cabin-took a nap-and headed for dinner in Whitefish. Whitefish is a cute little town about 35 minutes west of Glacier. We stopped at the Redroom Basement bar-a speakeasy type bar where we ordered some great cocktails. We then ate dinner at the Boat Club Restaurant at Whitefish Lodge. This was a beautiful-on the water-restaurant where we looked out at the boats and pontoons while the sun slowly faded into the water. It was the perfect way to end the day.

Total Mileage: 13.11

Elevation Gained: 2166 ft.

Day 3

Our last day in Glacier was a little rough as Mark’s feet were badly blistered. We began our day at about 6 AM and headed to Logan Pass for the Hidden Lake Lookout-a flat 3 Mile out and back hike. If you do this hike, my advice is GET THERE EARLY. Since it is such an easy hike, many families take their young children to do this-we are very thankful we were one of the first groups to head out because, on our way back, it was mobbed! The view of hidden lake was beautiful, but I still found myself on a bit of a hangover from the Grinnell Glacier Trail.

Due to Mark’s feet, we opted to do a little relaxing for our last day. We stopped at the famous Lodge at Lake McDonald before heading to rent a kayak from Glacier Outdoor right in the Apgar Village. We also picked up some wine and a charcuterie platter to take with us on the lake (only us, right?!?!). We headed onto the lake with our kayak and experienced the calm and serene feels and views of the park. We spent about 45 minutes on the lake reflecting on the last few days, sipping wine, and munching on cheese & crackers. After we dropped our kayak off, we grabbed some huckleberry ice cream-which I still yearn for-at one of the cute little shops in the village. We enjoyed our ice cream and soaked in what would be our last views of the park.

Once we returned to our cabin, we decided it was time to relax and grab a few drinks. We stopped at the Glacier Whiskey Distillery, the Stonefly Bar, and the Packers Roost before ending back at Josephine’s for our last meal.

Overall, I would love to return to Glacier and work our way north a little more and explore the east side. I will never forget the beauty of our time there.

Total Mileage: 5.6

Total Elevation: 533 ft.