3 Full Days of Fun Things to Do in Glacier National Park

July 15th, 2021

Biking, Hiking and the Going to the Sun Road-All in one day

One of the things Robert and I wanted to do as we live this full time life is have more experiences doing things that we didn't really do on a regular basis. We weren't big hikers before we started this but hiking is a way to see the surrounding area and most of the time it's pretty enjoyable. Actually most of the time it is lots of fun but I like to gripe a lot when I am doing it. Altitude was an issue and the strenuous factor was obviously something to consider too. For the most part, we pick moderate hikes...ones that might have a bit of difficulty to them but still are manageable at our age and don't put us at risk of falling. We both have excellent hiking shoes, I have a pair of Merrell's that we bought at REI and I'm not sure what kind of boots Robert has but they are perfect for climbing on rock, especially if the rocks are wet. They grip really well. I will see if I can find out the brand of my boots and put a link on the blog.

Any way, back to my story...experiences! We rented the eBikes from Glacier Guides and absolutely loved them. Robert had a bit of trouble with his seat twisting and I sometimes had a hard time throwing my leg over mine...I'm 5'1 and not quite as limber as I used to be. But other than those two things, the bikes were great. We did somewhere between 12 and 14 miles, most of it outside of the park. We did enter the park through the West Glacier entrance and spent some time on the back road and bike path but the Going to the Sun Road was closed to bike traffic after June, I believe. Up until that time, you can ride bikes up to Logan Pass if you want to. The problem after June is that the traffic picks up and they close the road to bike traffic between peak road usage times.

After riding, we went back to the rig, had lunch, spent so time with Bruce Wayne and then headed back into the park to do a hike close to McDonald Falls. It was a fairly easy hike with lots of beautiful places to stop and take pictures.

After finishing our hike, we got back in the car and drove the Going to the Sun Road up to Logan Pass. We had plans to hike other trails but some of them were closed due to bear frequenting the area.

Our day was amazing and we finally got back to the rig around 7:30pm that night. Instead of cooking, we took advantage of the KOA outdoor restaurant and had a lovely steak. The amenities at the West Glacier KOA were outstanding and we really did enjoy our time there.

July 16th, 2021

Hiking the Garden Wall, Part of the Highline Trail

The beginning of the Garden Wall hike starts close to Logan Pass. We decided that since it was so hard finding a park space at Logan Pass during the morning hours, we would wait till later in the afternoon. Since it was July we would have plenty of light in case we decided to hike further than our original plan, so starting our hike at 4:30pm was great for us. There were plenty of people on the trail, coming and going so we never felt like we would be by ourselves for any length of time. 

The Highline trail is about 15 miles. Our goal was to do the first portion of the hike that goes along what is called the Garden Wall. Literally there is a garden hose that has been bolted into the rock that you can hold onto. The trail is pretty narrow, with some pretty scary drop-offs, but if you don't have any mobility issues, it isn't that bad. That part of the trail is pretty level with some big rocks in the trail so you have to be attentive for sure. After you get past the Garden Wall, the trail goes down for a ways, then starts climbing back up the side of the mountain. We went about a mile and a half in to a nice waterfall, rested up and then hiked back out. I think we could have gone for another half a mile but I get anxious in bear country and had heard of reports of bear on the trail itself. No thank you! We made it back to the Logan Pass Visitor center by 6:20pm so all in all we hiked for 2 hours and did 3 miles. The only thing I regret is the fact that the prevailing winds were bringing in the smoke from the California fires and was really messing with the air quality. Going in July is a gamble with forest fires. May is almost too early because the Going to the Sun Road might not be open at Logan Pass due to snow. I think June or September would be an ideal time to visit Glacier National Park, when we do it again.

I almost forgot...on our way back down the GTTSR, we stopped at one of the pull outs and took pictures of a couple of waterfalls and then stopped to take pictures of the beautifully painted pickup truck in front of Huckleberry Haven. They have some of the best huckleberry products around. Check them out!

July 17th, 2021

Hiking St. Mary's Falls, Boat Ride on St. Mary's Lake and spotting a grizzly bear

With at least 2 good hikes under our belt and a revamping of plans, we decided we needed to see the eastern side or the St. Mary's side of Glacier National Park. Since we were staying on the west side of Glacier National Park, we took the Going to the Sun Road again, this time past Logan Pass and then past Jackson Glacier. We had tickets to board the boat at St. Mary's dockside at 4pm so we needed to be there about 30 minutes prior. With that in mind, I had done some research on St. Mary's Falls and Virgina Falls. Virginia Falls is another mile or so past St. Mary's Falls so unfortunately we ran out of time to get to it, but we did hike about a half a mile past St. Mary's Falls and found another waterfall that was so beautiful! 

From the trailhead to St. Mary's Falls is a very easy 1 mile trail or so. It takes you through the St. Mary's burned area that occurred in 2015. The vegetation is coming back but the burnt trees are a stark reminder of the devastation that happened. In July of 2015, a fire broke out close to Jackson Glacier and west of the town of St. Mary. Around 4000 acres of land were burned and most likely it was started by careless humans. Fires are synonymous with large parks and almost every year there is at least one fire. In fact, right after we left the area, Polebridge was endanger of being evacuated due to a fire close by.

The St. Mary's falls are really beautiful. They have that same aqua color to them that the cascades in the lower part of Glacier have...all because of the glacial silt. While we were there, lots of young people were jumping off the high portion of the rocks into the water. I bet it was super refreshing as we had temps back up into the high 80's. The visibility was still poor if you were looking back to the West but around the falls and looking Eastward it was just beautiful.

After, getting back on the road, we headed to the pier to catch our boat ride. We had a super knowledgeable guide aboard who talked about the history of the area and gave us a geology lesson! As we were pulling back up to dock, someone noticed a young grizzly bear heading down from above the Going to the Sound Road. The bear stopped traffic for a bit and then moseyed his way down to the lake. Then he started heading over to the area where the guide shack is located. I wish I had brought the Nikon and the 200mm and I would have taken a better picture of him, but the cell phone image will have to do. I was stoked to see a grizzly and even more appreciative of the fact that he was quite a distance away from us!

Upon leaving the boat dock area, we continued over to the eastern entrance of Glacier National Park and had dinner then made the 2 hour trip back to the KOA. The views were different, not as spectacular as the Going to the Sun Road but it was a nice change. I don't think we got back to the rig until 8:30pm that night. I know Bruce Wayne was glad to see us!