Glacier National Park

July 2021

We planned our first visit to Glacier to be the second week in July because the Going-to-the-Sun road would be clear of snow by then, and many of the park’s sights and trails are along that road. We had to get a pass from recreation.gov for the Going-to-the-Sun road, because park officials were restricting the number of cars on the road. However, people could still drive their cars in if they got there before 6 a.m. or after 5 p.m., or they could take the free shuttle anytime. We found that even with the restrictions, that parking was a big problem. We heard that if you weren’t at Logan Pass by 6 a.m., you wouldn’t find a parking place (unless you stalked someone who was leaving). We ended up having to park our car at the St. Mary visitor center and take a shuttle one day just to be able to go on a trail at Logan Pass.

The sights were beautiful, but the crowds and driving distance put a damper on the visit. We did a lot of driving back and forth. Our campground was nice, but it was about a 40 minute drive just to get to the park entrance. If we’d been able to find a campsite closer to the park, it would have been much better.

A narrow, winding, close-to-the-edge spot on Going-to-the-Sun Road

View on Going-to-the-Sun Road, taken with my phone through the car window because there wasn’t any place to pull off at that point.

Along the road, we stopped at one of the many waterfalls caused by melting snow.

Our first full day at the park started out cloudy and chilly. We went to Logan Pass first, but gave up trying to find a parking space there, and headed back west to stop at whatever pullouts had parking space. As we headed to lower elevation, the sun came out and it warmed up. We went to Lake McDonald Lodge and stood in line for expensive burgers for lunch, which we ate outdoors, since all indoor dining was closed. Then we walked to the rocky beach by the lake. The rocks are beautiful red, yellow, and blue colors when wet. The red rocks look purplish when dry.

Lake McDonald, behind the lodge.

More views along Going-to-the-Sun Road

We stopped at other parking areas along the road to see McDonald Falls and other picturesque parts of the river that runs alongside the road. We also saw a mountain goat, but my phone pics were pretty bad. I think mountain goats are cute!

On another day, we went to the east entrance onto Going-to-the-Sun Road, and saw St. Mary Lake, and little Wild Goose Island on the lake. It would have better to see the island in the morning for better light for photography, though.

Also on the east side, but on a different road, was a small, separate area called Two Medicine. There was a little beach, store, and boat dock. The best view of one of the 2 lakes was actually on Route 49 above and outside of the park.

Also in the Two Medicine area was a short, easy trail called Running Eagle Falls Nature Trail. This led to a waterfall emptying into a little pool of cold water. Some people braved the cold and were swimming and jumping off a rock into the pool. To get to the swimming hole, we crossed a little footbridge over a little creek with more of the beautiful red and yellow rocks. A very nice stop!

Farther north, only 30 miles from the Canadian border on the east side of the park, was the road to the Many Glacier entrance. This road was gravel, which was under construction and was down to one lane, which meant very long wait times for our turn to drive down the road. It looked like they were just removing gravel, and resurfacing with more gravel, rather than paving. Hope I’m wrong about that! Because of the construction, we couldn’t stop at any pullouts that had a view of Lake Sherburne, with the mountains behind it. Too bad, because the glimpses we had were beautiful. My photos here were pretty pitiful. We did see a mama moose right by the side of the road. She looked really hungry, because she was destructively chomping on tree branches and little saplings. Her baby moose was standing very still farther away from the road. I tried to take photos, but mama was hidden behind the trees and moving fast. We were really close to her, so I’m glad we were in the car! (Phone pic is zoomed in a bit—we weren’t quite that close!)

While we were at Glacier, we celebrated our anniversary with a nice dinner at the Izaak Walton Inn at Essex. This historic hotel was built next to the railroad line, and besides the inn and restaurant, it has cabooses and a locomotive that have been renovated into cabins. We ate on the covered patio and watched several freight trains go by. At the time the inn was built, it was thought that the town of Essex would be a gateway to a south entrance to Glacier National Park, but that entrance never materialized. We enjoyed the setting of railroad and garden during our dinner. I wish I’d taken pictures of the cabooses, but I did get a few flower pics!

On our last day at Glacier, we decided to take the free shuttle so that we could get to Logan Pass. From the visitor center there, we hiked UP the trail to Hidden Lake Overlook. Snow still covered the trail in spots and was slippery. There were a LOT of people also hiking the trail. We saw a mountain goat in the distance, and several bighorn sheep. I couldn’t quite make it to the top. It was just too much climbing up for me, on many stairs that were too high and far apart, and no shade to rest under. It’s rated an easy-moderate hike, but has an elevation gain of 500 feet in a mile and a quarter.

There was so much we didn’t get to do, because of the crowds and parking issues. If we ever go back, it’ll be in the fall.