Andrew and I both have been DYING to visit Glacier NP. It has been on our bucket list for a while. Originally we had planned to combine visiting Glacier with a trip into Canada to Banff. Due to the ongoing pandemic, visiting Canada is not in the cards anytime soon. Maybe next summer we will finally be able to go into Canada and up to Alaska. Until then, we were still able to thoroughly enjoy Glacier and all she has to offer.
Glacier instituted ticketed entry to the Going-to-the-Sun road from the West Entrance and St Mary entrance last summer and this summer. We scored an entry ticket two days later than we planned to arrive which meant we couldn’t camp inside the park those first couple nights either, since we had planned on a first come site. We boondocked outside the park and drove into the park via the Camas road entrance. Apparently this is a National Park hack because it allowed us to circumvent the ticketed entry entirely at the west entrance. The downside is getting to Camas road required driving down a VERY bumpy, unpaved road. I would not have wanted to drive down the unpaved portion in anything other than our AWD or a 4WD vehicle. There weren’t big ruts, but the better suspension and traction made the road more manageable.
Since we got into the park a day early, we went to the visitors center and got Jr Ranger books, checked out the campground and got info on getting sites, visited the Apgar village to check out kayak rentals, and we decided to drive the Sun road anyway and check out some turnouts along Lake McDonald and swim a bit. The next morning Andrew woke up super early and scored us a campsite in Apgar campground.
Once we got a campsite inside the park, we drove the Sun road to Logan pass and took the Hidden Lake trail. The trail was partially covered in snow still (more snow!). On the trail we saw several big horn sheep, pika, and a marmot sunning itself on a rock. The kids loved sliding on their butts on the way down. I also slid on my butt on the way down, accidentally, when I slipped and fell. Good thing I was wearing quick dry shorts. We ended the day with another swim in Lake McDonald, picking out some of the neatest rocks from the lake bottom.
The next day we drove the Sun road again, but this time we went to Rising Sun. We stopped at Lunch Creek for lunch, where we saw a mountain goat (!) before continuing on the road to Sun Point and Baring Falls. We were originally intending to hike to Virginia and St Mary falls, but there was no parking at the St Mary Falls trailhead. Parking at Sun Point would’ve put our hike mileage to Virginia Falls around 6 miles round trip and it was 95 degrees with no shade due to being in a recently burned area. Basically, it was kind of miserable and the kids were miserable. Baring Falls hike was 1.6 miles round trip and was challenging enough in the heat with no shade. After the hike we continued the drive up to Rising Sun just to see what there was there, but it was pretty quiet. Once we got back to Apgar Village, Ben and I went kayaking (for 45 minutes, because that’s all I could do paddling around a non-contributing body).
On day 3 we braved the crowds and went to hike the Trail of the Cedars. This parking lot was super crazy. Andrew dropped us off at the picnic area while he circled to find a parking spot. The Trail of the Cedars itself was not that crowded, so the rest of the people in the parking lot must have been hiking to Avalanche lake which has a trailhead at the same parking lot. We thought about doing the hike in the evening, which was recommended by another family, but evening temperatures were even hotter than morning temperatures (high 90s). We ended the day with yet another afternoon spent swimming/floating at Lake McDonald. We could spend all day inspecting the colorful rocks on the lake bottom and finding interesting, neat rocks. The lake water is so clear and calm and perfect for a floaty chair and relaxing.
At the lake in the afternoon of day 3, I told Andrew, “we need to keep an eye on those clouds, they look like thunderhead clouds forming.” He replied, “the weather forecast doesn’t show us getting any rain.” I want it to be known that I am a better predicter of rain than the weather forecast. We had a doozy of a lightning and rain storm. I heard some thunder grumbles in the sky and cleared camp of anything we had left out just in time for the rain to start coming down. (Andrew was not there or he would’ve been helping I’m sure.) It is amazing to me the number of people in the campground who were caught completely off guard by the rain. Apparently growing up in Northern New Mexico teaches you a lot about rain clouds and weather.
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