Glacier NP, MT
2022 Parks Road Trip Diary: Days 27-32
Truly a hikerās paradise. This was easily our favorite park up to this point. New challenges, new achievements ā I certainly left feeling like my hiking abilities had leveled up.
Day 27: The Hazards of First Come, First Serve
Story time.
Our goal for where to stay in Glacier National Park was Many Glacier Campground, widely regarded as the area of the park with the best hiking. Importantly for us, it also has fifty or so first come, first serve sites, unlike most of the other campgrounds which are reservation-only (and were totally booked up).
So, Many Glacier Campground was the basket we had to put all our eggs into. This is in a pretty remote part of Montana, on a Sunday night, so what are the chances weād be able to get a spot? With those conditions, pretty good, in our experience.
Well, there were zero available sites when we arrived at 6pm after the drive from Yellowstone. We were informed by the rangers who turned us away that every day, in order to get a spot, people will line up well before 7:30am when the camp hosts show up for work and start giving away newly-vacated spots. Sometimes people will line up as early as 5am.
Normally, I might scoff at the idea of waking up before sunrise, but here the decision to do so felt easy: any other campground, even a private one, would be much worse because it would require at least thirty minutes of driving into the park every morning.
Still, we needed somewhere to stay tonight, so we drove the thirty minutes to the private campground that the ranger suggested. It ended up being pretty bad ā no shade, lots of mosquitoes, and bathroom sink water that tasted like rust ā but I suppose for me that was just more motivation to execute this Many Glacier plan successfully.
So, we set an alarm for 4:30am with the goal of joining the first-come-first-serve line by 5:30am. This timing also fit well with the weather forecast, which said that rain was coming around 5:00am. We definitely did not want to be packing up our tent in the rain.
Day 28: Nothing Can Stop Us From Getting a Spot
Morning: Many Glacier, Much Wow
An irrational fear of somehow missing my alarm caused me to keep waking up during the night, every thirty minutes or so. This was how I became aware of the distant thunder and lightning as it approached (still without rain) around 3:30am. Its intensity was clearly increasing a little after 4am; Judy was awakened too, and we agreed that this rain was probably coming sooner than 5am. Though the alarm was still ten or fifteen minutes away, and sleep felt so precious at this time of night, we scrambled out of the sleeping bag and got packing.
It was an eerie environment, with rain lightly drizzling and pitch darkness frequently interrupted by flashes of lightning. We did the fastest tent-packing job weād ever done, and just in time, too; the rain started getting serious just as we hopped in the car. By the time we were driving out of the campground, it was pouring.
And I mean POURING. This was the kind of rain that makes you put on your carās hazard lights and go 25 mph on a 65 mph road. Especially once that rain turns to nickel-sized hail only minutes later. Still, all I could think was āI bet this will deter others from lining up for a site this morning.ā š
We got to the campground without a hitch and found ourselves second in line, which all but guaranteed us a spot. We rewarded our own efforts by eating a yogurt and granola breakfast in the car as the rain subsided, the sun finally rose over the campground, and the line of cars grew behind us.
The wait until 7:30am was long, but I was able to nap a bit. There was also some free entertainment for a short period of time:
Having secured a spot, we couldnāt actually move in yet as the campsite policy gave the current occupants until noon to vacate. So we headed to a nearby picnic area to make some coffee and figure out what to do next.
Midday: Grinnell Glacier Trail
Though the earlier rain was clearly past us now, the forecast for the rest of the day wasnāt great, making us hesitant to embark on any big hike. We decided to do Grinnell Glacier Trail (8.2 mi, ~1600 ft elev gain; less than usual due to partial closure) since it was right next to camp, not too long, but still a well-rated trail.
The warnings about bears in this park were the most prominent yet. For one, a camp host told us that only a few weeks ago they had to limit Many Glacier Campground to RV camping only because of bears frequenting the area. We never ended up encountering any, but we did fashion a bear bell out of a metal cup and two carabiners and hung it off our bag.
We later learned that bear bellsā effectiveness is questionable. The world of bear preparedness is confusing. With bear spray costing $50 / can, I suspect a conspiracy of lies is being propagated by Big Bear Spray. Iāll be sticking to talking and clapping.
Anyway, on this trail, we went as far as we could, which was to the trail closure.
This was when we learned about snow bridges, where thick snowfall is eroded from underneath by moving water, creating a bridge-like structure. They often donāt look scary, but itās difficult to tell whether theyāll be able to support your weight.
The one towards the end of the Grinnell Glacier Trail was apparently unsafe. From this point on, we would inspect all snow patches with hesitation.
It was probably for the best that the hike was shortened by the trail closure, because it began to rain, as predicted.
Evening: Many Glacier Hotel
To give time for the rain to let up before we went and set up camp, we decided to explore the nearby Many Glacier Hotel, an old lodge from 1915 (though recently renovated). It was a good spot to relax and sip on a hot drink while drying off from the rain.
The hotel seemed like a nice place to stay as well, but we were happy with our hard-earned campsite (that was 10x cheaper š).
It was a long, wet day. We had lost the will to cook dinner, so we ordered pizza and mac and cheese from the restaurant at the Swiftcurrent Motor Inn, an inn within walking distance of the Many Glacier Campground. That was a great decision.
Day 29: Going to the Sun
Many Glacier is a great spot for hiking, but there are still some really fantastic hikes in other areas of the park that we knew we wanted to do during our stay. Most of the rest of the park is accessed via a single road, called Going to the Sun Road. Itās so scenic and popular that the park limits traffic by requiring timed entry reservations. You can get one the day before if you nab it online minutes after it is released, but we did not have reliable enough internet to do that. There is one loophole though: they only begin enforcing entry permits starting at 6am, and you can enter the park earlier.
Well, sleeping at 9:30pm and waking up at 5:00am is our specialty right now. So we figured weād do Going to the Sun Road while waking up at 5am was still easy.
Driving down Going to the Sun Road at sunrise was a pretty unforgettable experience.
Our aim for the day was to hike the Highline Trail (14.9 mi, 2600 ft elev gain). Itās the most popular trail in the park; apparently the trailhead parking lot fills up by 7am. Unfortunately when we got there, we learned that the trail was closed due toā¦ wait for itā¦ snow hazard. This national park lives up to its name, I guess.
We shifted plans to do our second-place hike in this region, the Siyeh Pass Trail (reverse direction) (9.7 mi, 3400 ft elev gain). This is a point-to-point trail, but Glacier has a shuttle system that could take us from the other point back to our car.
It was 6:30am and we had skipped breakfast in order to make it in before permit checking began at 6. So before setting off, we took some time to make coffee and eat some food at a picnic area.
Even though Siyeh Pass was our second choice, it really did not disappoint. The first part followed a valley looking up at an impressive mountain range to the left the whole time.
Then you hit the point where you have to ascend to the pass, where we encountered several snow patches covering the trail. At times it was difficult to wayfind.
Some of the icy areas were actually pretty steep ā a slip would have probably sent you sliding, and would hurt. However, while it may look scary when approaching it, itās doable when you just focus on taking each step confidently. (ā¦Thereās a metaphor in there somewhere.)
Being a pass meant that it was a way to get past an otherwise-impassable mountain range, which usually means great views not only looking backwards, but on the other side as well. It did deliver.
This was yet another long day, but pizza and mac and cheese twice in a row would be irresponsible. We forced ourselves to cook a proper camp dinner (I forget, probably rice and beans or something), ate, and went to bed.
Day 30: Ptarmigan Tunnel
After two 5am mornings, we finally had a chance to catch up on sleep. Todayās plan was simple: hike Ptarmigan Tunnel Trail (10.6 mi, 2400 ft elev gain). This hike is often combined with a hike to Iceberg Lake, but that was closed at the time due to bear danger. (At least itās not another snow hazard?)
Ptarmigan Tunnel is also a pass, in a sense. It allows you to pass from one side of a mountain range to the other, but not by climbing over the mountains at a low point. Instead, you climb to a point where the mountain wall becomes thin enough for a tunnel to have been drilled through.
I didnāt look up its history, but I have to imagine the cost to construct something like this makes it very unlikely to be worth the benefits. That means itās rare, which makes it cool.
This marmot wasnāt the only wildlife on this trail. We found another moose on the way back!
Day 31: So. Many. Mountains.
We were disappointed by the Highline Trailās earlier closure, and to make matters more sad it happened to re-open this day, but we wouldnāt be able to hike it without doing another 5am wake-up, which we did not plan for.
However, we did notice that it connected to a trail that eventually led to Many Glacier Campground: the Swiftcurrent Pass Trail (15.9 mi, 3800 ft elev gain). The two have nearly the same endpoint, at the Granite Park Chalet. Seeing that the Swiftcurrent Pass Trail was well-rated, we figured this would be the closest we could come to seeing what the Highline Trail was like. (And before you suggest continuing on to the Highline after Swiftcurrent Pass, you try hiking 30 miles in one day.)
16 miles is basically the upper limit of what weāve been willing to subject ourselves to so far. And 3800 ft of gain is quite a lot of work too. This would be a challenging day.
The first several miles were pretty flat, traveling through a valley next to a few lakes. Eventually, you hit a point where you begin the steep ascent to the pass. It felt neverending, but at least there were nice views overlooking Bullhead Lake any time you took a break.
We eventually reached the pass. The final part of the hike was a steep 1200 ft climb over 1.2 miles up to Swiftcurrent Mountain Peak. This would become my new definition of ādear god thatās steepā: anything over 1000 ft elevation per mile traveled.
Judy opted to instead explore the Granite Park Chalet which was another mile beyond the pass, but with less elevation gain. Weāll occasionally take different paths like this, usually because I want to do something that seems like it shouldnāt be in my comfort zone, let alone hers. Weāll agree on a time to meet back up, and knowing Iād be keeping her waiting is great motivation for me to get my butt moving even when it gets tough.
The views up there were downright ridiculous. Every direction overlooked a range of mountains extending as far as you could see.
We had agreed on one hour for the there-and-back. I am proud that I wasnāt far off ā I took 62 minutes ā but I was running down the mountain to achieve that. 38 minutes up, 5 minutes at the top, 19 minutes down.
The hike back felt so long. With knees and ankles feeling destroyed, eight miles does not go by quickly.
The next day Iād be hobbling to the bathroom for my morning routine because my legs were so sore. But it was so worth it.
Unlike in other parks, we gave ourselves no rest days between hikes. Here is the summary of the full four days:
| Day | Distance (mi) | Elev. gain (ft) | Hike |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7/18 | 8.2 | 1600 | Grinnell Glacier (partial) |
| 7/19 | 9.7 | 3400 | Siyeh Pass (reverse) |
| 7/20 | 10.6 | 2400 | Ptarmigan Tunnel |
| 7/21 | 15.9 | 3800 | Swiftcurrent Pass to Mountain Peak |
| Total | 44.4 | 11200 | Ā |
Knowing now that we could do this felt like confirmation that our four straight weeks of hiking was really having a positive impact on our strength and stamina. šŖ
Day 32: Crossing the Border
Glacier National Park is on the border with Canada. After less than an hour of driving in the morning, we were in a new country.
Cardston is the first major town on the other side of the border, and also the first place we could finally get some LTE. We entered Canada with no campsite reservations and no idea where we could find first-come-first-serve sites. Time to figure out where the heck we were headed!
post originally written 8/9, backdated to match reality