Day 3: Billings, Montana – Glacier National Park, Montana

The drive from Billings, Montana to Glacier National Park was beautiful. You never have to wonder why they call it “Big Sky Country” – the mountains and blue skies were beyond stunning. We arrived to find plenty of people parked off to the side waiting for the magic time of day when they don’t have to have a reservation ticket for Going-To-The-Sun-Road. Once in the park, we parked at the St. Mary Visitor Center and walked a short walk to the Glacier National Park sign. Did you really see the park if you don’t take a picture with the sign? We drove to our lodging at Rising Sun Motor Inn and Cabins and chatted with the front desk gal from Alabama (love that accent Jen-nay). We drove to our cute tiny cabin in the woods 18-B. Our cabin was the last in a line of tiny cabins and it butted up right to the woods. The cabin itself was amazing and clean and came with a box fan due to there being no air conditioning. We brought our own box fan too and were glad we did because it got pretty hot at night. There was a writing desk, a toilet, shower, sink, and a coffee maker. Our neighbor the next cabin over was this nice lady from Minnesota. Midwest gang strong. We heard there was some great food outside of the park and since we were only 10 minutes from the east entrance we headed that way and dined at The Two Sisters Café. I got a juicy burger with fries while Megan got a Banh Mi sandwich. We ended the night by sharing a huckleberry shake and then drove back to our cabin in the park.

Day 4: Glacier National Park, Montana

Our first full day in GNP and we woke up at 4:30am. While terribly painful to wake that early, we read that it was a MUST to get a parking spot at Logan Pass. Staying on the east side of the park meant we were slightly closer to the Logan Pass area than those who were planning to drive all the way from the west entrance. We drank our coffee and packed the car with our cooler, lunch items, and day hiking packs. Sunrise was at 5:30am and that’s exactly when we were headed out to Logan Pass from the cabin. It took us 25 minutes to get there and we arrived around 6am with our choice of a parking spot. While pulling into the lot we saw plenty of big horned sheep in and near the lot. It seemed like everyone had the same idea to get to the spot, eat some breakfast, use the bathroom, and go on their hike. By 6:30am there were no spots left. After eating breakfast and putting on our hiking boots, we headed out to the Highline Trail. The whole trail itself is a beast (for us) so we decided to only hike 4 miles in and then turn around, have lunch at the car, and then do another hike from the Logan Pass area. Bear spray in hand, we trekked along with very terrifying trail. If you are very afraid of heights you might reconsider this one. One plus to hiking in the early hours is that the sun isn’t scorching your skin – it’s nice and cool. We saw many people on the trail so we felt safe enough that we weren’t going to get eaten by a grizzly. By the time we made it to the 4 mile mark at the Haystack Butte the sun was where it could find us and we were glad we each brought a Kafka’s Kool Tie with us. They are neckwear you wet and then wear around your neck to keep you cool all day. When we got back to the car we had our pb&j lunch. From there we decided to hike the Hidden Lake trail. We learned that the trail was closed at the large overlook due to bear activity at the Hidden Lake. We were surprised to see plenty of snow on the trail and I barely stayed on my own two feet in some spots. It was a complete slip and slide in some areas! On our way up to the overlook we saw a mountain goat who looked like he was losing some of his winter coat. We saw a lady, with an Iowa hat on, who told us that there was a grizzly bear down in Hidden Lake fishing so we booked it to the overlook where plenty of people were pointing and looking down at the lake at the bear. While you could see him with your naked eye – we brought out our binoculars. We were some of the only people who brought our binoculars and we are really glad we did – we were able to see the grizzly fishing down below in Hidden Lake. We stayed long enough to see 3 more grizzly bears swimming and splashing in the water. After returning to the car, we called it a day and drove out of the east entrance to eat a nearby restaurant, Rising Sun Pizza. We shared cheese sticks and a St. Mary Margarita pizza. We came back to the cabin just in time to chat it up with the head of security for the Rising Sun area and he told us that when we graduate college to call him and we can come work out here for a whole summer. Haha!

Day 5: Glacier National Park, Montana

Since Going-To-The-Sun Road is the main thoroughfare through the park and many have deemed it worthy of driving in its entirety, that’s what we decided to do with our full second day in the park. Since we were far enough on the east side, we figured we would drive all the way to the west entrance, take a detour to a cool area in the northwest side, then head back east – stopping at plenty of pull offs to take photos and also making time for a top rated shorter hike to stretch our legs. Surprisingly, GTTSR wasn’t as crowded as I thought it would be while trying to gawk and gaze at the beautiful landscape. I am the designated mountain driver for our trips so I was plenty busy downshifting, and focusing ahead so Megan got plenty of pictures for us out the car window. We made a stop at Trail of the Cedars and decided to continue the hike on to Avalanche Lake. While All Trails call this trail “easy” I would say it’s definitely moderate. I felt like I was climbing more rocky terrain on the Avalanche Lake Trail than I have ever climbed elsewhere. Once we got to the lake it was beautiful, but the sun’s rays were burning our skin. One surprising thing I found is that no matter how often I applied SPF 70 – my skin was like an egg on a skillet. I guess that’s what happens when you physically travel closer to the sun. Soon enough, we were back on GTTSR and headed west. We decided to leave the west entrance of the park and go to the northwest area called Polebridge first and then spend more time in the west area of GTTSR when we headed back to our cabin. Polebridge was a quirky place where people stay when they visit the park. We stopped at the cute Polebridge Mercantile and shared a scrumptious huckleberry bear claw. We had called the store before we even embarked on our trip and they let us know that if we arrive by 4pm they should still have the bear claws available. One surprising thing I learned was that there is no electricity in Polebridge, and they make everything in their bakery via solar power. How cool is that? We were going to go check out a lake nearby but due to the road construction just northeast of Polebridge - the road was closed. We drove back to the western entrance of GTTSR and stopped at Lake McDonald. From there we tried our best to get that Insta-worthy picture of the colorful rocks in Lake McDonald. We brought our water shoes and enjoyed some freezing cold water up to our thighs for a little break from the heat. We ate dinner at the Lake McDonald Lodge – since their dining room was closed we ordered food to go and ate it outside. I had a burger and fries and a huckleberry beer while Megan had a side salad, side of pasta salad, and a local beer. We then drove back on GTTSR and enjoyed the views as we twisted and turned our way to the cabin.