Glacier National Park Photo Diary + Travel Guide
hello! I’m so stinking excited to share our recent National Park adventures with you this week. I am unbelievably grateful we were able to pull off another National Park trip this year (we did a Pacific Northwest excursion in late June – you can read about it here).
It’s wild, because while I’ve always wanted to visit these places, it never would’ve happened this year without COVID. I realize how ridiculous that sentence sounds, but all of our “usual” events were cancelled this year (music festivals, concerts, weddings) and we had the time, we had the flight credit, and it is very easy to socially distance yourself while exploring National Parks. Again, it is a personal choice to travel during this time, and it was a choice I (and the people in my immediate circle) were comfortable with.
Instead of one massive blog post covering the entire trip (like I did for the Pacific Northwest), I will be breaking this trip into 3 posts, one for each National Park and surrounding area. The first park we visited was Glacier National Park, located about 30 minutes from Whitefish, Montana. (Well the West Entrance at least).
Glacier National Park is WAY more North than I realized. Michigan friends – it’s about as north as the top of the U.P. And everyone else – it’s so far north that part of the park extends into Canada. All the maps actually say “Waterton – Glacier, International Peace Park World Heritage Site” So in The US, it’s Glacier National Park, and in Canada it’s Waterton Lakes National Park. Conveniently we had purchased an annual National Park pass back in June before our first trip – so we used that again on this one!
Brendan and I would absolutely love to go back, and when we do we will plan to be there in August. Our actual dates in the park were September 23-26, and that was cold and wet. Still amazingly beautiful and I don’t regret it for a second – but yes, cold and wet haha.
So, let’s dive in…
We started our adventure in Kalispell, MT. Brendan and I flew from Grand Rapids to Kalispell with a connection in Chicago. Artur wanted to road trip so he left the week prior and drove out there then scooped us as the airport. First Airbnb was a little bungalow – conveniently located 9 miles from West Glacier and an entrance to Glacier National Park.
Directly from the airport we headed to Piggyback BBQ per a friend’s recommendation, then visited Whitefish Lake to enjoy the view. We hit Safeway to stock up on groceries, loaded up the Subaru then headed to our home for the next 3 days.
Our first AirBnb a little bungalow – conveniently located 9 miles outside of the West Glacier entrance. After unloaded our groceries and luggage we hopped back in the car to explore a bit of the park and get familiar with it. We drove in the West Entrance, up to Logan’s Pass, walked around a bit + took some pictures. Then the guys climbed a waterfall and then we stopped by Lake McDonald once it got dark on our way out of the park.
Our first full day in the park was Thursday, September 27th
Artur had to stay at the AirBnb and work the entire day (but luckily he’d been to Glacier before). Brendan and I took the car and headed in the West Entrance and took Going to the Sun road (main road) to Logan’s Pass again.
[Sidenote – Logan’s Pass is actually on the Continental Divide! (it’s also at 6,646 ft). The Continental Divide is also a factor with weather.] We debated doing the 16 mile hike to Grinnell Glacier, but the hail, wind and rain at the top deterred us. (Along with the ranger who said “I wouldn’t do that today.” SAY NO MORE SIR.
He recommended we go at hike the waterfalls near St. Mary Lake.
Due to COVID – the east side of the park was closed. So, you could drive Going to the Sun road until about 3 miles west of the St. Mary’s visitor center. We drove as far as we could, stopping to take photos and at viewpoints along the way. Like Jackson Glacier overlook you see in the photos below. WHERE I MET THIS CORGI IN A BACKPACK WHO WAS HAVING A GREAT TIME.
We ended up parking by Sun Point, doing the quick hike up for the view, then beginning the hike to 3 waterfalls (Baring Falls, St. Mary Falls and Virginia Falls) from Sun Point. We hiked along St. Mary Lake which was wonderful because you almost always had a view of it. I love bodies of water so much, so you can imagine how happy I was. Throughout this hike we definitely got rained and hailed on but by the end the sun had come out- you’ll see in photos below.
I think our total hike distance that day was between 6.5-7 miles. So nothing too wild but a good hike nonetheless. Once we returned back to the car we were starving (surprise) and still had about an 80-90 minute drive out of the park.
One thing to remember when visiting the national parks. It’s often one singular two lane road. So if you’re only 15 minute from the park entrance (like we were) it could be a 90+ minute drive to where you’re starting a hike. From sun point parking lot it took us about 75-80 minute to get out of the park.
We headed home to the Airbnb, reconvened with Artur and ordered takeout from Glacier Grille for the night. It was nothing special. At all. Kind of sub par. But, as I’ll touch on in other posts, you don’t go to the National Parks for the food haha.
Friday, September 28th, our final day at Glacier National Park
The big day.
Grinnell Glacier day.
16 miles.
43,000 steps.
In the hail and insane winds.
One of the hardest things I’ve done.
On Friday morning we set out to hike to Grinnell Glacier. Now, because of the east side of the park being closed and the fact that we only had one car – there was only one route to Grinnell Glacier – and it started at Logan’s Pass and was 16 miles out and back. On AllTrails one guy recommended a two car situation where you could see more of the park and start and end at different places. But we had 3 of us and one car so that was out.
If the east side would’ve been open we could’ve done a different hike that ended up at the bottom of the glacial lake (that view looks like this and that’s part of what we want to go back for).
Anyway, the 3 of us set out at 10:30ish am with enough snacks, water + layers. We kind of figured we would be snowed on, so we had (what we thought) were appropriate layers.
Let me tell you. 12 of our 16 miles were in a mixture hail, rain and winds. That were, quite frankly, unrelenting. The first 4 miles out were beautiful – just look at these photos below. And then we went over the ridge, visibility started to get worse and the rain began.
Now, Brendan and I had been hailed and rained on the day prior, but it had cleared up, so I was hopeful we could at least just have a drizzle and some fog. Or maybe even some snow. No big deal.
As we’re getting closer to the glacier it’s getting worse and worse, and we’re seeing lots of people on their way back in. (yes we could’ve and should’ve started earlier but it’s also vacation and none of us like being rushed – plus the whole hour drive to the starting point.)
Anyway. At mile 7 we reach a sign (photo below) – it says 0.6 miles up to Grinnell Glacier overlook. At this point I am soaked – boots, gloves, legs (my torso was great though haha.) But the guys encouraged me and said no, we made it this far. We’re going up.
These photos do not even begin to set the scene. But please picture non-existent visibility, hail hitting you in the face, 37 degrees, winds that feel like they could knock you over, oh, and you’re climbing straight up wet rocks. This was truly a “just keep putting one foot in the front of the other” mile. And it sucked. All 3 of us will attest to that. That last mile up the Glacier was brutal.
We made it to the top and Artur got some video footage. He’s currently working on putting together a video of our hike that I definitely want to share with you all! We briefly snacked – meaning I ate about 5 Starburst, some cashews and part of Brendan’s apple. Had the weather not been what it was, we would’ve taken breaks and eaten our snacks. But it was so bad and we were so cold that stopping was really not an option. Other than about 10 minutes at the top (behind a rock for shelter from the wind) we hiked for SEVEN HOURS STRAIGHT.
By the time we got back down from the overlook all of our gloves were soaked and the goals were: keep your hands warm, avoid bears + make it back to the car. (This probably goes without saying but we had zero service). We did briefly lose the trail, at which point I burst into tears because I thought I was stuck out there. To which Brendan said “hey, those tears are going to make you colder and may freeze so you need to stay calm.” (or something along those lines. I pulled it together right quick).
We hauled it as fast as we could the 7 remaining miles back the car. Which still was 3ish hours, but I was proud of us for being able to keep the pace after so long and being so wet. In terms of gear – Brendan was the only one of us with waterproof boots so his feet stayed dry until the last mile or so. Artur and I both have more ventilated boots so my boots had puddles in them by mile 7.
We all had a different mixture of gear on but let me tell you – fleece lined water repellent leggings DID NOT CUT IT. I should’ve been wearing completely fleece lined waterproof hiking pants. And am currently kicking myself for not listening to the lady at the store before we left who told me to buy waterproof rain pants. We all only had thin gloves – definitely could’ve use an insulated ski mitten. As far as layers. I wore: Underarmour base layer, 1/4 zip pullover, Patagonia vest, Patagonia furry jacket, top layer of my ski coat. My torso was the only thing still warm after this. Looking back I could’ve chosen better top layers (I brought enough) but they served their purpose.
I want you to know that even after all of that I would still recommend that hike. I wish we could’ve seen more of the views and I would absolutely do it again – just earlier in the year. It was one of those things that is really hard while you’re doing it, but feels good after. I am so proud of us for completing the hike. And of myself because I pushed WAY outside my comfort zone. But, as Brendan told me – in the future when things are really hard, you can look back and remember how challenging this was and how you accomplished it. Which, I know I will be thinking about this hike when I race my half Ironman next summer.
Overall I adored Glacier National Park and I feel like we barely scratched the surface with 2.5 days in the park and the entire east side being closed. I hope to return one day, to visit the eastern and northern parts of the park, and do Grinnell Glacier again…with a view this time.
Planning a trip to Glacier National Park? Pin this post for later.
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Thank you for sharing the travel guide!