This Glacier is Hot!
Our
perfect day in Glacier
National Park started early, arriving at the gate at West Glacier by 8:15am.
This allowed us to beat most of the crowds and make lots of stops. When you’re
traveling with kids (we had two teens, a 10-year-old and a 5-year-old with
us), this is always a good idea. Also, when you’re in a national park, you
get a whole other “feel” for it if you can get some trail time. We stopped
in Apgar for a stop at the visitor’s center (grab a deluxe free map there),
bathroom break and to get a look at the lovely, still Lake McDonald.
TIP: You can buy an annual pass that gets you into ANY US
National park for a year for $80—a great deal, since one day will cost you
$35.
TIP: You can download an MP3 audio guide, which is cool for
kids in the car. They also have some sort of GPS adventure, using park-provided
units. Ask about either at the visitor’s center!
With
the goal of getting to Many Glacier by early afternoon, we moved on quickly,
stopping at Avalanche Creek. There, we walked the .9 mile Trail of the Cedars
loop, which is wheelchair accessible. It’s a lovely, quiet, verdant green
forest, and at the end, you see the amazing Avalanche Gorge, a torrent of
crystal clear water that has carved out a small canyon. Gorgeous! Kids loved
it.
TIP: No dogs are allowed on any formal trail, but you can
get them out of the car and walk them in parking lots and campgrounds.
After a snack and a drink, we headed up over the Going-to-the-Sun Road, a
75-year-old road that clings to the side of the mountain (put your not-afraid-of-heights
people in the right side of the car). Fantastic views of glacial peaks, cascading
waterfalls, the valleys below and the Continental Divide above, all along.
As we reached Logan Pass, we saw hikers on the Highline Trail stopped beside
a mountain goat. We quickly parked (this parking lot is always crazy—be prepared
to wait for a spot—another good reason to start early) and entered the trail.
Sure enough, just around the bend was a big male goat, just sitting on the
rocks, dolefully watching us. After a bit, we noticed he had a family with
him! The young ones were more skittish, running closer and then away. The
dad got up, climbed down to the trail and warned us off with a tip of his
head and a little huff, making the girls scream. His family moved off behind
him and he followed. It was a good reminder that all wild animals are always
wild—never get too relaxed around them!
We
ate a picnic lunch on the Logan Pass parking lot wall, looking down over the
next valley. There’s a nice hike here for families, on wooden stairs, up to
Hidden Lake, but it’s extremely crowded. Still, this is one of the best places
to see bighorn sheep and Dall Sheep. Keep your eyes peeled and bring a pair
of binoculars, if you have them. We moved on down, over the pass, stopping
at the far end of Saint Mary Lake. Be sure to park and get out when you see
the “photo opp” sign. It’s one of the most famous views of the park, with
towering peaks that plunge down to a green-blue lake, and a tiny, windswept
Wild Goose Island in the center. Marvelous.
TIP: If you start later and have accommodations on the East
side, the park offers a sunset boat cruise on Saint Mary Lake; check the free
paper they give you at the gate for dates and times (6:30pm in 2008).
You actually drive out of the park and back in to get to Many Glacier, about
an hour from Saint Mary, but well worth the drive. It’s my favorite view in
the entire park—and there are far fewer people over here. We parked at Many
Glacier Lodge and went down to the docks to rent kayaks for the kids and a
canoe for us ($14/hour for each boat; one hour is plenty; min. age is 14,
but we talked them into letting our two 13-year-olds and 10-year-old pilot
kayaks by committing to stay right beside them; however, I can’t promise they’d
let you do the same thing. Our 5-year-old rode in the canoe between us). It’s
a good idea to have a change of clothes available—wind kicks up waves and
paddles are bound to splash. But this was our kids’ favorite stop of the day.
Not only were we on one of most picturesque lakes in the park, we were paddling
our own boats! Fabulous experience!
You
can also tie up at the dock on the far end and hike over to the next lake
(Lake Josephine), getting you farther into the mountains and closer to Grinnell
Glacier, but you’ll drive up your boat bill, which is charged by the hour.
Another option is taking the ferry ride, which goes to that dock, and taking
the hike, about 3 miles round trip. I wanted to stay in the park
overnight at Many Glacier, but two months ahead of time, I couldn’t get
a room. Begin your quest for a room EARLY.
On this side of the park, if you have an extra day, I’d also highly recommend
the hike to Iceberg Lake, a moderately strenuous hike, but you end up in this
amazing place right under the hewn cliffs of the Continental Divide. There
used to be icebergs floating in the little lake there; I’d ask a ranger if
there still are, given the hot temperatures in recent years. The hike to Redrock
Falls is pretty easy—just take the Swiftcurrent/Redrock Lake trail.
But with no place to rest our weary head and miles to go, we drove home on
Hwy 89-Hwy 49-Hwy 2 to Kalispell, which took about 2.5 hours from Many Glacier,
allowing us to inhale two large pizzas at Moose’s Saloon on N. Main Street
(call ahead and order your pizzas—it was a 45 min wait). It's a crazy bar
where they let you carve into the wooden walls/pillars and throw peanut shells
on the floor. If you get there early in the evening, you're likely to be only
one of several families in this dark bar...kind of a crazy place to take kids,
but it was our mood. A perfect end, to a perfect day!