Glacier National Park | Blissfulbritt

A word to the wise: when planning a trip to GNP, wait until the Going to the Sun Road is officially open. When I decided to visit in June, I thought I was being smart. I waited until after May (still too cold), but didn’t wait until July (too many tourists) – I thought June was my Goldilocks of National Park vacation hacks.

This would have been true had I been able to access the Going to the Sun Road.

This road connects the west entrance to the east, and is said to be one of the most beautiful drives in the park. I knew there was a chance this road would still be closed for the winter, but what I did not know was that this road is the main way to access two of the three hikes I wanted to do within the park (unless I wanted to walk MILES, or somehow a bike appeared in my possession.)

I mentioned in my previous post I tend to have a Type A planning personality, and unless there is an obvious plan B I get easily overwhelmed with last minute planning. This isn’t always the case – when I am adventuring alone I have a much easier time readjusting, but when I am adventuring with others I struggle to make a last minute decision because I’m too caught up in how I can accommodate everyone else.

When trying to find a hike for our second day in the park (after discovering we could not easily access the ones I had originally chosen), I had a brief moment of defeat. Neither of us wanted to hike in a ton of snow (mostly me), and a lot of the trail reports still had snow at the higher elevations. I spent a long time sprawled on the floor with a map and my phone trying to find a decent trail report, but after the overwhelm from lack of options set it I was thankful I had someone else to take the reins.

What came from an evening of moderate stress was the most unexpected and amazing hike. Duncan, my darling companion, found a hike both of us were immediately sold on.

We chose Scenic Point, an 8 mile out and back trail on the east side of the park at the Two Medicine entrance. This entrance was a further drive, but did not require an entry ticket. We still planned to arrive early, but didn’t have to wake up at 0300 to get in. In fact, we didn’t wake up until around 0630 because the alarm was incorrectly set, but this turned out to be a blessing because we beat the rain (and got some much needed extra sleep.)

We arrived at the trail head around 0800 with only a few other cars in the lot. This area of the park doesn’t have many trails, and the main attraction is the lake offering ferries to other parts of the park. This meant we didn’t have to fight for a parking spot. It was surprisingly COLD when we started this hike, but once the blood started flowing I was happy for an overcast day.

I don’t quite know how to describe the wonder of this trail. There was a bit of everything from forests with large trees wrapping around the path – to open, rugged terrain with endless views of the surrounding mountains. The higher we got the more the landscape changed. I absolutely love hikes with constantly changing scenery.

About 1/3 of the way up the trail, we encountered some big horn sheep.

We stopped and waited for them to pass (partly because I didn’t want to disrupt them, and partly because I wasn’t sure if they were aggressive or not), but eventually made a break for it. Spoiler: they were unfazed by us. Shortly after our encounter with the sheep, we reached a view point of Two Medicine Lake. The views the entire way up were amazing, but this was the first real show stopper on the trail.

Don’t ask me how many photos I took of this lake…(20, I took 20 nearly identical photos.)

I could have stared at this view for hours. After about 3.3 miles we came to a spot we thought was the end of the trail, but it was hard to tell because a thick fog had rolled in that completely engulfed our surrounding views. It was cold, starting to rain, and we were both extremely hungry. We decided to stop and eat, and while we were enjoying our food the fog started to lift, the rain stopped, and the 360 degree views were indescribable.

We saw what we assumed to be the end of the trail about another 0.7 miles, strapped our packs onto our backs, and mushed on. We encountered a very small amount of remaining snow hanging on for dear life from the winter season, but otherwise the trail was completely snow free. The terrain changed once again closer to the scenic point (now I see where they chose the name) and I suddenly felt like I was in the Italian Alps.

The trail leveled out the final stretch as we walked on a very wide ridgeline just over 7000′. This was the first time I had hiked at this elevation in a long time, and out of no where a wave of sillies hit me like a flapping fish tail. It didn’t last long, but I couldn’t stop laughing and the feeling was fleetingly comparable to that moment when exhaustion kicks in yet somehow delivers a wave of hyperactivity.

This trail continues all the way to the town of East Glacier Park onto the Mt. Henry Trail, but our hike ended at the tip top of Scenic Point. The view at the point provided a different angle of Two Medicine Lake (on the left) and Lower Two Medicine Lake (on the right) as well as stunning views of the entire Two Medicine Valley.

After soaking up the views for about 20 minutes we made our way back towards the car. By this time more hikers had begun their trek, and I was thankful to have made it to our summit in time to experience the scenery without anyone else around. The hike down was mostly uneventful, the sun started to come out in waves providing different lighting on the same peaks.

We had a run in with another sheep, but this time we were sheep professionals and traversed around him a bit.

Our hike finished shortly after 1330, and on our way out of the park we decided to make a pit stop at Running Eagle Falls. This location was a night and day difference with regard to how many people we saw. This is a half mile trail that leads to a waterfall, and is easily accessible by most. Hence why we saw so many other people. This one was a take it or leave it view for me, but I’m glad we stopped to see it.

And just like that, our very quick trip to GNP had come to an end. Scenic Point really sealed the deal for me with this trip, which is funny because this was not a hike I had even considered before we arrived. It’s moments like these that continue to remind me to be more flexible. I chalked this visit up to be more of a learning experience, and now I know what to do differently for my next visit.

Montana blew my mind, and I now have a desire to spend some of my life living there. Whether it be for 6 months or 6 years, there is something captivating about this beautiful state. Next up: adventures in the Sawtooth Wilderness, a place that also blew my mind. I miss Europe like crazy, but exploring my home country sure is fun too.

Q: What’s your favorite National Park? I have now been to nine (United States) National Parks, and Yellowstone will forever hold my heart.

I tend to have a Type A personality when it comes to traveling. That’s not to say I haven’t taken handfuls of trips where I have shown up in a new city, planning the day as I go, but for the most part I like to choose what I want to see and where I want to go before I embark on a new adventure. I think it’s important to have a balance between both Type A and Type B, and I do my best to be more relaxed when things don’t go according to plan.

With that said, you can imagine the spike of cortisol I felt when I discovered just days prior to my well planned trip to Glacier National Park, that a new entry system had been put into effect starting this summer. In order to enter the West Gate between regular park hours (0600-1700) I would need a special entry ticket. These tickets are available online one day at a time, 60 days prior to the week of entry, with 25% of tickets available every day for that succeeding week.

Needless to say, I did not have a ticket.

The odds of getting one of the elusive online tickets is much like finding Willy Wonka’s golden ticket in a chocolate bar – nearly impossible. My copilot and I tried for days to get a pass for the week, failing each time. Thankfully there was another option. Anyone can enter the park before 0600 or after 1700, but having a ticket would have eliminated some of the stress of waking up at 0300.

My days of being a barista came in handy when my alarm went off before the birds began to sing.

We decided to stay in an Airbnb in Kalispell, Montana, putting us about 45-60 minutes away from the West Glacier entrance. Our first day in the park we planned to arrive at the gate by 0400 to ensure we could get in. Despite the fact I knew exactly what the ranger stations looked like after hours, as I had driven in and out of Yellowstone many times during these hours, I was nervous something would go wrong and we would not be allowed in.

Arriving at the gate with no other cars in sight and driving through the unoccupied ranger booth oddly felt like I was committing a crime (I wasn’t, this is totally legal.) I felt like an outlaw entering into foreign, inaccessible territory. I also felt relief, because the hard part was done. We made it inside, and we had no plans to leave until we were satisfied with our hiking endeavors for the day.

Arriving before the sun came up turned out to be the best decision we could have made. By the time we got to the parking area for our first hike, the lot had filled up. One of the trails on my list was Avalanche Lake, a very popular and easy 5 mile out and back hike to a beautiful engulfed mountain lake. The hike up was quiet, and per usual the hike back we saw the rest of the world had come to life.

If there is anything I love about early hikes, it’s beating the crowds (and the heat.)

We made it to the lake by 0530, and we were the only ones there for at least ten minutes. We sat, stared, and savored for about 30 minutes before heading back to the car. I don’t have anything crazy to report about this hike, it was beautiful and is a worthy hike, but it wasn’t anything that knocked my socks off.

With so much day left after this hike, we decided to do another one. Our options were limited because the main road within the park was still closed from the winter season, so we chose one I hadn’t heard of. Here’s an example of how I can be a cool kid, sprinkling my Type B personality all over the place. Hike number two was significantly more difficult, partly because we woke up at 3 am, partly because we had already hiked 5 miles, partly because by the time we started it was already VERY hot outside, and partly because the elevation gain was 1860′.

Apgar Lookout is a 7 mile out and back trail, starting in thick tree brush and opening into an exposed trail with expansive views. I loved this trail, and surprisingly felt great the entire way up. Slow and steady wins the race, especially when the sun gives no mercy to us cloud loving Washingtonians.

This trail was much less traveled, and we didn’t see anyone until we got closer to the top. The most memorable being a mom and her son literally running up the mountain. Running…up. We saw more people when we were coming back down, but far less than the previous hike. This one is a harder trail, meaning less people are inclined to hike it. What sold me on this trail was the lookout at the top. I am a sucker for a good lookout hike.

After reaching the top we sat on the lookout and savored the view with some squirrel friends.

By the time we got back to the car we had clocked over 12 miles for the day, and I was very pleased with our first of two days in the park. We drove as much as we could for a little bit longer before deciding to call it a day around 1400. It was too hot to do much more outside. We managed to see one bear for the day, immediately after we drove into the park around 0400. No bears spotted on the trails though.

I am incredibly thankful my partner in crime was up for two hikes in one day. We didn’t have a lot of time to visit Glacier, and with the 0300 wake up in order to get in I knew we would only get one more day after this one. The extra exploration made me very, very happy.

We spent the next day resting and reevaluating what our second day would look like. Thankfully most of the other entrances did not require an entrance ticket, but they were significantly further away from our Airbnb. Nothing worth having comes easy, right?

Q: Are you a planner, or a go with the flow-er. I do like a plan, but there is certainly beauty in readjusting plans to accommodate for ideas I might not have considered.