Our plan for Glacier was to spend four days camping on the east side of the park, two nights at the Swiftcurrent Motor Inn and Cabins in the Many Glacier area, and the last night at one of the balcony rooms in the Many Glacier Hotel (we splurged!).
One of the big questions before the trip was whether Going to the Sun Road would be open in mid-June. We were cautiously optimistic during the late planning stages because Tioga Pass in Yosemite was open, but it turns out they were having more precipitation than usual in Montana, leading to more snow in the mountains, and Going to the Sun would not open for a while! [It opened a month after our visit on July 13th in 2022]
The other big question was whether we were going to be flooded out. While we were in Yosemite, Yellowstone experienced a 500 year flood event as heavy rains and snowcap melting in the northern part of the park washed out roads and devastated Gardiner, Montana. Inbound visitor traffic into Yellowstone was halted, and we weren’t sure whether Glacier had been impacted or not. As Jayne was trying to get information, someone on Facebook actually recommended that we not go to Glacier because their relative had reported flooding.
We did not see any travel advisories however, and so we forged on toward Glacier, assuming that we would be fine as long as we had enough food to be trapped for a few days, and we arrived early enough in the day that we could drive to alternative accommodations if the road was indeed flooded. When we got there, we found a little water on the road where the South Fork intersects Highway 2E near Columbia Falls on the way to West Glacier, but the road was still passable and we got a good chuckle that someone had advised that we cancel our plans because of that! Later we discussed it with one of the locals, and they said that a little water on the road there is a common occurrence creating backups, but nothing unusual requiring a permanent cancellation of plans.
We claimed our campsite that night and ate dinner at Freda’s in West Glacier before retiring for the evening. This was our first time traveling with our new Coleman tent and we absolutely loved he space it provided.
First day we did Lake McDonald, Trail of the Cedars Nature Trail, McDonald Falls, and then Apgar.
Now seems like the appropriate time to comment on one of the major warnings about Glacier – the cell phone coverage. I frequently heard people complain about the poor cell coverage, but in the Apgar campground I actually had great reception and I was able to use the MiFi to take work calls and complete a few critical items without missing a beat. Jayne however had poor coverage on the entire east side of the park. On the other hand, I had no reception whatsoever anywhere in Many Glacier.
Another one of our favorite parts about staying in the Apgar Campground was the proximity to drive in the morning to the Cedar Tree for coffee. We have never been great at making coffee while camping, although we have tried several different techniques to make it work, and we regularly made the short drive to the coffee shop here.
Second day we drove into town to pick up supplies and then headed down to Best Buy in Kalispell to pick up a memory card for the cameras since everywhere closer seemed to be out of stock. They had a recent string of thefts of them, but the manager was keeping the remaining stock in his office and we got connected with one after asking where they were located.
While we were driving about we decided to make the run up to Polebridge. We used the Outside North Fork (dirt) road to travel along the western border of the park. We tried to cross into the park at Polebridge but the road was full of potholes with water, and we decided to turn around rather than get stuck. We got to enjoy a bearclaw from the Polebridge Mercantile which was delicious.
I already mentioned that the road was full of potholes, but what I didn’t mention was how fun those potholes filled with water look to a 2 year old. Our kid was absolutely covered in mud in no time! We had to give him a good bath using one of the well water pumps as he was practically covered from head to toe.
On our third day we decided to explore the path to St Mary and the other side of the Going to the Sun Road. We heard a rumor that we might be able to see mountain goats at the Goat Lick Overlook, and we were on our way! The drive was pretty and shortly after getting there we had them in our sights! Best viewed with binoculars or a zoom lens, we got some good photos of the mountain goats without a strenuous hike.
We continued our journey and the next stop was Marias Pass Obelisk, which is a stop on the red wagon bus tour. Later we crossed into the park to check out the Going to the Sun Road from St Mary to Jackson Glacier Overlook.
Jackson Glacier is one of the easiest glaciers to see in the park. When Glacier National Park was established in 1910, there were over 100 glaciers. Since 1966, all of the glaciers in the park have been shrinking, and in 2015 there were only 26 meeting the size criteria of an active glacier.
We cooked on the campfire for dinner, and then after the fire was out headed over to the Cedar Tree for ice cream.
Fourth Day we did Izaak Walton Inn, St Mary Lake Boat Tour, waterfall hike, check in to Swiftcurrent cabin
The Izaak Walton Inn is a historic lodge opened by the Great Northern Railway in 1939. Not far from the Essex Amtrak stop on the Empire Builder line, the stop is now primarily used to visit the Inn, which is known for its railroad caboose rooms and its pie. Max loved to check out the railroad cabooses that were on its property, and I enjoyed the pie.
Our next stop was the boat tour. Saint Mary Lake is the second largest lake in Glacier National Park. The boat tour takes visitors west to dock to allow a short kike to the waterfall at the Sun Point Nature Trail, and then returns to the docks. I would highly recommend at least one boat tour while in the park, as it does provide a different perspective to visitors.
When we finished our boat tour we stopped for dinner at the Snowgoose Grille in St. Mary Village and then drove around and up to Many Glacier. Many Glacier was by far my favorite part of the park, although we didn’t always have the best weather. We saw by far the most wildlife here, and the scenery which was spectacular throughout the park was especially pretty here.
As we drove in we quickly realized that one of the best ways to see wildlife here was simply to drive between the entrance and Many Glacier Hotel. Over the course of a couple days, we saw several bears, a couple moose and a fox by replicating this technique. Anytime there was a traffic jam along the road it was definitely because there was some wildlife being watched nearby.
We checked into one of the rustic cabins at Swiftcurrent for our first two nights in Many Glacier. The cabin had a bed, washbasin sink, table and electricity. The mens and womens bathrooms were a short hike away.
Fifth Day – Relax, weather, Many Glacier Hotel, wildlife driving, laundry
We had great weather for our entire trip; this was the one day wear it decided to rain. We used the time to check out the Many Glacier Hotel and drive back and forth on the road providing access to Many Glacier looking for wildlife from time to time. Jayne also used the time to use the laundry facilities, as we had been on the road for some time and were definitely overdue.
Sixth Day – check out; late; Two Medicine hike, Two Medicine Boat Tour; no mid-boat hike, check in to Many Glacier Hotel
Our plan for this day was to check out of Swiftcurrent and head down to the Two Medicine area before heading back to check in to Many Glacier Hotel. However, we got a late start and got caught in construction so we ended up missing our boat time, ugh! Everything takes longer to drive here than you would expect sometimes. As we pulled up to the pass station they told us they weren’t sure if they could let us in since the parking was all full and we had missed our boat. But after some back and forth on the walkie talkies they decided to let us in, and they pointed us in the direction of one of the last parking spots.
The boat tour people were so nice and put us on the waitlist for the next boat, and we were able to get on the next boat. We had some time until the next boat, and we spent it hanging out on the deck outside the gift shop here.
While we were outside the gift shop we met a very nice family that was travelling the country and home schooling. We had a nice conversation with them and shared tips about our adventures in the park, and then parted ways so we could take a little hike on the trail before our boat ride.
The highlight of our boat tour was a female moose swimming through the water – the guide told us they do that so as to throw off the scent and make it harder for the bears to find their young. The boat stopped on the other side of the lake to let people out to hike, but we decided that it was getting late in the day and we were just going to take the same boat back.
We checked into Many Glacier Hotel for our last night in Glacier National Park, and the room which was fantastic was double amazing after four nights camping and two nights in a cabin without a bathroom. We had a door out of our room to the shared balcony, and we spent most of our time hanging out on the balcony seat watching the activity, lake, wildlife and people.
Seventh Day – Many Glacier Hotel Morning
We spent the morning in Many Glacier Hotel enjoying the balcony and scenery, before checking out, taking a few photos and watching for wildlife one more time, and then starting our long drive to Rapid City, South Dakota. We didn’t see any wildlife to hold us in the park on the drive on the way out. We had plenty of amazing memories to keep our thoughts occupied from the week however.
