Out of Our Rut: Glacier National Park, Here We Come

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With our pantry and fridge resupplied, we were ready for our stay at Glacier National Park. We had split our stop near the park between the east side and the west side. From what we could gather, if you are the typical tourist, you stay on the west side of the park. It’s the more commercial side with stores, restaurants, motels and all the normal conveniences of many towns. It seemed that most of the people we talked to that had visited Glacier made it sound like they stayed on the west side and maybe drove over to the eastern end of the park once just to see what was there.

So why did we split our planned 29 nights at Glacier to be 18 on the east and 11 on the west? That seems counter to the conventional wisdom. Well it’s a pretty simple answer: hiking in nature. The east side by far has the best hiking from all of our research. Not so much out of St Mary which is where the Going to the Sun road starts (or ends depending on your perspective) but to the north of St Mary in an area called Many Glacier and to the south in the area called Two Medicine. These are the park entrances that have the majority of the good hiking trails. There are camping options in either of these two areas but not for a rig our size. Plus by camping in between these two hiking areas, our drive to either entrance won’t be too bad. So we booked a site at Chewing Blackbones Campgrounds in Babb Montana, just north of St Mary. From the unique name, you might guess that this is on Indian reservation land but more on that later.

The drive from Great Falls was just about 180 miles. There are several routes from Great Falls to Babb. We plan to go north up Interstate 15 to US route 2 and follow that west to the town of Browning. Our Garmin GPSr had us go north on what appeared to be a minor road out of Browning. When we check our Rand McNally Motor Carriers Atlas we discover the road it picked isn’t labeled as a truck route but continuing over and up US-89 is a truck route. We decide to override the Garmin and add an intermediate waypoint so it will direct us up US-89. The drive was going okay and we fueled up in the town of Shelby - Rest In Peace our beloved dog.

We stopped in the town of Cut Bank to have lunch. I then did my standard walk around to check out the motorhome and Jeep and realized that we had issues. Two nights earlier at the Elks Lodge in Lewistown, I had spotted that the aluminum tab that goes between the baseplate on the Jeep and the tow bar on the motorhome had a slight crack at one of the mounting holes. I had tried to find a replacement while in Great Falls but had no luck. I had hoped to make it to Babb before ordering a replacement but I guess that wasn’t meant to be. The broken tab was wedged into the clevis and required a bit of persuasion to get it to come out. Maybe the Jeep would have stayed attached the rest of the way, but I wasn’t willing to find out the hard way. That just meant we needed to drive the remaining 70 miles or so separately.

It turns out our towing issue was a blessing in disguise. US-89 was okay heading west, but as it approaches the Rockies and turns north, it becomes a hilly, twisty and narrow road. I would have loved driving my old sports car on this road, but a 38 foot 32,000 pound motorhome, not so much! By not towing the Jeep behind me, it made the drive a bit easier. The bigger problem with the road was the major construction that was going on. Best I could tell, the department of transportation is attempting to straighten out US-89, and in a year or three from now it might be dramatically better. But as it was, there were sections of the road where there was no shoulder and there was a large drop off. Other spots had no pavement, just dirt. At least being a Saturday meant there was no active construction in progress. I took my time and occasionally pulled over to let normal vehicles pass. We finally made it to Babb but it wasn’t fun. Writing this blog well after the fact, I can now unequivocally say that the ONLY way to go from Browning to Babb would be up Duck Lake Road (MT-464). It is mostly straight and not too hilly and much wider than US-89. Maybe after US-89 is straightened out and the construction is finished that route will be okay, but I would still suggest the route we avoided.

Chewing Blackbones Campground is within the Blackfeet Indian Reservation which borders nearly the full eastern edge of Glacier National Park. We had read mixed reviews about the campground although most of the complaints were around bathroom cleanliness. Since we have a full hookup site, that wasn’t going to be a concern for us. The layout of the campground does seem a bit haphazard. There is gravel here and there but it isn’t always clear whether the sites are parallel or perpendicular to the roads. During our 18 nights here, we saw many people come and go and we weren’t the only ones a bit confused. They also have teepees for rent if you don’t want to pitch your tent. I will admit that the views from the campground of the surrounding mountains is pretty spectacular.

Front Area of Chewing Blackbones Campground with Teepees

Campground Borders Lower St Mary Lake

View from RV Camping Area

Broken Tab for Towing Jeep

The town of Babb is small with a population of under 200 people. St Mary is about 6 miles south of camp and while it has a yearly population of about 50, it feels dramatically bigger than Babb. Mainly because it is the terminus of the Going-to-the-Sun Road and there is a gas station, motel, grocery store and other small shops. It also seems to be a fairly busy place with people coming and going. So we aren’t the only ones on the east side of the park. Speaking of the gas, we paid $1.02 a gallon more to fill up in this remote spot than the prior stop in North Dakota.

Going-to-the-Sun Road is the only road that goes the full width of the park. It was finished in the early 1930’s and is somewhat of an engineering marvel but is definitely more well known for the drop dead gorgeous scenery along the way. If you have seen pictures of Glacier National Park, they most likely came from stops along this road. It is a 50 mile road from the towns of St Mary on the east to West Glacier on the west. Starting at an elevation of around 4500 feet on the eastern side, the first 11 miles are reasonably flat only climbing 200 feet or so as the road follows along the northern edge of Saint Mary Lake. The next six to seven miles are a constant climb up to Logan Pass which is where the Continental Divide crosses the road at 6646 feet. The next 10 miles or so is an equally steep decline down to an elevation of about 3600 feet. Much of the remaining twenty miles is along the southern shore of Lake McDonald before reaching the West Glacier exit at about 3200 feet.

Elevation Profile of Going-to-the-Sun Road from Saint Mary (L) to West Glacier (R)

For our first day in the park, we knew we had to drive at least some of Going-to-the-Sun Road but didn’t have any real set plan. There are plenty of large pullouts along Saint Mary Lake to stop and soak in the beauty. It was neat to see many of the peaks still covered in snow. In fact our timing for coming to the park was based on when this road would likely be opened for the season. The shuttle buses don’t begin operation until July 1 but the road was cleared and opened around June 22 this year. They can get snow drifts as high as 80 feet on the road near Logan Pass which is mind boggling. I had been following the park’s Facebook page and found the pictures of the snow removal effort this spring to be impressive.

Saint Mary Lake with Wild Goose Island Dead Center

Looking Across Saint Mary Lake

Colorful Rock Cliff Next to Lake

Distant Mountain

Stop and Smell the Flowers

Another Saint Mary Lake View

Turns Out to Be Virginia Falls Heading Towards Lake

The plan to stop at the visitor center at Logan Pass around lunchtime wasn’t meant to be. We drove around the parking lot once just in case somebody was pulling out but didn’t have any luck. The park does have a pretty cool feature to their website. It shows the campground and parking status at the major stops within the park as well as the weather on the west, east and at the pass. But better yet, it shows the time that the location filled the prior day. This might be especially helpful to gauge when you should arrive at a campground with the hopes of finding a site. We knew that Logan Pass parking lot was filling up before 9 AM so finding a spot at noon would be unlikely. The website is at https://www.nps.gov/applications/glac/dashboard/

We proceeded about a mile past Logan Pass and found a pullout that was open. We parked right next to a large payloader that was positioned there in case the remaining snow drift came crashing down onto the road. We have had some pretty dramatic spots to enjoy a sandwich over the past few years but I doubt any have been this spectacular. And as an added benefit, we didn’t need to hike miles and miles to get to it.

Our View During Lunch!

Remaining Snow Drift

After lunch, we continue down towards the west stopping at numerous spots along the way to take in the beauty of the drive. There are plenty of places along the drive where the road is just two vehicles wide with steep cliffs above and steep drop offs below. It isn’t the drive for the faint of heart. And it is next to impossible to be driving AND enjoy the view. It didn’t take long for me to come to the realization that probably one third of the drivers shouldn’t be driving the road or at least they should be paying attention to the road, not the scenery. There are plenty of waterfalls along the way with all the snowmelt heading down.

View from Pullout at Weeping Wall

Waterfall

Looking Down Towards Going-to-the-Sun Road Heading to West Glacier

We eventually made it to the Lake McDonald Lodge near the northern end of the lake. We hadn’t planned on coming this far west since we will be staying on this side of the park in a couple weeks, but we seemed to be drawn to see what was just beyond the next bend. The lodge is a beautiful timber structure built in 1913 with a large main room that we scoped out for a bit. Outside the lodge were a couple of the classic Red Bus Tour buses waiting for passengers. We never checked into the tours but they do seem to be quite popular and there are multiple options with prices in the $50 to $100 range per person. There is a beach area near the lodge as well as a boat dock with boat tours available as well.

Inside of Lake McDonald Lodge

Front of Lake McDonald Lodge with Red Buses

Boat Loading for Lake Tour

We decided it was getting late and we still had a long drive back up and over Logan Pass. Driving the other direction highlights sights we might have missed before or a parking spot in a pullout was available on the return trip. Needless to say, we stopped nearly as frequently on the return trip to take in the views. Our day was about seven hours long and we only drove 39 miles of Going-to-the-Sun road. I suppose there are some visitors to the park that may only see Glacier by taking this drive and if so they will see a lot, but there is so much more to see and do. We were talking with one couple at the campground that was spending one night in order to see Glacier. When we told them we were spending nearly a month in the area, they seemed incredulous and asked what we were going to do for that long? They don’t know what they are missing.

Another Waterfall

Bridge Over Waterfall

Closeup

With our “orientation” day out of the way, we decide to go for a hike. After all, that is why we are here on the east side of Glacier. Chris had picked up a set of maps and a hiking guide for the area. Normally we don’t bother with paper maps anymore. With the various apps we have, and our handheld GPSr’s, we generally don’t find the need for physical maps, but we figure they might be helpful in planning our hikes. After looking over the descriptions of the hikes, we realized we are going to be quite busy. The first hike would be out of the Many Glacier area of the park.

One important side note to make before we actually get hiking here at Glacier. It is important to carry bear spray. We have done a lot of hiking and have done so in areas known to have bears. And we had never carried bear spray before. So what is different here? There are many more bears in this area and it only takes one bad encounter to wish you had some with you. The stuff admittedly isn’t cheap. The bear spray we picked up in Rapid City was $50 per can. We don’t plan that one can will work for the two of us. Yes, we typically hike together, but that doesn’t always mean we are within ten feet of one another. If I stop to tie my hiking boot and Chris continues on because it’s uphill and she knows I will catch up in a minute, what happens when the bear comes out near the person without the spray? If you are only going to do one day hike while you’re here, they do offer bear spray rentals. It’s about $9 per day. With as much hiking as we will be doing, buying the two cans makes the most sense.

Bear Spray Includes a Holster

It is just under a 15 mile drive to Many Glacier from our campground which doesn’t sound too bad so we get up reasonably early and start the drive. Turns out Many Glacier Road is in terrible condition. Plus there was a great deal of traffic heading in with us. The first 5 miles of the road are on reservation land, so we hoped that once we went thru the entrance station, the road would improve. There was a long wait just to get thru the checking process since there is only one booth for a dozen of more cars. Once in the park, the roads might be marginally better but by no means are they good. It will turn out, we do five different hikes out of Many Glacier so I get pretty good at dodging potholes along the route! Near the parking area, another ranger was directing traffic and parking people a quarter mile or so from the official parking lot. It was already full and there didn’t seem to be that many additional parking spots for the line of cars behind us. First lesson learned. Get up earlier.

We were wanting to do the hike to Grinnell Glacier but the rangers had a warning sign up about that trail being snow covered after about 3.5 miles. We figured saving that hike for later in our stay would give it a chance to melt some more. We instead pick the hike to Grinnell Lake. With as many trails as there are from this area, there are several ways to get to Grinnell Lake. We pick a trail out of the Swiftcurrent parking area that goes on the north side of both Swiftcurrent Lake and Lake Josephine and head to both Grinnell Lake and Glacier. At just over a mile and a half in, we hit the split in the trail and take the Y to the left that goes around the western end of Lake Josephine. The scenery is quite stunning there is ample bear grass and other wildflowers all along the trails. There is a fair amount of traffic as well. Turns out many people will “cheat” and take a boat ride across one or both of the lakes. If you are unfortunate enough to go past the boat dock when it is either loading or unloading, there is a real mess of people and most of the boat people aren’t really hikers so they tend to be more problematic.

Bear Grass in Full Bloom

Looking at Boat Dock on North End of Lake Josephine

Beautiful Mountains Beyond Lake Josephine

Crossing Over Southwestern End of Lake

The crowds seemed to spread out a bit as we continued on so it wasn’t too crowded. We had gone about 3 miles and only had another 1/3 mile to go when the several groups of people that were ahead of us came to an abrupt stop. As we all sort of bunch together on the narrow trail, the two guys up front informed there was a grizzly bear and cub just ahead and to our right that was crossing a small creek and slowly heading toward the trail. The group had grown to about 12 or 15 hikers and we were all making lots of noise hoping the bear would head away from us. We were closer to the middle of the pack so I only caught a glimpse of one of the bears. The next thing we know, the two guys in front were telling us to go back. The bear was on the trail and heading our way! So now we are all backing up along the trail and likely a another group or two of hikers had caught up with us by then. It was a little surreal but I figured we are pretty far back in the pack so the bears were likely to make it all the way to us. Right? Plus we had our bear spray, so we could save the day if things go bad. Finally the bears veered off the trail and headed up into the woods. By then there was a bit of a group that was trying to leave Grinnell Lake. We tried to convince them to go first but after we could no longer see the bears, each group moved their respective directions in safety.

As we got to the lake, there were a few dozen people sitting around or taking pictures. We explained to them that we had encountered a couple bears just a bit up the trail and that was why a huge group of people all converged at once onto the small beach area. The lake itself is an intense blue green that doesn’t seem to be natural. Apparently the water looks like this because the water runoff from a glacier has fine particles that stay suspended in the making creating the unique color. We find an empty log to sit and eat our lunch and just relax a bit. About halfway up the mountains on the other side of the lake, we can spot people walking on what is the Grinnell Glacier Trail. At one point we see a few people walking across a vast snow covered section. I think we made the right call in delaying that hike and doing this one.

Looking Across Grinnell Lake in DIrection of Grinnell Glacier

Panoramic View of Grinnell Lake

On the way back, we decide to follow the trail on the south side of Lake Josephine and Swiftcurrent Lake just to have different scenery. It likely adds about 2 miles to the overall hike but we thought it was worth it. The trail dumps us out at the Many Glacier Hotel. This is a huge and beautiful building built in 1915. It must be well maintained since it doesn’t look to be over one hundred years old. We were just starting to get sprinkled on, so we headed inside to check it out. It has a rather impressive main room with a large fireplace right in the middle. We made the mistake of sitting down and after we knew the rain had passed, we had a tough time getting the body to move again. We still had another half mile or so to get to the car. This complete loop came in at just over 9 miles but fortunately it was only about 750 feet or so of climbing involved.

View of Swiftcurrent Lake

Many Glacier Hotel from Distance

Beautiful Many Glacier Hotel Entrance

Center Fireplace in Many Glacier Hotel Main Room

Many Glacier Hotel with Grinnell Point in Background

Our Nine Mile Hike to Grinnell Lake

As we investigated other hikes to do from the east side, we ran into a problem. It became clear that there were more hikes that we wanted to do than there were days of us camping on this side. And while that was unfortunate, possibly the bigger issue is that our old bodies, even with as much hiking as we do, are not able to do back to back 9 plus mile days. So we need to be cognizant of how much elevation gain a given hike has and try to space the tough hikes out with medium hikes in between. For our next hike, we decide on checking out some waterfalls that are on the western end of Saint Mary Lake. The easiest trailhead is from a small parking area along Going-to-the-Sun Road. Of course there was road construction a few miles before the parking area and that slowed us down a bit. Although it did allow us to see a grizzly bear about 50 up the hill from us on the road. We felt much more comfortable at that distance from the safety of our Jeep. When we got to the parking area at the trailhead, the 18 or so spots were already filled - no surprise there. A smaller parking area one a quarter mile away was also full so we ended up turning around and heading back to Sun Point Nature Trail parking. This lot is significantly larger and we had no trouble finding a spot here. Of course it will add about an additional 1.5 miles to the full hike.

Neat Rock Layers

It’s a pretty hike but the morning fog over the lake obscured some of the views. Baring Falls are the first Falls on the trail. It isn’t very tall - maybe 25 feet or so. There are some interesting rock outcroppings along the way. A short distance later, at the western end of the lake is Saint Mary Falls. This set of falls is three separate drops with the two higher ones being the more impressive. A foot bridge goes over the water so the crossing isn’t challenging.

Baring Falls

St Mary Falls

St Mary Falls Again

Further up the trail we start to see some of the lower sections of Virginia Falls. While these cascades are nice, it pays to keep hiking up to the main falls. Virginia Falls are about 50 feet tall. It turns out these are the falls we could see at our stop on the opposite side of the lake a couple days ago. The mist from the falls is quite persistent. I found it difficult to get pictures without soaking the camera. Had it been a hotter day, I may have been tempted to get up close and personal but I kept my distance. By the time we turned around, the weather had improved and the sun was out. Several hundred feet downstream of Virginia Falls is a side trail that goes along the south side of Saint Mary Lake. If you follow it just a couple hundred feet, you will get to experience the falls from a different vantage point. It was interesting to see the other falls a second time in the sunlight. They looked quite different, plus there were dozens of people there now that the weather was nice. This hike came in at just under seven miles and just under 1000 feet of elevation gained. Nice and not too strenuous.