August 2019

Well they say “the third time’s a charm” and that was certainly true about our visit to Glacier National Park in Montana. We have tried to go there two other times but once it was snowing and once there were fires, so we were turned away twice. But not this time! We finally got to go there and it was well worth the wait. Considered one of the Crown Jewels of the National Park System, as you drive along Going-to-the-Sun Road it is not hard to figure out why.

We began our day at the West Entrance, near the Apgar Visitor Center. Planning is fairly simple since there is only one paved route, Going-to-the-Sun Road, that cuts through the park from west to east. Our first stop was Lake McDonald, a stunning alpine lake, that runs for about 18 miles along the road. The reflection of the mountains on the perfectly clear water was so beautiful.

We made a quick stop at the Lake McDonald Lodge (built in 1913) which was very unique with stunning lake views and a massive atrium. The red cars parked out front were the vintage Glacier National Park tour busses which we saw a lot of during the day.

Next we stopped to admire McDonald Falls…

and then Red Rocks. Here we saw some brave (crazy?) souls jumping off the cliff into the beautiful (and freezing cold) water below.

We continued along the road stopping every so often to take pictures, including photos of Heavens Peak at almost 9,000 feet, with snow on top in late August!

We passed The Loop, a sharp hairpin turn, and drove by the Weeping Wall, where water drips down the entire rock face next to the road. Next we came to Logan Pass with a beautiful U-shaped valley formed by glaciers. So beautiful from every angle!

Jackson Glacier overlook was our next stop with an excellent view of the glacier from the road.

Our final stop was for a stunning view of Saint Mary Lake. The Rising Sun boat tours offer visitors the opportunity to see the towering mountain peaks from below.

For the drive home we decided to exit the park at the east entrance, Saint Mary Visitor Center, (rather than backtrack through the park) and follow Hwy 89 and Hwy 2 south and then west back to our campground in Kalispell. It was a bit of a rough road, with a construction zone for about 20 miles of gravel, but we did run across a herd of wild horses grazing along the road that made it all worthwhile (at least for me).

We also briefly reentered the south end of the park to check out Goat Lick Overlook, where we spotted a mountain goat and a bald eagle!

We had a wonderful day and were so glad that we finally got to see Glacier National Park on our third try.