Glacier National Park is one on our list that was a complete bucket list item. Of course, the distance makes it challenging. And it is remote, and so flying in is not a reasonable cost option for us. And with the elevation in Northern Montana, its season for full enjoyment is very short (approx 3 months). So being at Glacier is the foundation of this trip, and everything else has been built around it.
Going to the Sun Road is the major attraction to this park. We knew this, and we knew that we couldn’t take Livvy on this route. So our day required some important errands.
But first, a lovely morning with coffee and breakfast outside. We haven’t been able to do that yet, so it was a real treat!
Morning view – perfection! We didn’t have to check out of our spot until 11am, so we soaked up every minute of this relaxing that we could. My health app reminded me that I am burning fewer calories the last 5 days (no kidding), but we soaked up the rest time outside. Serious activity can wait, especially while Rick’s back is still healing.For being a pretty crowded resort, it has been quiet at our site… except for the kid throwing a temper tantrum in this camper behind us last night. That was highly uncomfortable. Hoping for a better outcome this evening since we are still near these folks.
Our big task today was to pick up a car. So we packed up all of our stuff and headed to the airport, about 30 min west of us. We were happy to get a lovely Tucson to drive for the next few days around the park. We also moved into our new “fancy” campsite for the rest of the week, which includes a gas grill! So we made a quick stop to buy some fresh new dinner items to make grillable dinners and save our frozen meals for later in the trip.
Kind of strange to be following Rick and Daisy in Livvy on our drive back to the campground… but a good chance to take photos!Excited to have a big patio, table and gas grill! Plus Daisy can stay here in the air conditioning while we go off exploring (and hopefully hiking later this week).
Then, it was time to see the park. After 3pm, you no longer need timed entry and therefore should (hopefully) be less crowded in the park. We couldn’t wait for our first timed entry reservation tomorrow… and so we did it. The amazing, living up to its hype, Going to the Sun Road.
I’ll just say that if you have any remote interest in this beauty, do it. I am so glad that we are fulfilling our travel dreams and experiencing this! As always, the pics won’t do it justice.
One of the first features in the park is the beautiful Lake McDonald. On my ifit/NordicTrack rower, I did a Glacier Rowing Series the past few months, and so it was fun to see the real thing!There are countless beautiful photo spots… this one had a bride/groom both times that we passed it, so I guess that makes it extra special. Logan’s Pass is at the top of the GTTSR, and a major attraction. We were lucky to get a parking spot on our second time through! Parking is a major concern everywhere you go in this park, and something we will just have to hope for the best with, prioritizing what we want to see the most.On this stop at Logan’s Pass, we were so excited to see LOTS of Bighorn SheepSt. Mary’s Lake on the East Side of the park offered more iconic viewsAnd our first Marmot viewing! He was probably close enough to touch over this ledge. He looked so harmless and cute, but they have huge claws and teeth. He didn’t need a hug after all…The drive is not for the faint of heart, though… this is driving back down and you can see how close to the cliff face you are, and that it makes the road extra narrow at times. There isn’t a lot of spare space here! And the water came from the “weeping wall” which is a rock face that just has water pouring off of it from the snow melt above. We also saw lots of beautiful wildflowers growing out of the rocks… hope to get pics in the days to come.
We are so fortunate that we can experience this beauty over the next few days, so we will have more pics and stories to share.
We were pretty exhausted upon return, so we abandoned the cooking plan since the campground had a catering business on site tonight. I mean, how can you resist “The Pig Lebowski”?! So we had some lovely BBQ and listened to music for a bit before coming back to our lovely campsite.
Now the dusk is settling in, our neighbors have a fire crackling, and we are soaking up the good vibes of the day, making plans for how to see this spectacular beauty again tomorrow.
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