Glaciier National Park

We’ve been to Glacier National Park long ago, but only saw the main scenic drive – Going-to-the-Sun Road This time around with our newfound passion for hiking, it is a different experience.

I have to admit that, while pretty majestic, I liked Waterton Lakes National Park more. It has all that Glacier has to offer (minus the glaciers of course) but is in a very compact area. Also, with the quaint servicee based village in the center, Waterton is very compelling. All the trails and attractions are within 10 or 20 minutes of Colectiva. In Glacier, its 3 hours from end to end. However, in Waterton, we nary caught sight of a moose!

While it’s called Glacier National Park for a reason, the present-day Park is a far cry from when it was established. In 1850 the Park boasted 180 glaciers. Today there are only 25. And Park scientists indicate that in a little over 10 years, that number will be zero. I wonder what they might change the name to!

You really can’t reach the glaciers to explore them – all 25 are now just hanging glaciers on very high peaks. We managed to hit all the overlooks to be able to take in the main visible ones. They don’t look much larger than the sections of snow pack still left over from winter. There is really only one difference between a large snowpack and a glacier – glaciers flow. If the ice isn’t thick enough and heavy enough to move, its snowpack. If it moves (flows), it’s a glacier.

I think we hiked to pretty much every waterfall in the Park. The Woman likes her waterfalls a great deal, so they end up being high on the list of possible destinations.

But the Woman might just put waterfalls into a second-place status when it comes to historic and famous trails. We knew that the Continental Divide Trail went through Glacier National Park, and spent our day on the Going-to-the-Sun Road looking for it, but were skunked. Who knew that when we set out to find Red Rock Falls that we would stumble into it. The Woman was ecstatic as we ended up hiking over 5 miles of it.

We didn't plan particularly well. It turns out that the folk in St. Mary Montana, the Eastern entrance into Glacier National Park, are very dedicated to the local native American nations. August 10 - 17 is the Heart Butte Indian Days celebration. In deference to the event, local retailers have voluntarily banned alcohol sales for 4 retail days. Ouch!

We’re glad we paid a return visit here. While we attempt not to hit the same destinations over and over, I really don’t think you can ever get too much Glacier National Park. Even if there were no glaciers left, it would still be totally awesome!

Talk to you soon!