Glacier national park part 2

Our second full day in the park a cold front moved through and there was snow at high elevations. This pretty much shut down all thoughts of doing any hikes. After a lazy morning with the pups we decided to drive up Going to the Sun Road around 10:30 to see the snow. This is the only road through the majority of the park and is is rated as one of the most beautiful drives in the world but can be tricky if you’re not a driver comfortable with steep and narrow terrain. About halfway up the rain turned to snow and quickly started to stick to the trees and ground. Luckily the road was warm enough to not ice or become slick and we enjoyed gorgeous winter-esque views. After soaking in the vistas we decided to turn around and head back down the mountains since it was evident not all the people around us were used to winter weather driving. We certainly didn’t want to be in an accident or stuck in the mountains due to poor choices of others. We even saw a truck pulling a camper up the road, which is highly illegal in this area.

Shortly after arriving back to the camper, we noticed the furnace really wasn’t working. As in, it stopped working completely. Dave looked into several reasons why and I tried to research more, but in the end we had to settle for a small counter top ceramic heater to keep us and the pups safe in the dropping temperature. One of the few times we were happy to have such a small space to manage! Always an adventure.

For our third day our original plan for today was to drive into Many Glacier area to hike to Iceberg Lake before the need for a permit which would mean a 3:30am alarm. This trail closes frequently after grizzly encounters, and this had happened when we were in GNP in 2022. After the alarm went off and we saw the snow still up in the mountains along with the Milky Way above, we decided to make a new plan. Between the snow and possible ice on the hike, and the potential to run into large mammals such as moose and grizzlies frequent on this trail, we figured it would be smarter to wait until later. This meant doing chores to catch up on things until 3pm when permits were no longer required. Luckily our several brisk, longer hikes had trained us well to complete this 10 mile, 1500 ft elevation gain trail at 20 minute mile pace. We had the lake to ourselves which was so peaceful, but we knew we had to turn back towards the truck quickly due to the setting sun and the carnivores in the area. We enjoyed yet another pizza while relaxing with the pups and prepping for a long drive the next day. Czytaj więcej