Like kids the night before Christmas, we had trouble sleeping in anticipation of our trip to Glacier National Park – the Holy Grail of US National Parks and a supposed hiker’s paradise!
Glacier was established in 1910 and contains over 25 active glaciers. It is situated at the hydrological apex of North America, on the border of the US and Canada. This apex means water can flow from Glacier into the Pacific, the Atlantic and the Arctic oceans. In addition to its over 700 miles of hiking trails, it boasts more than 700 lakes, numerous waterfalls and two mountain ranges that spread across its 1 million acres. Aside from its breathtaking geological features and its array of wildlife, it also has some amazing history. The Going-to-the-Sun Road is said to be an engineering marvel that not only offers spectacular views but access to many great trails. Although we’d been avoiding most major parks (Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Zion) due to Covid, we did not want to miss Glacier and planned to spend more time there than at any other location on the trip. Unfortunately, that didn’t quite work out as planned.
We knew that we’d be restricted from going into Canada and we knew that vehicles over 21 ft long, 10 ft high and 8 ft wide (including mirrors) were restricted from Going-to-the-Sun Road, but our plan was to enter the park from each of its 3 US entrances and get as close to the interior of the park as we could.
As we drove through the northwest entrance we were giddy with excitement and the views were nothing short of breathtaking!
We arrived at the visitor center to plan our trip, not sure what would be open and what would be closed due to the pandemic. We were extremely disappointed to learn that the entrance we came in was the only open entrance! In addition, none of the famous park shuttles that would have allowed us to travel the Going-to-the-Sun Road were operational and bikes weren’t allowed on the road between 10am and 4pm.
Deflated, we decided to make the most of the situation but without backpacking gear it felt pretty limiting. We were with throngs of people travelling a fairly small stretch of road and jockeying for limited parking spaces at the trailheads we could access and the viewpoints along the road. Additionally, one of the 3 accessible trailheads was closed due to bear activity.
Don’t get me wrong, what we were able to see was absolutely beautiful, but this somehow only made us feel worse. Like 2015’s major box office flop “Jupiter’s Ascending”, there was a lot of hype followed by deep disappointment.
We know we will go back, but we’ll do it a lot differently. We’ll find a way to travel the Going-to-the-Sun Road and stay within the park so we can see and do more. Glacier was one of the few instances where Covid really put a damper on our plans.
With our Glacier plans busted, we kicked in plan B and spent two days boondocking next to a burbling brook and a tantalizing mountainside trail at Tunnel Creek.
The first portion of the trail is well maintained and looks down upon the river and tall grasses below as well as out to alluring peaks. Doug bushwacked his way down into the tall grassy meadow trying to capture a glimpse of the snow-capped peak that always seemed to be just around the next corner. We clambered over fallen logs and thrust aside overgrown branches as the trail continued but could never seem to get the full mountain in view. At one point, we were far off trail, when we saw tracks with large protruding claws and I decided that with my eyes barely able to peek over the meadowed growth that sticking to the trail along the mountainside was more my speed. We hiked about 3 miles before bagging Bailey in her backpack and turning back to camp.
Wild raspberries were in season and Doug and Bailey managed a pretty big haul. We took time to listen to the birds, watch the clouds roll by and give the dog a bath. Sunsets in the area were gorgeous.
Plan B wasn’t Glacier, but we enjoyed our days and evenings just outside the park and are looking forward to our next opportunity to return in search of the Holy Grail.
