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Alisha says: We broke up the drive from Yellowstone to Glacier into two shorter days rather than one really long one so after cleaning up our Yellowstone camp we drove to Butte, Montana. Once we got there we went to the local YMCA aquatic center and let Skye swim around for a little while. Since this was just a quick one night stop and we wanted to get an early start we just got a room at the local Motel 6 to save the time and effort it would take to set up and take down the trailer for just one night.
We had 5 nights at the West Glacier KOA which was a great campground with really nicely maintained grounds. It had a nice playground, swimming pool, grass, a restaurant, ice cream shop, etc. After arriving mid day we set up camp and just chilled for a little while. After doing some online research I discovered that the "Going To The Sun" road that connects the west and east sides of the park was still closed for the season. I was so bummed as I had read that the drive through the park was incredible and felt like I was not going to be able to truly get the Glacier Park experience. In the late afternoon we ventured into the West side of the park to the Apgar Visitor Center and then did a hike with views of Lake McDonald.
Camground Life:
Swimming at the campground pool, it was really cold so mostly she just played around the pool.
Hiking along Lake McDonald:
The only good thing that we found out about the road being closed is that it is open to bicycles so on our second day we decided we would drive until where the road was closed and then ride our bikes up the road for a little ways. So we loaded up the bikes and started driving although we never got stopped and drove all the way to Logan Pass. The road had just been opened that morning and so while I was actually a little sad that we didn't get to ride I was really happy that we weren't going to miss out on driving the whole road. We stopped at Logan Pass and was lucky to get a parking spot as it was getting busy fast as the word was spreading that the road was open. We checked out the visitor center and then decided to hike to the Hidden Lake Overlook even though the trail was completely covered in snow. It was great fun and we had a really enjoyable time hiking over the snow. The scenery was beautiful.
After finishing our hike we drove back to the Lake McDonald area to grab some lunch before our scheduled afternoon boat tour on Lake McDonald. Lunch at this pizza place turned out to be really really stressful because it was such bad unbelievably bad service and Skye was hungry/cranky. We still hadn't got our food by the time we needed to leave so we had them put it in to go containers and we booked it down to the boat dock just in time to catch our tour. We then had to eat on the boat which was a little challenging. Lake McDonald is a beautiful lake that sits in a glacier carved valley, it was a clear day so we were treated to more great views and narration from a park ranger.
Thursday June 28th was suppose to be a more relaxing day. We parked at the Apgar visitor center and rode our bikes up the North Fork dirt road and then around on a few paved paths (11 miles total). We had a bison burger lunch with huckleberry cobbler desert and then let Skye play in the rocks on the shore of Lake McDonald. She liked trying to throw them into the water and eventually ended up falling into the water herself. After a little rest back at the trailer Dave wanted to go do a little hike out of "The Loop Trailhead" on the Granite Peak Trail. We ended up doing a 4 mile hike with some substantial uphill and it was hot! I was very tired when we returned to the car.
Skye throwing rocks in Lake McDonald before she fell in:
Hiking on the Granite Peak Trail
We got an early start the following day (June 30) and drove the entire Going to the Sun road to the east side of the park and the Many Glacier area. We were hoping to grab some breakfast before our boat tour but the only option was a little convenient store in the hotel. We then boarded an old boat that took us across Swiftcurrent Lake where we hiked over a little hill and got on another boat that took us across Josephine Lake. From the other side there were a few hiking options. I talked Dave into heading up the Grinnell Glacier Trail even though we knew we wouldn't make it all the way to Grinnell Glacier. I had read that the views from this trail were great and I didn't want to miss out. This hike was for sure a highlight of the whole trip. We climbed up out of the valley and got amazing views of turquoise lakes, waterfalls and towering peaks. It was pretty incredible. Skye had a nice nap but we decided to turn around when she woke up as it was already going to be a long day for her in the backpack. We hiked back down and along Josephine Lake to the boat dock and let Skye play for a bit. The boat back across Swiftcurrent Lake wasn't coming for a while so we decided to hike all of the way back to the Many Glacier Hotel for a 6 mile hike. After the long drive back through the park to the campground we decided to eat a dinner of steak and ribs at the campground restaurant, it was nice to sit outside and they barbecue up your dinner right there on the patio.
Views driving the Going to the Sun Road
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