Aug 4-7, 2019
Glacier National Park has been on my radar for awhile. So glad to finally see it come to fruition! On Aug 3rd, the six of us flew to Spokane from Baltimore (the cheapest plane tickets I could find - everything into Montana was super expensive). We rented a car and the following day, we made the 4 hour drive to West Glacier, where we met up with my parents and brother and his wife and 3 kids.
We drove into the park (for free! Thanks to Eli's 4th grade National Parks Pass and my Mom's Senior Pass, but normal cost is $35/car) and decided to do the Johns Lake Trailhead hike, which is about a 2 mile hike.
Everyone's favorite part of the hike was when we came to these waterfalls.
And it had this cool bridge as well that you could walk over to the other side once you were done admiring the waterfall views. You can also ride by horseback in this area.
Here I am with my hubby enjoying my first day in Montana, my 49th State!
We drove the entire Going to the Sun Road (the only road that goes through the entire park from one side to the other) and made stops along the way, including here at Logan Pass, the highest point of the road.
A couple days later, we decided to do the 10 mile hike to Upper Grinnell. My parents did an easier hike/adventure with the three "little girls" while Dave and I, along with my brother and his wife and the four "big kids" (ages 9-12) set out on this amazing hike.
We started the hike a little before 8am (which I would highly recommend - the parking lot was quickly filling up when we got there).
We all loved going through this waterfall. It was a hot day when we hiked, so this felt so refreshing!
Almost there....
We made it! Grinnell Glacier.
It was SPECTACULAR! Truly a sight to behold. The glacier was amazing, the water color was amazing and all the icebergs in the water were so cool. We sat down and spent about half an hour admiring the views and eating PB and J sandwiches that we had packed and brought with us.
Making a pretty incredible memory with my hubby and older two kids.
Grinnell Lake
All 8 of us at Grinnell Glacier
Most hikes are pretty along the way and then you come to a "wow" finale. This hike had the "wow" finale at the glacier, but it was jaw-dropping scenery the entire time. The only thing it didn't have a lot of, that we were hoping for, was some more wildlife, which we were told were a common sighting on this trail.
Well, we may not have seen much on our way there, but on our way back......
We saw this huge bear! How cool is that!! It was SO awesome!! Absolutely incredible to see a bear in the wild from such a close distance.
Verdict: Absolutely. The scenery was amazing, the hikes were plentiful (over 700 miles of them and something for everyone) and we honestly loved every minute of our three days there. Highly recommend!
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