By: Sam
Getting there was not easy, getting a campsite was not easy, but without a doubt, Glacier National Park was worth all of its trials and tribulations. Months ago, (six months to be exact) we had logged on to recreation.gov in hopes of securing a coveted campsite in Many Glacier Campground. Acquiring a Many Glacier campsite is akin to getting super bowl tickets; as soon as they become available, they sell out in less than a second. It took us a few days, but thanks to Eli’s fast fingers, we reserved six nights in Many Glacier. And that was that. We all were looking forward to our arrival in Glacier, and didn’t worry at all about our stay there.
Until Theodore Roosevelt.
If you’ve read my previous blog post from last year’s stop at Glacier (titled: Glacier, Goats, and Bears, Oh My!), you know that there is one constant factor that is both the biggest attraction and hindrance in the park: Bears. Last year, a trail that we were on was shut down mid-hike because of bear activity (it turns out that while Grizzlies can look majestic and cute from a distance, they can maul people up close.)
This year, the bears struck again. So really, the title of this post should be Glacier Episode V: The Bears Strike Back, or something. But I digress.
Let’s go back to Theodore Roosevelt for a second. We were driving along following a herd of Bison and enjoying the scenery, when Mom realized that she had a voicemail from the National Park Service. It was a ranger explaining that because of recent threatening bear activity in Many Glacier Campground, only hard sided trailers were currently allowed. This meant that no tents, and more importantly, no pop-ups were allowed to stay in the campground.
We all sat in stunned silence for a minute. And then we frantically started revising our plans. Cue, Option #1: We just wouldn’t go to Glacier. Veto. We couldn’t do that. We had centered our entire summer trip around our Many Glacier campground reservation, and we had been looking forward to it for half a year! Option #2: We would forfeit our reservations in Many Glacier and camp in St. Mary Campground. Veto. Staying there meant we would have to drive at least an hour to the trails we wanted to hike. Option #3: We would just have sleep in the truck for 6 nights, as we couldn’t just give up our prized campsite.
This seemed to be our best option. That is, until Dad chose The Nuclear Option and rented us a 30-foot hard-sided trailer complete with a slide out, refrigerator, oven, and toilet.
Alas, it’s true. We are no longer simple pop-up trailer campers. We have tasted the forbidden fruit of luxury RV camping. But we got to stay at Many Glacier Campground, so I guess the ends justify the means.
We embarked on our first hike, Ptarmigan Tunnel, early Monday morning, hoping to complete it before the bears could shut it down. Last year, this was the hike that we couldn’t do because of bear activity, and we were determined to master it, even though it was a 13-mile round trip with a 2,700-foot elevation gain. And master it we did. For three and a half hours, we trekked up the steep trail, surrounded by white flowers that we affectionately named “bear armpits” because of their musky scent. Our legs and backs ached, but we were on a mission. Plus, the views of Ptarmigan Lake below us, and the views through the tunnel looming before us were breathtaking.
That night, our grandparents Giga and Opa arrived in Glacier, and we spent the next day catching up and playing UNO and Monopoly. It was wonderful getting to spend time with them. We only went on a short hike that day to Apikumi Falls, and although it was beautiful, it was nothing compared to our hike the next day.
After our Sabbath hiking day, we decided to knock off another of our planned hikes: Grinnell Glacier. Although it was a ten-mile hike from our campsite, we decided to shorten it by taking a boat across Swiftcurrent Lake and Lake Josephine to the trailhead. After a pleasant boat ride with Giga and Opa, we started our march up to the glacier. The trail itself was utterly stunning, with a kaleidoscope of alpine flowers in the surrounding meadow, and with three turquoise lakes beneath us. It was supposed to be beautiful weather, partly cloudy with a 20% of rain, and for a while it was. Until the clouds rolled in. They skulked over the mountain edge until we were completely engulfed in a dark storm. Then the sky’s swollen stomach split open, and we stood in a curtain of rain. We were two miles into our hike, with two more uphill miles till we reached the glacier, and four more miles for the return trip. But there was no way that a little bit of bad weather would slow down the Oliver family! At least, that’s what we told ourselves as it started to pour.
However, with a healthy (or insane) dose of determination, and sturdy hiking boots, we hiked until we stood victoriously (albeit, a little soggy) at the summit. Standing next to the glacier was like entering another world. Ice floated eerily on the surface of the green glacial lake. I’m glad that I saw Grinnell Glacier, as the sheet of ice perched on the mountain is scheduled to be melted by in the next decade. That being said, if you are going to see Glacier, go now as all of its glaciers are forecasted to turn to snowfields by 2030.
The rest of that day can be told in a single sentence: shivering, we slogged down the mountain to the boat dock, which took us to the Many Glacier Lodge, where we got hot chocolate, cozied up to a fire, and ended our freezing adventure.
The final hikes we embarked on in Glacier was a short hike to Avalanche Lake, which brought us to a lake lined by a ridge with three waterfalls flowing from it. Eli and Dad caught cut throat trout. Mom and I ate Ritz crackers, all in all, it was a good hike. The second of the two hikes was the Highline Trail up in Logan Pass, a repeat from last summer, which I covered in last year’s blogpost (if you haven’t read Glacier, Goats, and Bears, Oh My!, now’s the time to do it.) The Highline was exactly as I remembered it, windy, wild, and bubbling to the brim with joy. We didn’t go as far as we did last year, but we went far enough to see the three waterfalls trickling down the side of the valley. The best part of the hike was the same as it was last year: the goats. Last year we saw two mountain goats, a mother and a baby right off the side of the trail. This year came with an added bonus: we actually shared the trail with a mother and her baby, and they brushed passed us on their way to the meadow. Even though we seldom repeat hikes, the Highline Trail was worth it. It is possible that the most extraordinary thing we saw in Glacier we saw on our way out of the park. We pulled over to get a closer look, at a mother Grizzly, her cub, and a random black bear, forage for food along a stream. We gazed at these three majestic predators, wary of each other (the black bear and the Grizzly kept their distances from one another), yet all coexisting in the same ecosystem. All in all, it was a great way to end our journey at Glacier National Park. I guess the bears ushered us out in the end.
