Day 1 in Glacier we visited Many Glacier, hiked the Grinnell Lake Trail, and drove the Going-to-the-Sun Road. We drove 45 minutes from our hotel in Kalispell to the west entrance of Glacier National Park.
Glacier National Park
2019 Price: Free due to my Annual Pass (Fee would have been $35 for a 7-day pass)
Going-to-the-Sun Road
From the west entrance, we drove the entire Going-to-the-Sun Road pausing at sights along the way.
Sacred Dancing Cascades
Bird Woman Falls Overlook
Haystack Creek
Big Bend
Jackson Glacier Overlook
Saint Mary Lake and Wild Goose Island
We exited the East Glacier entrance and took highway 89 north to the Many Glacier entrance.
Many Glacier
You need to leave the park and re-enter to get to Many Glacier so have your pass available.
The main road passes Lake Sherbourne. We stopped to walk down to the rocky beach. It has lovely views of the lake surrounded by mountains.
We then followed the road to the parking lot for the Grinnell Glacier Trailhead. The lot was full but we were able to park along the road. Grinnell Lake Trail is a moderate trail that slopes downward to the lake. There is also a strenuous trail that branches upward to an overlook of Grinnell Glacier. Since it was already past one o’clock when we arrived, we opted for the shorter, easier Grinnell Lake Trail.
Grinnell Lake Trail
Lake Josephine
On the path you walk along Lake Josephine with its deep teal waters.
Along Josephine is where the trail split occurs. The closer you get to the base of the lake, the trail changes to narrow boards and bridges. There is also a ferry you can take across the lake to shorten the hike.
The later section of the trail includes a small swinging bridge with a beautiful view of a canyon.
Grinnell Lake
Grinnell Lake is fed from water flowing from Grinnell Glacier. The water is turquoise, caused by sunlight hitting “glacial flour” in the water. Lakes all over Glacier National Park have this same incredible teal or turquoise coloring. Colorful rocks fill the bottom of the lake, as they do at many other lakes in the park.
On our hike we saw a deer, chipmunks, birds, and a Columbian ground squirrel.
It is advised to carry bear spray. We each had a can but never had cause to use it. Also, we noticed many hikers using walking sticks with jingle bells to warn off bears.
Huckleberry is everywhere in Montana! They had huckleberry-something (cheesecake, candles, soap, chocolate, etc.) at all the stores and restaurants. I ended up getting huckleberry taffy and a lip balm. The taffy was so good I bought more as a gift for a friend.
For dinner we once again ate at Nickel Charlies Restaurant & Casino.
Travelodge by Wyndham Kalispell
2019 Price: $842 for five nights
Glacier is beautiful! The waters are so clear with the gorgeous teal color!
The pictures are so vivid that I will put Glacier National Park and Montana on my Bucket list. Thank you also for the prices ,