2021 Montana Day 02 Glacier NP

Wednesday, Sept 29, 2021

We wake up today around 6:00 AM and have breakfast at the Lodge! Pretty amazing food, Veggie Casserole and a Fruit Plate!

Then we pack up a cooler that the Lodge loans us and we’re on our way into Glacier National Park! We find the road named, “Road To The Sun Highway” and start driving. Shortly we come to the Visitor Center and we stop for info. Armed with maps and suggestions, we drive on from the West Entrance. We drive along the shore of Lake McDonald and soon come to John’s Lake Trailhead. We spend almost two hours hiking the 2 mile loop trail. Many photo stops and we soon realize what the workout was for a man named Jake Bramante back in 2011 when he hiked all 734 miles of trails in the park in one summer!

We then drive on up the road and the beauty outdoes itself! Better and better as we climb! We eventually come to Logan Pass and the views are amazing! Snow capped mountains, green pine trees and Aspens in all their Fall Golden Glory! We make several stops for photos and just to marvel at the views!

On the way down the East Side, we come to “Sun Point”, a short .1 mile hike, where the winds are hurricane gale force and we have to hang on to our belongings as Mother Nature tries to rip them from our grasp!

We stop to take photos near the top of the pass and another car stops. Out comes a couple dressed as a Bride and Groom and sure enough, they are! They got married a month ago and are back for photos! So we help them out and add some photos to their cell phone albums but at the price of getting some photos for our own albums!

Driving on, we find a row of cars stopped on the side of the road and cameras are all pointed to the left. After querying one man with a pro camera on a sturdy tripod, he informs us there is a black bear off the side of the road. We find room to pull over and sure enough, there is a juvenile black bear who doesn’t seem phased by our presence! I hope the photos I get do it justice!

Then we drive down further still into East Glacier and manage to get a couple slices of Blueberry Pie after finding all eating establishments closed for the season! The entire Park will close in two days and we feel privileged to be here at all. We still have over two hours drive back to our Lodge and we drive on, only a minor 8 minute traffic delay for construction.

Arriving back in Whitefish, we go straight to town and find an Italian/Pizza Restaurant, Makenzies River Pizza Company and we have a Cajun Bowl, Brussel Sprouts and a Caesar Salad. Then we drive back to Duck Inn Lodge and turn in for the night!

See you all tomorrow!