Day 13 – West Glacier, Montana to East Glacier, Montana and Glacier National Park

Day 13 – West Glacier, Montana to East Glacier, Montana and Glacier National Park

August 9, 2013

This is one of those days when I thank God that people have had the forethought to designate some lands as National Parks for everyone to experience and enjoy. Glacier National Park is a gem.

We got up early (for us) today, had a quick breakfast and left our campsite at Fish Creek in West Glacier. We loved this campsite, with its winding roads, many trees and location along the lake and creek. We could hear the water from our campsite and it felt very secluded for an RV site.

The only negative part of the day was that Ricardo had to drive our RV about an hour away, drop it off, rent a car and return to us inside the park. Alle, the boys and I had a nice morning at Apgar Village. We had fabulous views of Lake McDonald, which is a very long lake about 32 miles long. The morning light was peaceful and the lake stretched out in front of us at the docks there.

There is a Park Visitor’s Center, a few gift shops, and a grocery and restaurant in this village. So, while Ricardo did the hard work of driving all morning, we enjoyed time in the village. We took photos of the lake, shopped for souvenirs and Christmas presents, and visited the Visitor’s Center to get maps. I added a poster of Glacier to our collection of the national parks we’ve visited and we decided that having an early lunch was a good idea, followed by, of course, ice cream.

By 12:30, Ricardo was back with a black SUV. He felt raring to go based on being stuck behind the wheel all day and because he had just narrowly avoided a dog on the road on Highway 2. The dog wandered off, but all of our kitchen equipment in the RV landed up by the windshield and the TV had come down on his shoulders.  We left Apgar and entered the “Going to the Sun” Road, which is the 50 mile road winding through the park.

Once on the Going to the Sun Road, we drove along Lake McDonald and then McDonald Creek, which held the most clear water I’ve ever seen. We stopped near one of the tunnels so the boys could see the tunnel and the view, all the while getting sprayed with water at one of the many roadside waterfalls. The snow is still melting here. Our main stop was Logan Pass. After battling the other cars for someone leaving a parking space, we had a three hour hike here to see Hidden Lake. Even though the boys were loath to hike when we started, we all had a wonderful time. The path is board walk in some places and very well worn, but everyone is rewarded with fabulous wild flowers, amazing views of mountains, glaciers and snow patches, and many mountain goats wandering the hills and paths.

About four times, we had a mountain goat next to us in the path, happily munching on the grass and new growth on the pines. While our boys watched open mouthed, each walked across our path or posed framed in sunlight on a rock. It was breathtaking. It was 6 to 7 pm in the evening as we made our way back down and although it was getting late for dinner, we loved how empty the path became and the lovely light.

The other negative for the day came when we realized we had a very long drive to the historic Glacier Park Inn in East Glacier. We completed the Going to the Sun Road in St Mary, by the other very long lake of the park, but then had an hour drive out of the park on Blackfeet Indian Reservation land to find our lodge.  We were suddenly in East Glacier Village with civilization again and the huge wooden lodge looming before us.  

Red “Jammer” buses are one of the features of the Glacier National Park. They are a fleet of red historic buses built for the park. Because RVs and trucks of a certain length are not allowed on park roads, many people come here without their own transportation. They leave their RVs near the park entrance or take the train here. They see the parks with one of the modern park buses or one of the Red Jammers. The red buses were all restored by Ford Motor Company in 2002 and we saw them touring all over the park.

When we arrived at the lodge, there was a red bus picking up people with luggage. We also saw tons of people wandering over the front lawn with luggage. Everyone with luggage was heading across the front lawn to the Amtrak station directly across from the lodge.

The lodge land was purchased from the Blackfeet Indians and the lodge was built as an attraction on the expanding railway lines. It was opened in 1913; today everywhere around the grounds there are “100!” signs for its anniversary. The posts for the huge lobby are cedar logs which were each about 500 years old and weigh about 15 tons when they were hauled here and set-up to support the lodge.

We had separated our luggage from the rest of the RV “stuff” earlier in the day. We carried it all up the three flights of stairs to our room on the top floor. We are all in a “family room”, which has the roof lines for a ceiling and four beds in it. It is truly a summer camp type of room with only the minimal “mod cons”. We look out on the promenade of flowers which links the hotel to the East Glacier train station.

Tomorrow we have another day in the park to explore Many Glacier and perhaps Two Medicine hiking areas.