Glacier national park offers over 700 miles of hiking trails through alpine valleys, up icy glacier peaks, and around spectacular lakes. It is a bit of a mecca for those who love to hike, bike, climb, or fish within the national parks and we were ready to experience the jewel of northern Montana.

The east and west ends of the park are connected by a single road, Going-To-The-Sun, which was built over the span of two decades and finished in 1933. A feat of engineering, Going-to-the-Sun winds 50 miles through mountains, above valleys, and alongside glacial lakes and is a spectacle of the park in and of itself. If youre into scenic drives, its worth it to go to Glacier for the drive alone. Because Glacier NP has become a popular wilderness destination, visitors have to purchase a permit to get on Going to the Sun ahead of time (this has allowed the National Park Service to limit the amount of people in the park on any given day, providing safety for visitors, wildlife, and the rugged landscape).

So, what is a glacier anyway? We learned a glacier is a mass of ice, 25 acres or more, that moves (like a river on super slo mo) and forms over hundreds of years as snow compresses and turns to ice. Glaciers form the largest reservoirs of fresh water on the planet, and it is for this reason that it is scary and sad they are melting with an alarming rate. Today, there are about two dozen glaciers in the park but they have decreased in mass by about 80% from the parks opening in 1910. The 20% glacier ice that remains rests atop several tall peaks, Blackfoot Glacier being the largest, followed by Grinell and Salamander.


There are three main camp grounds within the park and we stayed at Fish Creek near the edge of Lake McDonald. Alex has visited Glacier NP in the past but this was Kelly’s first time and she was determined to crown our hiking trip with a lengthy glacial summit. More on that to come.

The icing on the cake of this portion our road trip was that Kelly’s dad, Jerry, and his wife, Sam, vacationed in Glacier NP during the time we were visiting. They did not camp but instead stayed in a town outside of the park, Whitefish, and rented a Jeep Wrangler to tour the area with. Our first evening, Jerry and Sam met us at our campsite and we toasted to the adventures ahead w some red wine and cold beer.





Over the next couple days we went on several hikes, mesmerized by waterfalls, canyons, alpine valleys, sparkling lakes, icy peaks and the vast, dense forest. We watched the sunset from Logan’s Pass, toured Lake St. Mary by boat, and got some close up encounters with big horn sheep and a mountain goat. And, during the St Mary Lake boat tour, we saw a moose taking a swim in the distance! Jerry and Sam saw bears on the hiking adventures they went on after we left but unfortunately, our hiking adventures were bear-less. We love a good black bear sighting.



Sharing the Glacier experience with Jerry and Sam was an extra special treat. Kelly has rarely traveled with her dad since being an adult and it was great to make travel memories and experience vast nature with him again. Sam loves outdoor adventures and has done some intense hiking trips herself. It was lovely to share our hiking passions in a place like Glacier and it was great to see she and Jerry take a break from work and have fun wilderness adventuring as we have this past month.

Watching the logan pass sunset, Kelly’s dad drinking a cold beer and attempting to get the classic rock satellite radio to work consistently, was a highlight of the trip for her. For as long as she has been alive, Kelly can count on her dad to bring the party. He lives life fully and has always shared his love of music with anyone around him. This moment, with the sun setting over the mountains and glaciers, tired from a group hike, flanked by her dad and her partner atop a wrangler, was a moment of intense gratitude and love for the family she was born into and the one she has created with Alex.


Glacier is the last mountainous stop on our trip offering some serious hiking trails, and we decided it was time to put our exercised calf and quad muscles to the test. We hiked 14 miles along The Highline trail and ascended the Grinell Glacier lookout. If youre in Glacier NP, doing some or all of the highline is a must. All 14 miles offer stunning views as you traverse 2600 feet up across its first 8 miles. Everywhere you turn there are tall peaks, glaciers, hidden lakes, and wild animals. Bighorn sheep grazed on nearby mountain shrubs, lounged on the trail, and lazily lumbered across the granite peaks. We also came across some marmot and grouse while on this hike.


The Grinell peak overlook had us gain nearly 700 feet of elevation in one mile, a steep and arduous climb, but oh so worth the view at the top! We were elated, smiling from ear to ear, sweating from every gland, grateful for the blustery wind that pummels most peaks. To see glacial ice so close you can almost touch it was an experience we won’t soon forget. Unfortunately, studies of glacial melting have proven that the glaciers of Glacier NP will no longer exist come 2050, and nearly half of what currently remains is predicted to be gone as soon as 2030. As this happens, it will change this landscape indefinitely and force its plant and animal inhabitants out of their thousands year old habitat. Global warming has accelerated at such a rate that there is no hope for Glacier NP to be glacial in the very near feature and we feel lucky to have been able to get up close and personal with one of its glaciers before it melts for good.


We ended our long hike by literally running down the mountain trying to catch the last remaining free park shuttle that would take us back to Carl at the trail head. Somewhere along this 4 mile running descent, we realized it wasn’t going to be possible to catch the shuttle and was likely very dumb to run down a craggy mountain side. A mule deer scared Kelly as she rounded a corner, feet flying, frightened the deer and it went bounding into a nearby pine field. We stopped, figured we could hitch hike a ride back to Logan Pass once we got to the trail end, and walked the last couple miles down with the setting sun. Thankfully, an older woman was happy to give us a ride to Logan Pass as she was headed there to pick up her daughter who had sprained her knee while on the Highline and got taken to the pass by a ranger EMT. We had a nice conversation with her, a west Virginia native turned Texan, and were grateful to the hiking gods for bringing her across our path so we didn’t have to walk another 10 miles back to Carl. Kelly, ever the prepared nurse that she is, had ace wrap and ibuprofen to treat our rides daughter sprained knee and we had one last cold beer in Carl’s fridge for her use as an ice pack. Sometimes the universe is funny like that, you give and you get, take and receive, learn to ask for what you need and the universe will provide in sometimes unforseen ways.

Glacier was a real treat but we had some more Montana exploring to do… onward to Missoula!















This made me teary-eyed to read and what are those white fluffy things?! The mule deer? Can you bring one home?!
Great photos and well written. We so enjoyed our time at the park. Will never forget the end of Avalanche Trail. So beautiful and to get to see it with you two was priceless as was sunset from atop a Jeep. Thank you again Alex for adventuring with Kelly and putting smiles on my daughter’s face. So so proud of both of you.