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Published: June 12th 2017
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Geo: 48.7439, -113.429
This was "our day" in Glacier, and we were intent on making the most of it. The highlight of any trip to Glacier is driving the famous "Going to the Sun Road," which bisects the park and crosses the continental divide. With the time change, we were all up early. Anna and I grabbed our fishing poles a little after 6:00am and again tried our luck, but to no avail. We were all cleaned up and on the road by 7:30am, which was great, as we beat most of the crowds of people who fill the GTTS road each day. We stopped at the famous Lake McDonald Lodge on our way out, as well as for a couple of short hikes. The road itself only opened up for traffic in mid-July, when the final snow melted -- yes, mid-July! The road will close again in October, so you can see what a short season they truly have. With the extreme weather conditions, the road is in need of major repairs, and they were underway in earnest. I didn't envy the workers -- many of them suspended over the road's edge on ropes -- attempting to repair vast stretches of
the highway. We inched our way up through truly stunning scenery, crossing through rain forests, pine forest, then finally Alpine meadows, toward Logan Pass, which marks the Continental Divide between the Atlantic and Pacific watersheds. There was still considerable snow at the pass, but the wildflowers were doing their best to bloom during their incredibly short growing season.
We completed the GTTS road a couple of hours later, and decided to drive a little north toward Many Glacier Lake. While we had seen ground hogs, marmots, and deer until now, this trip marked the beginning of our "major" wildlife sightings. While on the road to Many Glacier Lodge, we came across our first "bear jam," which was caused by a very large grizzly bear gorging on berries alongside the highway. People were too close for our comfort, but we got some good pictures. As we exited the park later that night, we learned that this particular grizzly ended up having to be hit with a stun gun by the Park Service, to scare her away. They discovered she had a cub with her, and given her proximity to people, they thought it best to ward her off.
At Many Glaciers Lodge we
boarded a boat tour, which brought us across on lake, from where we hiked overland to another lake and another boat, which carried us over to the Grinnel Pass trail. This is one of Glacier's most famous trails, and while we'd seen signs that the trail was closed due to bear activity, a guide was offering to take folks on the hike. We passed, and instead elected to hike back to the lodge, all the while making A LOT of noise so as to keep any bear at bay.
We stayed at a cabin located just outside the park's formal boundaries, in St. Mary's, Montana. It was one of the nicest cabins we had during the trip, and we all collapsed into bed.
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