It has been a while since I'd been dreaming about going to Glacier National Park. After seeing countless photos of this park, my mind was set. I made my solo trip to the park for the July 4th weekend and took 3 days off work to make it happen. On July 2nd (thursday) I flew to Spokane, Washington. I rented a car there and drove to GNP. One of the things that had me worried was finding a campground late in the day as I was reaching the park around 6 pm. So I called up Glacier Campground which is right outside the west entrance to the park. This campground was well taken care of, the showers were working and I had really good chicken gumbo here. A great place to camp for those looking for places near the west entrance.
After an early dinner at the campground, I drove to Lake Macdonald as I'd read that sunset at the lake was supposed to be amazing. Well, not quite. The sunset was OK. And the mosquitoes were working on overdrive the whole time at the Lake. After getting a few shots at the lake, I walked around the lake to get any more shots were it got dark. After the lake, I drove up the sun-road to catch the remains of the sunset in the valley. It was quite stunning and I wish I'd spent more time up the road than the lake. Only if wishes would be dollars, I'd be a rich man! I drove back to the campground after dark, showered and went to bed.
Next day I woke up at 4:30, packed my tent etc and headed out to the sun road to catch the sunrise. The sunrise wasn't as spectacular as I'd hoped. But, turns out, the moon was out. And man, was it beautiful. I got a few photos of the moon and the sun rays falling on Logans Peak ( I think). I drove straight to Rising Sun Campground after this to reserve a campsite. I got in at around 7:15am, and quickly reserved one. I set my tent up, then got breakfast at the rising sun motor inn. I drove up to Logan Pass failr yearly, around 9:30 am. I parked my car, and off I went hiking to the Hidden Lake. I hiked up till the Hidden Lake Overlook where I saw plenty of mountain goats and a few marmots who were fighting or making love, one of those things. The hike by itself was fairly easy, about 3 mile roundtrip. The hike to the actual lake was closed from the overlook onwards. Which was a little disappointing. But I did see grizzlies and cubs drinking at the lake on my binoculars. So I guess I got a good experience out of it. The hidden lake with the mountain backdrop looks absolutely gorgeous. I knew I had to come here for sunset.
After taking photos at Hidden Lake overlook, I got back to the visitor center at Logan Pass. I enquired about hikes with a ranger and he suggested the Highline trail as the sky was clear and "it would be a good afternoon walk". Okay. That sounds great! And off I go on the 7.6 mile one way Highline trail. I started the hike around 12:30, which is when the sun is really out! After a few miles in, I realized that this trail wouldn't be covered by trees. It was open throughout, but with stunning views. I was carrying about 1.5L of water and carrying my camera gear with me. As it kept getting hotter and hotter, my bag seemed heavier! By about 3/4th of the way, I was out of water. Fuck, I hated my life and I was wondering as to why I was doing this thing, all by myself! Some existential questions were asked to myself, and I had no answers. I was so angry and thirsty that I didn't stop to take photos which made me even more angrier. I knew I fucked up not preparing well. I reached the Granite Chalet around 3:45pm and was glad to drink water there. I downed a a liter of water and a few chocolates. I stretched a bit, looked around the Chalet, the view was alright. There were better views along the trail, but I never took any photos there. Mind you, the hike itself isn't hard, I did it in a decent pace, but man, if you ever plan on doing this after noon, take enough water or just do the hike early morning. On my way back, around 4:45pm I took the loop down so that I could catch the last shuttle back to Logan Pass. The hike back wasn't easy on my knees. It was 4 miles of downhill. I did my best to not strain my knees too much. I was down by 6:15 pm. Shuttle back to Logan Pass. Then drove back to camp area and got dinner at the inn. Glorious dinner for the tired and hungry! I drove to the viewpoint of Goose Island on St Mary lake to catch the sunset.I showered back the camp (you need tokens) and head to sleep. Not a bad day considering I got some good photos and learnt a few lessons in preparing well for hikes.
Next day, I woke up at 4am. I drove straight to Two Medicine Lake for the sunrise. The colors were beautiful, the reflection in the lake was amazing. And I could see the moon right up one of the peaks. A great photo! I drove to Many Glacier side of the park. Got breakfast at the inn there. A good place with nice people. After breakfast, I walked around looking for photo op. Swiftcurrent Lake looked wonderful, so I decided to talk the short loop around the lake. I stopped and clicked many photos. Then I saw sign for Josephine Lake, so I though to myself, why not. I ended up hiking to Grinnell Lake. Man, the water in the lakes progressively got greener. It was beautiful and cold! At Grinnell Lake, I saw a giant Moose on the other side of the lake. It was a big dude! I hiked back to the Many Glacier hotel by walking all around the trails. This day felt a lot of better as it was getting progressively cloudy. Which meant, sunset will be awesome! I bought the ticket for the boat ride and ranger led hike to Grinnell Glacier the next day. I drove back to the Hidden Lake for the sunset. The view was just stunning, but I was bit by way too many mosquitoes. Those stupid organic bug sprays don't work! Also I saw a lot of mountain goats hanging around my tripod. Was a pretty cool experience. After getting my dose of photos at Hidden Lake, I drove to Goose Island viewpoint for sunset. The sunset was stunning here too.And then it started to rain. Like heavy thunderstorms. I drove back to my campsite and went to sleep. It was an amazing experience sleeping in a tent by yourself when it rains. This is what solitude is all about and this is what I was looking for. I loved every moment of it.
Next morning (sunday), I woke up at 4 am. Headed out to Many Glacier. Took some photos of Swiftcurrent Lake, had breakfast and was waiting for it to stop raining. It never did. I had forgotten to pack a rain jacket. I ran to one of the stores there and bought a overpriced jacket because the ranger was doing the hike, rain or shine. Our boat left the dock at 8:45am. We sailed to Lake Josephine, did a small hike, then took another boat to the end of the Lake Josephine. Our actual hike began then. The ranger was a very nice professor who worked as a ranger in this park during summer. I forget his name, but he was very informative and patient with all the questions from our group. The hike itself was slow as we had a big group. It was a little frustrating to walk slow, but I guess the information provided by the ranger was more valuable. We hiked up the trail which was really beautiful, well maintained, there were waterfalls along the trail, wildflowers, the view of the 3 lakes below, it had everything. And it was raining. We were walking through the clouds. It was surreal. I'd never hiked in the rain before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. It was an experience to last a lifetime. If you ever get a chance to hike in the rain, do it! Once we reached to the glacier, the view was out of this world. Giant walls of stone, glacier, lake, clouds, fog, oh man, it looked like a scene from Game of Thrones. The whitewalkers would come down running anytime! I had a good time taking photos here, however I didn't carry my tripod, so I couldn't get the shots I wanted. I walked around the lake taking photos, then hiked down by myself. This was a really nice hike and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Everything about this hike was amazing! The glacier is something you've to see atleast once in your life!
I stayed at Lake Swiftcurrent till sunset, got a few photos, then head back to the campground.
I woke up at 4am again, drove to Many Glacier, got some sunrise photos in. Had breakfast and then started my hike up to Iceberg Lake. On my way up, I saw a ranger led hike, so I decided to join them. Once again, this hike was very beautiful, I took a lot of photos along the way. I took a short break at the Ptarmigan Falls. Then I resumed my hike upto the lake. The lake was very beautiful with icebergs floating on it. It was such a unique sight for me. I had a great time taking photos here. I decided to get into the ice cold water and dipped my feet in the water! It was icy cold as expected and helped my sore feet. And I started by hike down. I decided to drive up to Two Medicine Lake for the sunset. On my way there, a giant female Moose ran across the highway, I had to brake hard to avoid hitting the moose. The moose had disappeared! I really thought I was tripping! Two Medicine lake was nice and quite, I got a few photos of the sun setting. After the sun disappeared behind the mountains, I started the drive back to my camp. It was on my way back that, I saw the sun and it looked like a giant red ball. It was clearly visible without needing to squint my eyes. I imagine it's due to hiding behind a thin layer of clouds. And I saw a grizzly hanging out on the field by the road. A great way to end my night and my last day at GNP.
Next morning, I had breakfast, hiked down to St Mary Falls. I got a few photos in, and decided to be a bit adventurous by getting closer to the water! And I slipped into the water with the camera in my hands. Thankfully, the water wasn't too deep and my camera stayed dry. My shoes however, were completely wet. I had to drive back to the airport with wet shoes, aghh! For my drive back to Spokane, I drove through the east entrance. It was raining very heavily and the drive was very beautiful!
Few notes: Huckleberry Pie is delicious. Organic bug spray doesn't work! Every day had a different weather. My tripod broke. I hiked ~50 miles on my trip. My cellphone factory reset by itself in my pocket. Moose are hella big!