I have dreamed of visiting Glacier National Park for 2 decades. I never seriously planned a trip until last year because GNP seemed so remote, overwhelming, and difficult to visit as it’s only open for 3 months out of the year. All of those things are still true, not to mention that the park is very crowded. A new twist in recent years is wildfire danger and smoke from wildfires. The last wildfire in GNP occurred during a dry lightning storm back in 2018 and occur with alarming frequency. When we first arrived in the park, smoke was still clearing out of the air from the massive Spokane fires that were still burning. Fortunately, a couple of days of rain rolled in, clearing all the smoke out of the air and leaving gorgeous skies, streams and waterfalls, and even a couple of rainbows.

Rob and I hiked every day, and on every hike except our rainy-day hike to Twin Falls in Two Medicine, we saw wildlife – black bears, moose, deer, big horned sheep, a mountain goat and even a marmot! GNP is just stunning – it bridges the continental divide, and the central section is termed ‘The Crown of the Continent’ as the many high peaks form a crown as it were, several of which can be spotted from many different areas of the park.

Enjoy the photos 🙂

The historic Red Bus of GNP – we took a full day tour of the west and east sides of the park. Rob and I sat in the rear (!), the top rolls down for open viewing.

Baby black bear cub on the Avalanche Lake trail. We saw a mama with two cubs running across the trail!

Our first big hike – Highline Trail – was encased in fog for the first part of the hike with some steep dropoffs! See if you can spot Rob hiking on the trail.

The fog did clear on Highline Trail and a rainbow came out!

A view from the very north of the park – in Polebridge – of the main peaks of the park, the ‘Crown of the Continent’.

Two grizzlies eating huckleberries off the side of the road along St Marys Lake. We watched them for over 30 minutes. They just demolished those huckleberries! Apologies that it’s not a very good photo.

Beautiful scene of the clouds wrapping around the peaks.

Mama moose at Lake Josephine

Moose calf hiding in the bushes off Lake Josephine

Grinnell Glacier hike – absolutely stunning. It was peak wildflower season during our visit. It was like being in a photo of the Sierra Club calendar.

Grinnell Glacier trail.

Grinnell glacier in the background, the unique color of the lake is due to ‘glacial flour’ – the grinding of rocks by the glacier makes the water ‘milky’ and greenish blue in appearance.

Small icebergs floating in the lake. The lake freezes over in winter.

This is not photoshopped! The glacial flour gives the water this uniquely beautiful blue green color.

Goose Island at St Marys lake in late afternoon.

Sunset from the Many Glacier hotel in GNP. We saw a bull moose swim across the lake. The next photo is sunrise the next morning. We left this day for Waterton Lakes in Canada.

Goat Haunt in Waterton Lakes Park in Waterton, Canada. GNP and Waterton Lakes are actually one park, so it is fairly close to get to.

View across Waterton Lake from Goat Haunt.

Sunset across Waterton Lake from our hotel, The Prince of Wales. The town of Waterton is to the right. It’s a cute town but a bit touristy as to be expected. Still, we had a couple of nice meals.

St Mary Falls (back in Glacier National Park, stateside!)

We saw around 6 moose on this trip – which was one of the most exciting parts of our trip!

A different moose 🙂

This was a lovely fall to visit – there were areas to sit down and soak your hot feet, see Rob below!

Hidden Lake Overlook, our last hike in the park and it was spectacular!

So many beautiful wildflowers in the alpine meadows on the hike.

A mountain goat just off the trail on Hidden Lake trail

Our final wildlife sighting – a marmot snoozing on a rock. Looks a little bit like our cats 😀

We ended our trip before our flight the next day hanging out on Main Street in Kalispell. The old part of Kalispell dates from the late 1800s and there are many late 19th century homes lining some broad tree-lined streets, so beautiful. Also, Main Street had many ‘false-front’ buildings in the old West style. We had lunch at an old car mechanic shop from the mid 20th century which replaced a horseshoe smithing place from the late 19th century! Before lunch, we took a tour of the Conrad house – a perfectly preserved mansion built at the turn of the century that has been maintained completely in its original condition with an early model of food processor, ice crusher, and steam laundry dryer!