We had a short day (2.5 hours) of travel through
Flathead Reservation to get from Poulson, Montana to Coram, Montana.
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| Flathead Lake. |
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| Flathead Lake. |
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| Flathead River. |
Coram is where we put down our jacks for a week at North American RV Park to facilitate visiting Glacier National Park. North American is a well maintained RV Park, with tent,
cabin, and yurt sites in addition to RV sites. Our long pull through site was adequate to fit 2 of our 3
vehicles. Not only did North American RV Park not
charge us for having an extra vehicle, they let us park it on the site next
door. (We opted to put Big Boomer there
so we could off-load Maximus the Trike).
Of course, all this courtesy and customer service didn’t come cheap: our
weekly rate worked out to $95/night, including tax. But we stayed here 9 years ago (at a rate
of $41/night), so we knew the sites were large, and North American is located
just 8 miles from the West Entrance of Glacier National Park.
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| Since it was near our RV Park, we stopped at the 10 Commandments Park... |
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| ...and no visit to the area is complete without some treats from the Huckleberry Patch! |
We visited Glacier National Park (as well as Waterton across the border in Canada) in May 2016 on our way
to Alaska. But it was before I knew anything
about the National Park Junior Ranger Program.
Furthermore, the majority of Going to the Sun Road, the main
thoroughfare through Glacier National Park, was still closed due to snow that
early in the season. So, yours truly
petitioned my parents for a second visit this year. And finding it impossible to resist this
stuffed Rambling RV Rat’s persuasiveness and charm, they obliged.
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| I finally earned a Junior Ranger badge at Glacier National Park. |
Glacier is one of the National Park’s that has a timed entry
system, and it is a screwy one. If you
access the Park via the West Entrance, you must make a reservation online,
selecting the 2-hour window during which you want entry. This is an extra $2 fee per day. So, if
you are visiting the Park over multiple days, you require multiple
reservations. If you access the Park via
the East Entrance (St. Mary), no timed entry is required. However, if you go beyond the Apgar
checkpoint as you travel west, you will not be allowed back into the Park until
after 3 p.m. We tried to make timed
entry reservations back in April, but all slots were filled already for every
day of our week-long visit. The Park
releases a select number of additional timed entry tickets each morning, which go
to the first visitors who get online (no in-person sales) and make a same-day timed
entry reservation. Is your head spinning
yet? Not to worry—it gets even more
convoluted. If you enter the Park from
the West Entrance before 7 a.m. or after 3 p.m., a timed entry ticket is NOT
required at all. We opted just to bypass
the whole timed entry system, arriving after 3 p.m. at the West Entrance or
just gaining entry at any time at St. Mary’s gate. We
learned the hard way that although no timed entry is required for Two
Medicines, the Park restricts access periodically due to limited parking
resulting from ongoing construction. The
Many Glacier entrance had the same issue as Two Medicines: periodic restricted
access due to construction/limited parking.
But we lucked out there and
gained entry right away. (Effective July 1, they banned personal vehicles from entering Many Glacier entirely. Guests are now required to use the Park Shuttle Bus Service). Furthermore,
North Fork requires a timed entry (we arrived at 2:48 p.m. with no one waiting
in line to get in, but were denied entry until after 3 p.m., by which time a line of a dozen vehicles had formed.) You just cannot
fix stupid!
Glacier National Park is spectacular! A ride along Going to the Sun Road offers majestic mountains,
wonderous waterfalls, an abundance of animals, and breathtaking vistas.
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| Heaven's Peak. |
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| The bighorn sheep were unfazed by us humans at Logan's Pass. I learned that the 450 bighorn sheep at Glacier National Park live an average of 14 years, and they can weigh an average of 300 lbs., with 10% of that weight attributed to just 1 of its horns. |
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Hiking to Hidden Lake at Logan's Pass.
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With these views from Logan's Pass...
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| ...I felt like Maria in "The Sound of Music". These hills were truly alive--with the sound and beauty of nature. |
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| The animals throughout the Park were very gracious... |
We hiked Trail of the Cedars first, then climbed Avalanche Creek Trail, where we admired the waterfalls. But it was the glacial Avalanche Lake at the top of the mountain that left us speechless. What an awesome world our masterful Creator has given us!
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Avalanche Lake was so still, it produced a mirror image of the mountains within the water.
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The Park lodges are all historic, designed with Swiss Chalet architecture, and offer a quaint and welcoming
atmosphere.
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| Unique lighting inside McDonald Lodge. |
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| McDonald Lake. Once upon a time, a glacial river of ice moved down the valley. It transported so much rock and dirt with it that it dammed McDonald Creek. The result was the creation of McDonald Lake. |
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| Glacier Park Lodge, established 1913. |
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| Many Glacier Hotel is on the shores of Swiftcurrent Lake. |
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| Gorgeous flower boxes and gardens at Many Glacier Hotel. |
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Taking in the views...
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| ...and enjoying the flora... |
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...as we hiked the trails at Many Glacier.
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We visited the tiny unincorporated community of Polebridge, population 31.
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| This mercantile has been in operation since 1914. |
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| View as we walked along the Nature Trail in Polebridge. |
Then we proceeded to the North Fork entrance of Glacier National Park, the least visited and most remote area. Most of the roads are unpaved and not well maintained, so we got to enjoy some off-roading with my Rambling RV Rat Pack Rubicon.
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| Bowman Lake. |
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| Time to head back home to North American RV Park. |
Speaking of off-roading, we did a little side trip to Blacktail Wild Bill OHV Trail, earning ourselves another Jeep Badge of Honor.
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| The view from Packrat Junction. |
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| You never know what you will find when off-roading. |
Other than July 4 (when we experienced steady rain all day long) and June 28 (when we had intermittent showers upon our first entry into the Park), we had great weather--high 70s to low 80s during the day and cooler evenings, complete with light breezes.
Well, I have certainly rambled on way too long, so I'll sign off now. But needless to say, I am so thrilled that I had the chance to revisit magnificent, majestic Glacier National Park.
