Glacier National Park – Part 2 – Grinnell Glacier

August 20th, 2019

I had just tore through Avalanche Lake trail, got in my car, and headed up Going-to-the-Sun Rd. I come to the Loop turn around where I parked the previous day, and the trail was closed. I jump out, go over and look, and here the trail is now open again.

Having done near 3 hours of hiking already, there was no way I was going to be able to hike 23.2 miles by dark. I got back in my car, and proceeded to Grinnell Glacier. Not before I quickly took another photo of Heaven’s Peak.

Unbeknownst to me, you have to exit the park, and then re-enter from the north. I was roughly about 10 miles from the border of Alberta, Canada.

I make my way down Many Glacier Rd. It takes you to the small establishment of Swiftcurrent. I quickly learn that parking is hard to come by, as every lot was full. I somehow got lucky and a car had left the end cap spot. I park, grab my gear, and decide to leave my gun in the car (they were banned on the last trail).

I get on the trail and start speed hiking. I soon learn that it is 5.6 miles to the glacier. Thus, a round trip would be 11.2 miles.

Talk about a perfect day for this hike… It was clear, hot, and the fresh air never felt better.

On my way, I pass hundreds of people heading back. Many of them were open carrying. It made me think that I should have brought my gun. Danger may be lurking. Nevertheless, I did have bear spray on me.

The beauty just could not get any better. But it was! This trail was continuously blowing my mind. Little did I know what was to come.

It was here that I was told by other hikers that mountain goats were around the corner, and on the trail. On the trail?! I couldn’t wait another second. I zoom up, and WOW!

But wait! A pair of hikers in front of me, stopped and saw a bear. A grizzly bear, and two cubs!! To see the cubs playing, was one of the cutest things ever. I tried to snap a photo, but they kept going into bushes.

At this point, an overwhelming sense of absolute amazement was running through my body.

Then, I turn the corner… and…

Truly amazing creatures.

While moving on, I had met another hiker. We struck up conversation about the animals, and the hike. We continue on together, and make it to Upper Grinnell Lake. It was ICE COLD.

We set our packs down, took a photo together, and took a break. What a hike up to there it was. So intense. She took her shoes and socks off, and stuck her feet in the lake. Ha. Indeed it was ice cold she said. I had a bottle of water that got warm, so I set it in the water for a few minutes. Sure enough, it was ice cold and ready to go for the hike back down.

It wasn’t but a moment later, and I took this most amazing photo. “Juicy”, as she put it. (seen below)

On our way down, we saw several of these squirrels. I’m not entirely sure which breed of squirrel it was.

The landscape was absolutely out of this world.

We then came across some of these unique chipmunks. The followed us for a while. Most likely, they were hoping we would feed them.

As we turned a corner, and took a few steps, something told me to stop. That there was something we needed to see. So I said to her, “Stop, something is telling me we need to look around.” She then said, “Dan, look to your right.” I turn and look and see a moose walk into this lake. My first moose sighting ever.

It walked out into the water, and started dunking its head over and over. So cool to witness.

We said so long Mr Moose, and continued on.

From here, it was just a couple miles to go. The sun was starting to set, so we kicked it in gear. When the sun goes down, the animals come out.

Sure enough, just a mile further, we are cruising along, and she suddenly puts her arm out in front of me to stop.

We look right, and here comes a black bear running through the forest. It never stopped, and crossed the trail directly in front of us, looked over at us while in stride, and kept going. It was so handsome, jet black in color. I said, “That was AWESOME.” She then said, “I know!” She was just as excited as me. Not scared one bit. One cool girl. “Juicy” as she puts it.

Not more than a few seconds go by, and we hear this couple in front of us 250 feet yelling and clapping at a bear. We both start running toward them. The bear had seemingly heard us coming and ran off. They had said their bear had a blond stripe down its head. Very odd. However, black bears can vary in color, not just black. Such as brown, and even in extreme rare cases, all white.

We exit the trail and head into the parking lot. We warn other people heading toward the trail to yield on the side of caution, that bears are out. All of them wisely turned around.

The fun wasn’t over yet. As I exited the parking lot, a farmers cow had found its way to the road. It came up to my window. Too funny.

I moved on, as it was a 2 hour drive back to my hotel. Camping in this country was dangerous unless you were at a campground. They were all sold out. My friend found a spot, parked, and slept in her car. She is small enough that she folds her back seats down, and sets up camp in the car. Lucky.

Coming back down Going-to-the-Sun Rd, I came across some more mountain goats. Apparently, they clean up after tourists.

This concludes one of THE BEST HIKES EVER in my life. Wildlife Extreme.

Miles: 11.5 (18.5 total for the day)
Time: Moving – 5 hours 6 minutes
Elevation gain: 2,221 feet