Of all the National Parks, Glacier is my absolute favorite! Not only because it is one of THE most beautiful parts of the US, but it was also my Dad's favorite NP too. This was a dream hike for me, and it was 7 months in the planning to be able to snag a permit for this one. As with a previous trip to Glacier in 2020 with the kids, we were able to get a walk-up permit, which was particularly rewarding for us as this is a highly coveted backpacking route in Glacier. In total, we hiked nearly 70 miles during our 6 days on this loop, with a few side excursions off the main loop to see stunning glacial mountain lakes and breathtaking mountain overlooks.
When backpacking in Glacier NP, a permit is required, and with the permit you are assigned designated campgrounds along the way. This becomes the challenge, as most campgrounds have only 4-6 sites, and up until this year, half of each campground area was reservable in advance online. So, for any given campground, there may only be 1-3 spots available. And for longer hikes like this one, getting lucky enough to be able to string together 5 nights along the route you want means an early morning waiting in line at the ranger station.
We had the day to kill once we had our walk-up permit at around 8:20 am, and so we drove a big circle around the park, stopping for an 8.5 mile hike near Two Medicine to see Rockwell Falls and Aster Falls, then on through St. Mary, up to Logan Pass, and then back down the GTTSR to Apgar village where we were staying. Some people are terrified of driving the GTTSR, but I love the drive and the views. It never gets old for me! On the way down, we came upon people watching a moose on the far bank (photo below). And we always finish our evenings in Apgar off with a Huckleberry cocktail at Eddies Cafe!
DAY 1: Iceberg/Ptarmigan (IPE) to Glen Lake Foot (GLF) - 15.4 miles
This day was an early start for us, and we were spending the night in Apgar Village and wanted to get to Many Glacier around 6:30 am. We were up around 4:30 am, on the road by 5 am, and drove the GTTSR in the dark! Even at that time, there was a constant stream of headlights behind us as folks started to make their way into the park and up to Logan Pass.
We hiked a little over 13 miles this day, and piggybacked back and forth with our friends Kirt and Patrick. We took the opportunity to take a small side hike up to Ahern Pass, which had commanding views of Ahern Glacier and Helen Lake below. If you recall, we stopped at the foot of Helen Lake for lunch on the first day, and some 50 miles ago. oss paths and meet later. We had to knock out 15 miles fully loaded this first day to get to our first campsite, so we wanted an early start and lots of energy to burn!d
It was a long day, and we cruised into our campsite around 5:30 in the evening. Along the way, we passed a moose and her calf bedded down in a valley below the trail in the first few miles. We passed by Ptarmigan Lake, through the Ptarmigan Tunnel and along the Wall (quite a temperature drop once you pass through the tunnel due to the wind on the other side!). We stopped for lunch at the foot of Elizabeth Lake with several CDT hikers, and crossed Crossley Lake using the wire cable to get across the swift moving current. And that water was cold! The first 13 miles or so was manageable, but after crossing Crossley Lake, that was the longest last mile and a half ever. I was so excited to see that campground sign!
DAY 2: Glen Lake Foot (GLF) to Mokowanis Junction (MOJ) - 3.1 miles + Margaret Lake 5.2 miles
After so many miles the first day, it was nice to sleep in and make our way leisurely to our next campsite just a little over 3 miles away. As I started to cook breakfast, Ryan took an early morning stroll and spied a black bear eating berries by the trail just outside our campground. Ryan came back to camp to get me, and we carefully and quietly watch the bear from a safe distance eat berries for quite some time. It was so awesome to watch!
We got to MOJ campground about 11 am, set up our campsite, and then proceeded to do some further day hiking in the area. Our destination was Mokowanis Lake, a beautiful mountain lake about 1 mile south. We had lunch on the shore of the lake, and then headed further down the trail to see the waterfall. We chatted with two guys staying in one of the campsites there, who shared with us an off route hike up to Margaret Lake, another stunning glacial mountain lake above the falls.
How did we find the route up? Just follow the creek bed and watch for the rock cairns that marked the way. There was a little bit of rock climbing and scrambling involved, but we were rewarded with the most stunning glacial lake we had seen yet! We also spotted a
very large bull moose eating and bedding down across the shore. Eventually, the two guys who advised of this route eventually joined us at Margaret Lake, and as we chatted about the trip, we discovered that I had already met one of the guys, Kirt, in a mutual Glacier backpacking FB group. He and I had been directly messaging each other about this route and permit options. What a small world! We had a great conversation and spent several days hopping around the loop and staying at the other campgrounds together. In the late afternoon, we made our way back to our camp and enjoyed dinner and catching up with the other groups staying at MOJ campground. We knocked out a little over 8 miles that day. So much for a rest day!
DAY 3: Mokowanis Junction (MOJ) to Kootenai Lake (KOO)- 11.3 miles
On day 3, we were ready to tackle Stoney Pass and the 1900 vertical feet that we were going to have to climb up and then back down before the day was done. We got an early start so that we could be up and over the pass before it got hot. We make it to Stoney Pass for lunch, and then proceeded on past Stoney Indian Lake Campground after chatting with our trail friends who were camping there that night.
We spent much of the afternoon coming down from the pass in the hot sun, but eventually made it to the turn north towards Kootenai Lake, just about 3 miles off the loop.
I was starting to feel beat after almost 3 days and 35+ miles already logged and could not wait to see that little brown campground sign saying we were almost there! This was another beautiful lake and was also the perfect lake for a very cold mid-week bath. We hung out with another group were at the MOJ campground the night before and a group of CDT hikers who had just finished their hike that day with a quick 16-mile RT dayhike up to the Canadian border and back to camp.
DAY 4: Kootenai Lake (KOO) to Fifty Mountain (FIF)-8.6 miles + Sue Lake Overlook 2.8 miles
We started day 4 on our 21st wedding anniversary! I would have never thought 21 years ago that we would be doing something like this, but it was a great day and adventure to spend with Ryan. Even though this day was another 8ish mile hike, it also came with another 2500 vertical feet of climbing before we made it to the next campground.
We stopped at the top of the pass for lunch, and then cruised on in to Fifty Mountain campground about 2 pm in the afternoon. After setting up camp and taking a quick rest, we decided to climb another mile and a half and 600 vertical feet to see the Sue Lake Overlook.
We had to walk along a very narrow and sketchy trail, which had a steep rock face and caused me great anxiety since it was very windy up there and a very LONG drop down. However, we took our time and were rewarded with a stunning view of Sue Lake below and a last bit of the remaining glacier in the distance.
DAY 5: Fifty Mountain (FIF) to Granite Park (GRN)- 12.4 miles + Ahern Pass Overlook 1.0 mile
We hiked a little over 13 miles this day meeting up with our friends Kirt and Patrick several times along the way. We took the opportunity to take a small side hike up to Ahern Pass all together, which had commanding views of Ahern Glacier and Helen Lake below. If you recall, we stopped at the foot of Helen Lake for lunch on the first day, and some 50 miles ago.
We also had fun that afternoon gorging ourselves on huckleberries! We went through tons of berry patches and picked and ate huckleberries until our tongues and hands were stained blue. I am sure if a bear walked by, he would have surely shaken his head at us!
We made it to Granite Park camground late in the afternoon, and managed to get our tent set up, filter water and have a quick dinner with the other hikers before the rain came. It stormed most of the night, and for the most part, we snoozed through the storms snug in our sleeping bags and tent.
Day 6: Granite Park (GRN) to Iceberg/Ptarmigan TH -8.1 miles
Ryan woke up the next morning with water underneath his air pad near his feet. Our campsite had a slight slope and a small depression just under one corner of the tent, and so we think water either came in over the tub bottom of the tent or we have a small hole in the footprint. Either way, he was (mostly) dry, which would be the last time we would be that dry until we got back to our car that day.
We packed up our tent and gear as it continued to rain and prepared to hike out these last 8 miles in the rain. Good thing we brought all our rain gear! It would have been absolutely miserable without it for sure. We passed the Granite Park Chalet in the distance, and then continued along trail a few miles until we got to Swiftcurrent Pass, and from there it was all downhill. Because it poured the night before, several waterfalls were flowing over the mountain as we made our way down, and even with the fog and therain, the views were just breathtaking. It rained almost the entire hike out that day, but my heart was skipping along with my feet for successfully completely this hike!
We made it back to the parking lot around 12:30, just in time for lunch! We grabbed some sandwiches, and then headed to a KOA on the way back to Kalispell to get hot shower and change into clean clothes before we caught our flight back to the Texas that evening.
Glacier National Park will always have a special place in my heart because of my Dad. And so one of the ways I like to give back is to donate to park conservancy programs, and I donate to the Glacier National Park Conservancy. The staff and many volunteers spend countless hours working on projects to protect and preserve this beautiful park. One of the projects they have produced in the past two years is a podcast called Headwaters. If you are planning a trip, dreaming about one or just want to know more about this national park, I highly recommend this podcast.
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