Chapter 7 continued...
We began descending towards the east side of the park, and along the way stopped at an overlook for Jackson Glacier, just so we could say we actually saw a glacier in Glacier Natiional Park.
Just a couple of miles down the road was a turnoff for a small parking area. There was a short trail here to an overlook of St. Mary’s Lake. This was definitely worth getting out of the van to see.
After that stop, we drove out of the park to the east. Then we turned north, then eventually turned west, and drove back into the park. Hey, I didn’t build the roads, I can only follow them.
We were driving back towards the “Many Glacier” area of the park, site of the aptly-named Many Glacier Hotel. Almost immediately after turning onto the road, we wondered if we’d made a mistake. The road was in such bad shape that we had to slow down and follow a line of cars for about 15 miles back into the park. In some sections, the pavement had been pulverized so badly that we were driving on a dirt road for all intents and purposes. When we finally got to the park entrance, we were informed that there were not going to be any parking spaces available. So we had that going for us, which was nice.
We basically ended up driving around the hotel. I dropped off Julie for a pit stop and circled the parking lot while she went. Then we left. Here ends our tour of the Many Glacier area. Supposedly the old hotel is cool, but we never got to go inside.
We did see two more glaciers, so there’s that. This is Salamander Glacier (the big one) and Grinnell Glacier (the small one).
We bounced our way back on the washboard road and turned north again. We hung a left on route 17, which is only open during the summer and skirts the edge of Glacier National Park. Since we were about to invade a foreign country, we figured it was best to take a little-used route. After several miles of winding mountain roads, we reached the Canadian border.
The security guard manning the border gate was all business as she checked our passports. It seemed like she was stalling, trying to come up with some good reason not to let us into her country, but eventually she just couldn’t create an excuse on the spot and let us in. Canada has never been the same since.
Once across the border, we immediately planted a U.S. flag in the ground and proclaimed that we were now claiming new territory for our country. A guard calmly walked over and said she had to be home by 5 p.m., so could we please move on before then? Oh, and take the flag with us, eh? Thank you for your consideration.
Since she was so polite about it, we did as she asked. It’s hard to pick a fight with someone who’s so darn nice.
Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada borders the U.S. Glacier National Park to the south, and together they form Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. We’d come up north to explore the Canadian section of the park.
And on that front, we were a bit disappointed. As it turned out, a massive forest fire the year before had closed the only road that went deep into the park, to Cameron Lake. We could only drive a few miles in and stop at the town of Waterton. It was a bit strange to see a fully developed town in the middle of a national park.
We stopped at a visitor center in town, which basically consisted of a double-wide trailer with a few signs tacked to bulletin boards as the “exhibits”. Clearly this place had a different vibe than the U.S. parks. Just a bit down the road, we were able to stop at a viewing area for Cameron Falls, which was a nice spot.
With nowhere else to go, we went into town and found a parking space. Then we explored a bit on foot. Our Canadian invasion seemed to be going very slowly at this point. We went into a couple of shops but were able to resist the temptation of overpriced t-shirts. There’s something our nations have in common.
We were now a couple of hours into our mission with only a few waterfall photos to show for it, so we made a field decision to step into an ice cream shop. There, the locals were caught completely unawares as we bought ice cream at a favorable exchange rate between the U.S. and Canadian dollars. Ha! Take that, Canada!
Also, the ice cream was pretty good.
At that point, we decided we had nothing else to do. There are boat trips available that leave from Waterton to explore the more remote parts of the park, but we unfortunately did not have the time to do that. So we piled into the van and left.
As we were driving out of the park, we saw a brown bear up on the hillside. We didn’t get a very good photo, though. But he was there, I promise.
We also had a nice view of the park’s most famous feature, the Prince of Wales Hotel. It’s perched on a bluff overlooking the lake and has a very regal look to it.
And that was it for Canada. We crossed the border, spent a few hours on foreign soil, and ate their ice cream. We re-crossed the border where the guard welcomed us back as conquering heroes. Or she patiently listened to my Delaware jokes and then told us to have a nice day. One of those.
We backtracked all the way to Going-To-The Sun Road again and started driving it in reverse. None of us minded since it’s such a beautiful drive. We made one more stop near the west end of St. Mary’s Lake for a final hike on the day. A parking lot there led to the trail for St. Mary Falls, just under a mile away. Unfortunately, this hike featured most of the downhill portion on the way to the falls. But it wasn’t terribly strenuous.
Again, there were many wildflowers in bloom on the way.
And the payoff was worth it—a double-decker waterfall, viewed from a bridge over the river.
We did our best to get a good photo, as people were climbing all over the rocks everywhere. One guy had stripped down to his skivvies and was jumping into the pool from the rocks. He was inviting people to go with him, but we made the call to stay where we were, thank you very much. You do you, buddy.
When we’d finished gawking at the waterfall, we hiked back to the van and drove the rest of the way back to the Lake McDonald Lodge. There’s a pizzeria there onsite where we split a couple of pizzas and a chicken parm sub for dinner. Most food available from the concession services in U.S. national parks is thoroughly mediocre, and this was no exception. I’m not even going to bother posting photos of it. But, we were hungry before and satisfied after, so it did its job well enough. We got back to our cabin and enjoyed a quiet evening relaxing by the lake. You could do worse.
I was really captivated by the beauty of Glacier during our day there. It’s extremely remote, but I felt it was worth the effort to see the place, especially with the glaciers in retreat. You could probably make the case that the more famous parks like Yellowstone and Yosemite are more spectacular, but in terms of scenery and beauty I think Glacier holds up with any of them.
Coming Up Next: Another long drive that I’ll fast-forward through as quickly as possible.