Glacier National Park-le milieu
Visiting the Glacier national park Montana has been one unforgettable experience. You can catch our onward road trip journey details here.
The sheer grandness of the jagged snow capped mountain peaks, the numerous cascading waterfalls, the sparkling green-blue hued lakes, the grizzly bears and the iconic Going-to-the-sun road among many other things is why this park is rightly called the Crown of the Continent.
Cool fact:Glacier national park along with bordering Waterton national park in Canada was designated as world’s first international peace park way back in 1932,today they are known as the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.
The park counted over 100 glaciers when the it first opened in 1910,today merely 25 glaciers remain.
Sadly,it’s been predicted that the remaining will melt off by 2030.
Entry for Going-To-The-Sun Road
We booked our stay,planned out the dates and other detail but one important thing was missing!
Starting this year the Glacier National Park began a ticketed entry system for the Going-to-the-Sun Road to limit the capacity of visitors entering the park during the peak holiday months.
Which meant along with the valid national pass we would now need also need a timed entry ticket .
Ticketed Entry
Source:NPS website
The challenge here was that the tickets could be purchased only online.The tickets sold out within seconds. Now how do we get into the park ??
We booked boat rides for the both days on two iconic lakes in the park,it was bit more than $2 but it gave us access to the park and also the boat ride was totally worth it!
Lake McDonalds
Our first boat ride that gave us access to the park was on St. Mary’s lake at 6 pm.
Given that we would have the whole day to explore the park ,we left for the park around 11 am after a heavy breakfast.
Day 3:Going-To-The-Sun Road
We entered the park from the west entrance and continued on the Going-to-the-sun road to get to Logan pass.
Going-to-the-Sun road is the iconic 52 mile highway of Glacier national park that takes you right through the heart of the park cutting across the continental divide at the Logan pass.
An engineering marvel,this narrow winding road is considered one of the most scenic drives in the country,once you are on it you see it for yourselves.
On this road you find some of the park’s best scenic viewpoints,this road is a photographers paradise.
Spot the jagged and glaciers carved peaks
Needless to say we stopped at many points as I tried to capturing the peaks on my iphone while a smoky haze from the wildfires hung over the cliffs.
Heavens Peak,spot Ms.N clinging on to me
Safe in her father’s arms she happily smiles at the camera 
Ms. V captures us smiling
It took us about an hour and half to reach the Logan pass.
Day 3:Logan Pass
Logan pass is the highest point on the Going-to-Sun-Road,the visitor centers sits at an altitude of 6642 ft. Being one of the most famous points in the park,getting parking here can be a challenge.
We reached the visitor center around lunch time.It took us good 10 minutes to find a free spot,luckily one of returning hikers guided us to their slot!
Lunch @ Logan Pass Visitor Center Parking Lot
We carried lunch from home,there are very few options available in the park and you would rather spend your time exploring the park than standing in long winding queues.
Always carry or plan for food when in an national park.
After filling lunch of pulao and raita,it was time to head to the Hidden Lake Trail.At Logan pass visitor center the kids also picked up their Junior Ranger booklets.
Red Jammers @Logan Pass
In the lot, we spotted one of the ever famous Red Jammers ,many of these red beasts have been ferrying park visitors for years now,how could I not take a picture!!
Day 3:Hidden Lake Trail
Always,always plan for hikes on your trip to any national park,the trails gives you a chance to witness mother nature’s magic close up.
While we are on this topic,a lesson learnt on this trip was to always make hiking the first activity of your day specially when traveling with young kids.
If you happen to do it later in the day,then don’t do it closer to lunch or dinner time.
Hidden Lake
We had about 2-3 hikes planned out for the day,we started on the first one after rather heavy lunch late in the afternoon.
With full bellies and bright sun beaming down upon on us,hiking 1.5 miles up suddenly seemed like a mammoth task to all of us and sadly the first victim was soon claimed,Ms.V came down with bad stomach cramps.
All smiles
As you know my girls have been hiking all this summer but the pain was so bad that S and V had to return midway. N and I continued along with Satya.
I can’t even begin to tell you how proud I was of Ms.N that day,not only she completed this hike with full vigour,she also encouraged Ms. A and Little S to continue on,especially when they thought it was getting too tough for them.😀
Hand in hand 
Together we go
The most adorable bit,Ms. N and little S holding hands for most part of the hike!😍
The Hidden Lake trail was all about raised boardwalk,mosses covered stones,glacier run streams,mountain goats,alpine meadows and glacial land covered with beautiful carpet of wildflowers.
Our view all along the hike
Finally after what seemed like a very long uphill climb we made it to the Hidden lake overlook!The kids had done it🎉!
Hidden Lake Overlook
After 1.5 miles under blazing hot sun we didn’t have it in us to continue to the Hidden lake,we ditched our original plan and started getting down.
Hike on!
The hike down as expected was quicker and easier.On the way down we finally spotted some bighorn sheeps resting up on one of the peaks.
Cold water streams 
Who can resist it?
The 3 kids overtook us and were seen running down the boardwalk stopping only when they spotted the cold stream water.
We spotted S and Ms. V on our way down,the rest had helped and she was feeling much better.
After shopping at the park store and getting themselves some cool binoculars the kids were happy to get to the next destination.
Logan Pass
Day 3:St. Mary’s Boat Ride
We made it just in time for our boat ride on St. Mary’s lake-the second largest lake in the park where also lies the one of most photographed Wild Goose island of the park.
Catching the Wild Goose island in the evening light surrounded by snow capped peaks was one of the highlights of this tour.
On our way to St. Mary’s Lake
Our tour guide a young student who was serving his second term in the park regaled us with stories of bears that come to the ticketing booth in the night,the history of how this park came into begin and the famed 2018 fire.
For most of that one hour, Ms. V and Ms. A bombarded him with all sorts of questions on type of rocks found to what are glaciers to how the wild goose island was formed. He answered all of them with a smile.
Enjoying the view 
Getting Ready for the boat ride
All in all it was quite an educative session.I would highly recommend doing one of these boat rides after a long day in the park.
Wild Goose Island
Finally,it was time to head home.The ride back and out of park took us two hours.We caught dinner at Dominos and headed straight back home.
Tomorrow was another day at park where we would do some more trails and visit the famous colored pebbled stoned beach.
“Jobs fill your pocket but adventures fill your soul.” ~ Jamie Lyn Beatty
4 thoughts on “Glacier National Park-le milieu”
It’s so nice to see a ranger’s note!!
Yea it was! We expected just the badge but were pleasantly surprised to see the note too. Some of the parks allow to send mailed or scanned completed booklets. Do try it next time.