Adventure Buddies

The month of June has gone by so fast. We’ve had terrible reception in Arches, Tetons, and Yellowstone so I am so far behind on posts. I figure once we get back from our trip in August, I will then update all the fun we’ve had at places above.

We are in Glacier and have been here for 5 days. We’ve been exploring this park and the surrounding areas and LOVE IT!

Many Glacier

We are staying on the west side of Glacier and getting from one side of the park to the other takes quite a bit of time. I recommend doing a split stay if you want to visit both sides of the park. We had vehicle registration passes for each day so we had the area mapped out that we wanted to explore prior to arriving. You need a plan before arriving at this park.

From our campground in Hungry Horse, Many Glacier is 2 hours from here. I scheduled a boat tour for 8:30 with check in at 8:00. We left super early with all of our gear and a packed lunch. The picture below was a first peak at this park. We almost drove the car off the road looking at all the beautiful views while driving to Many Glacier. We also saw a bear that morning and a total of 7 bears that day. A bit too close for our comfort at times. See below.

This bear was 2 feet from my window. We have found on this trip that to see the best wildlife you have to be on the east side or be out early in the morning. We’ve heard from the locals that animals love the cool weather.

This is us at Many Glacier waiting for our boat tour. The views were stunning. Thanks, God!

This boat tour is the oldest boat tour in Glacier.

http://www.glacierparkboats.com

They were super sweet and very helpful. If you end up in Glacier, take this boat tour. We wanted to see the Grinnell Glacier and this boat ride shaved a few miles off the hike. We were able to see wildlife, hear about the area, and just relax and take in the views. We went on one boat called Chief Two Guns on Swiftcurrent Lake. We then went on a short .2 mile hike to Lake Josephine and rode on the Morning Eagle to the trailhead. On this ride we were able to see a HUGE male moose hanging in the water. It was incredible to see just how BIG these creatures are. We were the perfect distance away.

We hiked for a couple miles to view the Grinnell Lake overlook. We were bummed that part of the trail was closed due to extremely dangerous snow conditions. We were still able to see beautiful views and were able to witness a momma grizzly and two baby bears cross the path that we were on. We were a safe distance away and it was so magical watching the three together. Each time the momma grizzly moved, the babies would follow closely behind. The way they played with each other was unlike anything we’ve ever witnessed. They would knock each other over, hang from branches and pounce on each other. It was so cute!

After seeing the view above, we decided to hike the couple extra miles down to the lake to eat our picnic lunch. We walked through the most freezing cold water to sit on the best island to eat. Waterfalls surrounded us wherever we looked and the most beautiful waterfalls all around us.

See the video below. This same bear and her cubs came down to our picnic spot and surprised us. We were eating and enjoying the view when all of the sudden she appeared out of nowhere. We were on an island with no place to go and she was heading straight for us. All the signs say to not run from a bear, but this was my first reaction. Thankfully Eric was able to talk some sense in to me and I just stood still. They say that you need to stay three bus lengths or more from bears. We were within 25 feet and not by choice. Yikes! We’ve shared this video with so many people and watched it so much. This blessing made Glacier show off in a way that no other park has. Our hearts were forever changed and now we all want to move here.