East Glacier
Hello, those who are still following the blog… you are all my favorites. Everyone else is missing out on some top-quality jokes and written reflections. If you couldn’t tell by my terrible grammar and the fact that I type like I’m talking, this is Dom.
Audrey and I decided to split up East and West Glacier because the park is not only pretty big but also vastly different. Coincidentally, I have the east side and my family is also based on the east coast. So to those who understand the rap beef between the East and West or Biggie Smalls and Tupac, I am sorry to tell you but “EAST SIDEEEEE.”
Now that I’ve embarrassed myself and that part is over, we want to shout out E-man and his family for allowing us to spend the night at the O-5 Ranch before heading to Glacier. The ranch was a much-needed stop where we were able to reset and relax, while also being considered an A-list celebrity by all the cattle that surrounded the property. We also saw a bald eagle flying around so that’s gotta be a good sign right? We learned through a magazine article in the house that E-man created the wooden bed frame we spent the night in, which he won a national award for in wood making when he was only 17!
The morning, after sleeping in for 10+ hours, we headed to our campground named Chewing Black Bones. I wish I was kidding it is actually called that. The national park forecast showed two days of fairly constant rain and let me tell you those weather people were right on the money! On our first day at the park, we scouted out the visitor centers and gathered as much information as we could on what we could and couldn’t do with our week at the park. Sadly, one of the famous hikes we wanted to do was completely closed and another was partly closed up to a certain point. With all this newfound wisdom and knowledge we planned our next couple of days to hike the **** out of the EAST SIDEEE.
Our first hike was Iceberg Lake on day 2. The rain decided to let up that morning and we got after it. This hike was absolutely gorgeous and something out of a movie. It instantly had us memorized and we decided not even 3 miles into the hike that Glacier was our favorite national park so far. We saw a landscape that was full of forest, colorful wildflowers, ice-capped mountains, snowmelt streams, and glaciers at high elevations.
We reached a lake eventually that I suspected to be Iceberg Lake but I was fooled. The actual lake was about another mile up past a sketchy water crossing and through a bunch of snow! It is June dude I don’t get it either so don’t ask. We reached the ice-covered lake with the glacier mountain sitting behind it like a perfect amphitheater for a winter concert. We had lunch by the water and had to fend off the rodents that survived up there. On our way down we both slide down a snowy hill, making it look flawless despite soaking our behinds.
The next day we did the partly closed hike called Grinnell Glacier. On our way into the Many Glacier Park entrance, there is a huge lake with a background of all the surrounding vegetation and mountains. Luckily for us, we showed up just when the water was completely still. This offered a perfect reflection of the scenery through the water like a mirror, something we have only seen in paintings. I’ll be selling that picture of the water for $1,000 a piece so let me know if you’re interested (Audrey told me to tell you I’m joking… I’m joking).
Audrey refuses to admit it but Grinnell Glacier was, in my opinion, the best hike we have been on this whole road trip. It contained a lot of the same as Iceberg Lake but looked so much different due to its perspectives of a different valley between a different set of mountains. I think the icing on the cake was the fact that we were literally a couple of feet away from the wild Big Horn Sheep. For my Florida people who do not know what those are, they’re freaking Rams! Those things that give each other concussions for fun. I almost had to sacrifice Audrey as tribute when one got too close for comfort! Joking Mama Landers and Pete, I would’ve taken it on😅… With our close encounter, we got some phenomenal pictures that I’m sure Audrey will put on this post. Hopefully, she puts the front view of the male ram because from the back you really understand why they are wild 🥜.
Welp that’s all you get from me. I know I know… you wish you could keep reading my really funny jokes but like all good things this must come to an end (for now). As Ice Cube once famously said. Bye Felicia.
West Glacier
I'm starting to think Dom is better at this blog stuff than I am! Maybe Dom should be in charge of editing and posting too, hehe!
He's 100% right though - we LOVED East Glacier. After our Iceberg and Grinnell adventures, we felt we were ready to move on to something new and go "off script." We packed up our stuff and ditched the Chewing Black Bone campsite to spontaneously drive to West Glacier for our last two nights in Montanna.
We settled into West Glacier and rewarded our *tough day* with PIZZA and ice cream of course! Except, I ordered mini cones for Dom and me. I don't think we realized how mini the cones would be...
For our only full day in West Glacier, we woke up bright and early to enter the park before 6 am. We were a few of the first people to start the famous Avalanche Lake hike and beat most of the crowds. The photo attached was taken by a fantastic group of friends on a retirement trip through Montana. They noticed my West Point sweatshirt which immediately sparked conversation. It was fun to think about how we graduated and reminisce on memories as we talked with this friend group - one of which was prior Army.
After the hike, we headed to the Lake MacDonald Lodge for a buffet breakfast and closed out our day with a little boat ride!
However, here's our tip of the blog post: do not pay for the boat tour. You can have an even better experience if you ditch the sanctioned boat tour and instead rent the little motor boat, call yourself captain and first mate, and hit the open lake!
Eek I think I have to be the one to break the tough news... but the west side has nothing on the EAST SIDEEE of Glacier!
