After a night in Kalispell a town over, we got to Glacier pretty early in the morning since once again almost all the campsites here are first come first serve, and we ended up with a good spot at Avalanche Creek off of Lake McDonald, the biggest of the many lakes in the park, and a good central location for exploring the area.
One thing we quickly learned about the park is that, despite it’s name, Glacier currently only has 25 actual glaciers – in order to be considered a glacier the ice must be at least 100 feet deep, 25 acres, and it must be actively moving. So while we did see glaciers, the name is a little deceiving.
We’ve been trying not to have too packed of a day when we first get somewhere and set up camp, so we decided on a less aggressive hike to Avalanche Lake, and much like everywhere you go in Glacier, the views didn’t disappoint.
After we got back from the lake, we were pretty tired, and it turned into a much needed rainy dog-day afternoon, so while Murphy and I napped to the sound of the rain, Derek read To Kill a Mockingbird – totally taking credit for this because he never reads and between suggesting he read the books I brought along and the lack of alternative activities when it’s raining and Murph and I are sleeping, he’s finally really into it and can’t put the book down.
Not a crazy first day, but from what the little we did see on day 1, Glacier is beautiful and already one of our favorite stops so far, and we knew we’d be staying for a few nights. It’s way more digestible than Yellowstone, tons of trails, and is easier to get around – there is one main road, the Going to the Sun Road which is one of the most scenic drives in the world, but they also have free shuttles throughout the park which makes it less congested. And the views rival Teton; literally around each bend in the road or along the trail they keep getting better, which we would see on our next day exploring more of the park.
withoutwhatifs 