This is a recap (including links to full trip reports) of our awesome, unforgettable, exhausting week-long excursion to Glacier National Park with two of our best friends. It was a trip filled with lots of hiking, fishing, driving, some bear-sightings, plenty of huckleberry eating, and a lot of Monopoly Deal playing.
Day 0 – Travel
To save on flight and rental car costs, we all flew into Missoula, Montana instead of Kallispell (the smaller, closer airport to the park). Flights were cheaper from both LAX and PHX and the rental car options where much more affordable out of Missoula, so we decided we’d make the short trek from Missoula to Glacier.
Our flight arrived much earlier than our friends’, so we made a grocery store run for lunches and snacks for the week (much cheaper in a larger town) and also stopped at Sportsman’s Warehouse to pick up a few cans of bearspray. There are plenty of places to rent bearspray daily, but because we were staying for a week, it was actually cheaper to buy.
It’s just under 2.5 hours to West Glacier, but we opted to spend the the first half of the week in East Glacier, which adds another hour to the drive. The four of us stayed in a cute cabin at East Glacier Motel & Cabins.
Our Itinerary
Day 0 (Saturday) – Arrive in Missoula, drive to East Glacier
Day 1 (Sunday) – Iceberg Lake Hike
Day 2 (Monday) – Virginia & Mary Falls Hike
Day 3 (Tuesday) – Otokomi Lake Hike, drive to West Glacier
Day 4 (Wednesday) – Going to the Sun Road, Lake McDonald
Day 5 (Thursday) – Hidden Lake Hike
Day 6 (Friday) – Avalanche Lake Hike, travel to Missoula
Day 7 (Saturday) – explore Missoula
Day 8 (Sunday) – flight home
Day 1 – Iceberg Lake
On our first full day in Glacier, we decided to take on a highly recommended 10 miler: the trail to Iceberg Lake. On our way to the Many Glacier area, we had barely driven a few minutes before having to pull over for a beautiful scene of the Two Medicine area, complete with wildflowers and a rainbow!
We were lucky enough to snag a parking spot in the small Iceberg Lake trailhead lot. It started sprinkling as were were gearing up for the hike, so we threw on our rain jackets and set off on what would turn out to be one of our favorite hikes ever!
Day 2 – St. Mary & Virginia Falls
On our second day, knowing we had another over-10-mile hike the next day, we decided to take it easier with shorter 3.6 mile hike to check out some of Glacier’s waterfalls. The hike was a busy one (lots of families especially) as the trailhead was right at a shuttle stop along Going-to-the-Sun Road.
We loved that the two waterfalls on this hike were so different from each other. St. Mary’s is a moody cascade fall along the super blue St. Mary River and Virginia Falls is a more classic plunging waterfall. There are a few different viewpoints of Virginia Falls: farther from a bridge crossing the river, and a rock platform higher up where you’ll most definitely get wet from the mist.
Day 3 – Otokomi Lake
The third day had our most grueling hike of the trip: over 11 miles round trip, 2500 feet elevation gain, and our first run-in with a bear on the trail! It happened right at the beginning of the trail, which as you can imagine, had us on high alert for the rest of the hike. Thankfully though, we were rewarded with some beautiful Yellowstone cutthroat trout and beautiful views at Otokomi Lake.
After the hike, we headed over to our AirBnB in the West Glacier area. But before we get into Day 4, we need to talk about huckleberry pie…
The Best Huckleberry Pie
Huckleberries in Glacier National Park are not only a big deal to the bears, but to the people. More specifically, the eaters of huckleberry pie. Since local pickers literally risk their lives for this superior cousin to blueberries, we took it upon ourselves to eat as much huckleberry pie as possible, so their efforts were not in vain. But seriously, we tried a lot of huckleberry pie. And the four of us unanimously agreed the best huckleberry pie was in East Glacier at Looking Glass Restaurant. We had it twice and regretted not having it a third time.
Day 4 – Going to Sun Road & Lake McDonald
On our fourth day, we decided to take a break from hiking and let our feet rest a bit, so we took a drive to explore the sights on the west side of Going-to-the-Sun Road. The first thing we noticed about the west side was how much it looked like the Pacific Northwest. Because it was on the other side of the continental divide, the terrain was different from the east side, where much of the rain is stopped by the tall peaks. This is why the greenery is so thick on the west side.
At lunch time, we made a stop at famous Lake McDonald, a huge glacier-made lake over mile wide and and 500 feet deep. After eating our lunches by the lake, we stopped by Apgar Village for some huckleberry ice cream.
We also wanted to explore a bit of upper McDonald Creek (this is one of the largest “creeks” we’ve ever seen – more like a river), so we hit up a section of the upper McDonald Creek Trail. Not knowing if there were any fish here, the boys tossed in a few times but no luck.
We kept making our way up Going to the Sun Road, taking in all of the amazing sights until we reached the highest point at Logan Pass. We were lucky enough to get a parking spot at the visitor center since it was later in the day. We decided to walk part of the Highline Trail and spotted out first mountain goat!
The Highline Trail is definitely not for those afraid of heights. There are chains in the parts that are a little sketchy. We hadn’t planned to hike this trail so we didn’t have time to go too far, but the views were beautiful!
Going-to-the-Sun Road
Going-to-the-Sun Road is opened in sections as the road is plowed. You won’t be able to drive the entirety of the road until the highest point at Logan Pass is open. This past year it opened on June 23. In previous years, it has opened as late as July 13, so check the road status before visiting. The road is an engineering marvel and has so many amazing sights and stops along its entire stretch.
Day 5 – Hidden Lake
On our fifth day, we attempted to get up early to get a parking spot at Logan Pass, but our “early” wasn’t quite good enough for the very popular Logan Pass area (most people we’ve seen all week!), so we settled for a spot up the road a ways. As we made our way to the visitor center there was a huge herd of Bighorn Sheep crossing the road! We watched them eat grass for a bit before heading to the trailhead.
The hike to Hidden Lake was an interesting one. What would normally not be a huge deal of a hike ended up being quite the trek due to snow covering almost the entire trail. The boardwalk to the viewpoint was barely visible, and the sun reflecting off the snow was pretty brutal. The lake ended up being one of the most beautiful sights we’ve seen, and various mountain goats and couple of cutties we hooked in the lake were just a few more added bonuses.
Day 6 – Avalanche Lake
For our last hike in Glacier, we chose another popular hike, but one we decided was a west side must-see: Avalanche Lake. The trail starts at the trail of the Cedars, which is a boardwalk trail leading you several kinds of old growth trees. Eventually the trail starts following the Avalanche gorge up to the lake.
After arriving at the lake, we made our way to the far end of the lake to escape the crowds and spent most of the day fishing for a new trout species for us: Westslope cutthroat trout. We were lucky enough to hook up with a few of these little silvery green fish, but it wasn’t until after the hike when we discovered how special these particular westslopes were. Check out our full trip report to find out why:
→ Read our full Avalanche Lake trip report
After getting back to the Avalanche Lake trailhead, we packed up and started the drive back to Missoula so our friends could make their flights back the next day. That evening for dinner we had some of the most delicious artisanal pizza at Big Pizza in Missoula.
Day 7 – The Best BBQ & Ice Cream
On the morning of our last day in Montana, we decided to check out the local at the Missoula Farmers Market. We had freshly made breakfast burritos and baked goods, and even some locally picked huckleberries (sans pie).
We spent the afternoon driving around the mountains and creeks just outside of town, scouting for the next time we’re back in Missoula.
Our dinner this night also needs to be mentioned because Cory claims it the best BBQ and ice cream he has ever had. And if you know him, this is a ridiculously high honor. We had BBQ at The Notorious PIG followed by ice cream at the original Big Dipper Ice Cream location. Needless to say, it was a great ending to our week in Montana!
