Trip to Glacier
 

My wife and I are headed out from Minnesota through Devils Lake(hopefully walleye dinners on the trip)Fort Peck-Glacier-Banff-US 1 to Winnipeg and then back home. Any camp site ideas or things not to miss with our hilo on this trip?

Being in the NorthEast, I have no information that would help you, however take lots of photos and then write about your trip and post it. My wife and I retire in 2 years and the first trip we will be making is westbound and first hand information is nice to have. Have a great time.

Don't miss The Miracle Of America Museum in Polson Mt. It is just south of Glacier on Flathead lake. We have been to hundreds of museums in the US and Europe and if I had to pick the #1 not to miss it would be this one. It does not look like much from the outside. It is amazing what this couple has put together. Allow most of the day to see everything, its that large. In 2009 it cost $5.00 to go thru it. If you do stop there let us know what you thought of it. There are many camp sites around flathead lake and a nice RV park on the north side of Polson near the airport. The museum has a good website.

You can't tow over Going to the Sun road but it is a must do. I would get up early and get going, it gets crazy busy and you won't be able to park anywhere at the top. If you want to camp in the park make reservations. We just left Yellowstone last Wednesday and the line getting in was actually miles long and must have taken those people hours just to get in. Every campsite and lodging was booked solid. They say visitorship is up 25% over normal at these parks. Bad economy but cheap gas has people driving for vacation.

AND, if you are able, there are some beautiful hikes in Glacier NP. There are relatively short ones to several waterfalls on the east side and a beautiful, 12 mi round trip hike to Iceberg Lake - Yes, there ARE icebergs floating in it.

Here's three pictures I took when I visited three years ago.

- Jack

Beautiful pictures, Jack. I guess "Cool!" would be okay to say. :D
Tree

Jan and i did a tour of the Dakota's last year--Stepping out to Glacier/Banff this year. If that goes OK maybe Alaska next year. I will post.

We plan on hiking. Looks like a spot not to miss!!

Can you drive "going to the Sun" or do you have to do a bus tour?

No, you can drive it. I did. I camped in Saint Mary's Campground, the eastern most campground on the east side that is just off the Going to the Sun Road. It was a very nice campground and I was surrounded by huckleberry bushes that were loaded with ripe fruit. There is another campground further along the road going west, but I recommend the one I stayed at. You can make reservations, but I arrived without them. Fortunately, there is a commercial campground just outside the park that was very near and I stayed there the first night. Then, I was able to get an unreserved site the next day.

I'm including a picture of a very scenic spot early on the east side of the Going to the Sun road. This isn't one I took, they are on my other computer, but I have this one in my wallpaper folder. There's fairly limited parking here, so it pays to get there early - and, the water may be calmer with beautiful reflections.

There are other scenic views along the Road too, but this is my favorite. The little island was caused by a landslide from the slope on the right, quite a long time ago I guess.

The waterfall hikes I mentioned are near the Saint Mary's Campground too. I'll try to post some more pictures in the morning.

- Jack

The bus tour isn't a terrible idea but we have always just drove it on our own, but we also usually visit off season. At least with the bus you don't have to worry about parking. My daughter was there 3 weeks ago just after the pass opened and they had to orbit the lot and wait for some time for a spot so they could take a hike. They also did a hour trail ride that was a decent deal at $45 per person. I haven't been there in 4 years, we like Yellowstone so much more and we are about in between both parks which is a pretty cool luxury.

Wild Goose Island a beautiful spot.

Gary the drive over the Road to the Sun is spectacular. However, don't plan on it early in the season. The upper elevations will usually be closed due to removing about 25' of snow pack.

OK, I'm on my desktop computer now, where I keep all my pictures. I was at Glacier NP in late August, so the snows had pretty much melted and it was before the new winter snowfalls.

Here's a batter picture of Wild Goose, a panorama that I took in the early morning. You can see how the reflections really add to the view. And, as promised, some of the waterfalls I was talking about. The trails to the waterfalls are fairly short, less than 3 miles round trip as I recall, and through the trees so they were sheltered walks. Sorry you have to tilt your head sideways to look at the first two! :o The last one is at the summit of Going to the Sun Road. There is a gift shop there and the waterfall is just a bit west of it. I looked at the waterfall for quite a long time before I realized there was a mountain goat sitting there, chewing his cud. Except for his mouth, he was totally still.

- Jack