Backpacking at Glacier National Park
Photo credits in the blog go to David Johnson, Jeff Johnson, William Johnson and Paul Johnson.
It took extensive planning for our group of 11. My husband had four possible routes planned prior to the day that the permitting process opened up. The second it was open, he submitted our plans. We were very lucky to hear back that day that our top route was permitted.
Then followed additional intense planning on food (see my blogpost on backpacking food--it is very similar to what I did for this trip), resupply and logistics for getting everyone to the right place at the right time.
Our group consisted of my brother-in-law and his daughter from Washington (Dave and Brenna), my brother-in-law and his wife and their youngest son from Idaho (David, Jann, Ian), a friend of their's (John), my husband and I and our youngest son from Virginia (William). We swapped out in the middle when Dave, Brenna, and John went home and we gained our two oldest sons and their wives (Mark and Cassie from Utah, Paul and Susie from Virginia).
We arrived on Sunday in Kalispel, Montana. We decided at the last minute to go to church even though we didn’t have our church clothes. We felt very awkward and sat in the car for awhile. Finally, we chose an obscure door. It took a surprising amount of courage to walk in. We ended up walking down the hallway with all the youth classrooms and entered the chapel to sit in back. Our deal was that we’d leave after the third testimony. It was very nice to make Sunday feel a little more like the sabbath.
Monday— we drove to get permits. We got 1 of 5 big group reservations for the year. We have many campsites to ourselves. We are in Bear country so we are diligently carrying bear spray. We bought the final stuff including fleece to make a couple hats. Jeff made another cozy. Craft night at the hotel. Dinner at local diner. We had to make a few changes to our itinerary since the Ptarmagan tunnel was closed due to bear activity. We ended up driving up to the Canadian border and hiking south from there to Elizabeth Lake instead of going through the tunnel. Then, we backtracked a bit to get to Coswell lake.
Our Route:
Shuttle to Two Medicine from East Glacier
Begin hike at Two Medicine
Night 1: No Name Lake
Night 2: Morning Star Lake
Night 3: Foot of Red Eagle Lake
Night 4: Reynold's Creek
Night 5 Swiftcurrent campground
Night 6: Elizabeth Lake
Night 7: Cosley Lake
Night 8: Stoney Indian Lake
Night 9: Fifty Mountain
Night 10: Granite
Night 11: East Glacier Lodge
Day 1
Tuesday. We met David and Jann at East Glacier lodge. Jeff and David and John left to position car at resupply point and pick up Dave Dewey and Brenna. Ian,William, Jann and I hung out at lodge until they got back about three hours later. We played checkers, talked, played the piano.
At 1:15 we took the shuttle from East Glacier Lodge ($15 each) to Two Medicine Lake to begin the hike. We were at the trail head to the south side of the lake, so without too much thought, we got on the trail. We had planned to take the north route. This late choice made our hike 2-3 Miles longer. (Plus we missed making a reservation for the water shuttle--that should have been done earlier and would have been really nice). So the hike was about 8 miles instead if three.
My pack was heavy and I think I packed way too much food. At one steep point, I felt nauseous and dizzy and so I took off my pack and I laid down. Jeff poured some water on my head, back and shirt to help cool me down. After a few minutes, I felt much better. I know that David was wondering if I was going to make it for the next 9 days!
Our campsite is at No Name Lake. There are huge cliffs facing the camp area. A nearby stream runs into the lake which is very close to the campsite.
Jeff and I are slowest. David hung back with us, which I appreciated. We had Mac and cheese for dinner. By the time our water boiled on the cat stove, everyone else had eaten. 
My new spoon tastes medicinal---I should have washed it before using it. David walked over to take a bite of my food. He used my spoon.. . . . I don’t like sharing spoons with anyone. Later when I couldn’t finish my Mac and cheese, David kindly finished it up.
William is carrying our tent which means since he is faster, the tent is all set up once I arrive. I get to take it down in the morning. Fair enough.
Day 2
We hiked from No Name Lake to Morning Star Lake, about 8.5 miles. It was a difficult uphill. Jeff and I are definitely slower than everyone else. We just decide to not let that bother us.
Once we reached Dawson Pass, we had a difficult 2 hours traversing the sides of a couple mountains along goat trails. The trail was narrow with a base of shale that was easily convinced to fall down the mountainside. I took it very slowly, leaned toward the wall side. Jeff had shown me this portion of the trail on the computer as we planned the trip. I thought it would only last 5-10 minutes, not two hours. We call this type two fun: not fun to do, but fun to talk about later.
It took us two hours to do the final 3.2 miles to the campsite. I was very tired. Along the way, we passed a through hiker named “Cat Walk”. We spent quite a bit of time on the Continental Divide trail.
Western Anemone
We have John Thomas along with us, a friend of David and Jann and a nice addition to the group. He came running up to the meal prep place tonight after dinner, ashen faced, “I think there’s a bear down by the lake. It has a face. I need reinforcements to help me get my socks.” Brenna hopped up, very excited about the possibility of spotting a bear. Jeff and I stayed in camp to guard the stuff there while everyone else hustled down to the water with their cameras and bear spray. Meanwhile, I repaired a large tear in Jeff’s backpack.
Fortunately I brought a simple sewing kit. I think I already mentioned the fleece hats I made.
Turns out the “bear” was a humongous beaver. David got a really good picture of it.
Day 3 Thursday
Today was a 14 mile day and tough. We learned that it takes us two hours to wake up, get breakfast, pack up and leave camp so we set our alarms for 5 am. I’ve been taking ibuprofen pm to help me sleep, but I woke up at 4 am after taking two advil pm pills at 8:40 pm.
Our breakfast was no cook this morning. I didn’t eat much: part of a bagel, a few dried mangoes, some belvita crackers and a chocolate breakfast drink. This caused me problems later in the day.
We left close to 7. The first three miles were flat and wooded— beautiful. We saw some pretty waterfalls. I love the streams here: they have colorful red rocks. After a couple hours, we began to climb the hill to the pass. It was brutal. Jeff and I took a couple of hours. We would walk 200 steps (or less), wait until our heart rates and breathing were normal and then proceed.
Some passing hikers warned us of a mountain lion at the top who growled at them. The faster group waited multiple times for me and Jeff.
We finally made it to the top and didn’t encounter a mountain lion, only some very friendly/ overly-aggressive marmots.
I didn’t have much appetite and ate the rest of my mangoes, some jelly beans and some caffeine gum from Jann.
On the way down, we saw several beautiful waterfalls and glaciers. The rest of the group was way ahead. At one corner in the trail, I heard Jeff say urgently , “Stop Rene”. Passing in front of us was a huge moose, about 60 feet ahead on the trail. Jeff took the lead and we talked aloud so as not to scare it. He had turned right after the corner to go drink from a stream. We passed, quietly talking so we wouldn’t surprise him. He turned to look at us and then went back to drinking. He was a large male moose with an impressive rack.
I started losing energy and pushed through slowly. We walked for a very long time in the hot sun today with very little shade. 1-2 hours were spent walking through an area that had burned awhile ago. Again, no shade and we read 95 degrees on Jeff’s thermometer. We reached a bridge and found a small amount of shade at the far end. I took off my pack, Jeff got some cold water from the creek and poured it over me. We stayed and rested there for about 45 minutes. Time well spent. We felt a little bad that the faster group waited ahead for us and were a bit worried.
Our camp tonight is Red Eagle Lake, at the “far” end (which means that after a long day of hiking, we still had to hike around most of the lake to get to the other end). We are sharing with a couple of young brothers from Minnesota. Pleasant guys. One just graduated in math and biology and will work in cellular biology in Boston. The younger brother is just starting college. There are four tent sites. We have three. The bathroom is far away. I hope the ibuprofen pm knocks me out.
I was so tired tonight.
Slept well and woke up without an alarm at 6. Clean clothes day! Yeah! The camp was in a burned area, so not much cover. William arrived super tired and didn’t set up the tent. It was about all we could do to get dinner and then turn in. We slept in and didn’t leave until 9:20 am.
I brought too much food. Maybe I’ll burn some to cut down on weight. We are walking Dave and Brenna out today and taking a shuttle to the next trailhead. So our mileage should be around 7 miles.
Day 4
Friday
The trail was pretty flat for about an hour and Jeff and I enjoyed a quicker pace than usual. The temps were 95 degrees today and there was very little shade. The sun was unrelenting and punishing.
We crossed a couple hanging bridges. They make me dizzy. I tend to overheat and I think I’m prone to heat exhaustion. Whenever I have a chance, I pour water over my head and clothes.
We got within 1.3 miles of the parking lot. David and Jann were dry so David went to get some water from the lake. Ian walked back from the parking lot and offered to carry my pack. He offered without any prompting. Bless his heart. David poured the excess water over my head. So nice.
Dave and Brenna shuttled us from the parking lot to the visitor's center. Thankfully. Then they left for a hotel and to pick up Hailey from the airport. It was great to have them along for a few days.
We waited around a bit, used the bathrooms, and then took the free shuttles to within 1.3 miles of our campsite. It had been 95 degrees again today with little or no shade. We were all fine with the ride!
Our campsite (Reynold's Creek) tonight is my favorite so far. It is wooded, next to a river with little rapids and deeper swimming holes. Ian and William both submerged themselves. It was too cold for me to be tempted, but it was refreshing to dip my feet in the cold water.
We saw a big pile of fresh bear scat as we approached our campsite. We are being vigilant about carrying the bear spray around as we go to the bathroom or to our tent sites or to the river.
I got rid of some extra food weight. I freed it to others in our group before dumping some down the river.
I’m anxious about tomorrow’s hike.
Day 5, Saturday
We got up at 5 am to start our big day. We left camp at 7:10 and faced a 1.3 mile steep climb. Jeff and I were pretty tired. David came behind us. Jeff has a couple of blisters. When we reached the top by the road at Jackson Glacier Overlook, Jeff and I decided it would be better if we didn’t do the 12 mile hike today.
So, David, Jann, Ian, William, and John went on without us. We rode the free west-bound shuttle up to Logan pass and then rode the east bound shuttle back to St. Mary’s visitor center. The next plan was to do some hitch-hiking about 22 miles to Many Glacier. After about 30 cars had passed, a 20-something woman name Melissa pulled over to pick us up and drove us to Bapp. It was her second day driving a stick-shift. I sat in front; Jeff in back. We chatted the whole time. She is from California, working here, was on her way to a horse race that included swimming, had done trail maintenance and lived in Hurricane, Utah near St. George. We skirted around the Mormon question. She probably figured we were Mormon when I said we had graduated from BYU. We kind of figured she wasn’t when she didn’t make any connection. I hope she felt good about her service to us. It was very appreciated.
We got off at Bapp by the turn off to Many Glacier. About three cars later, a man in a pickup pulled over. His wife was in the front seat and a teenager was in back. He was 60-ish with a full, scraggly white beard. They didn't open the door so I went around to the driver's side to get in back---they didn't unlock that door either. Then I realized they meant we could ride in the back of the truck. O.k.--still appreciated. So we tossed our bags in and climbed in. It took a few minutes to get comfortable. But they took us all the way to the Swift Current campground. We had a fantastic view and saw a big brown grizzly bear just off the side of the road.
Jeff and I had a good lunch: pizza and salad. We found our campsite. We are expecting the rest of the hikers in our group to arrive in the next hour or two. We felt a little bit guilty for enjoying such a delicious lunch at the Swiftcurrent Lodge.
There was clearly some territory there----the NPS store where you can buy shower tokens vs. the hotel welcome desk. The hotel desk probably gets asked about 100 times a day about shower tokens. They should make a sign. It might help them be more cheerful.
4:31, they still haven’t arrived.
5:22 still not here.
David, Jann, Ian and William arrived shortly after and came in very tired. It had been a long grueling day. Jeff and I made the right choice to not do the hike today.
David, Jann, Ian and William arrived shortly after and came in very tired. It had been a long grueling day. Jeff and I made the right choice to not do the hike today.
We enjoyed the showers. The campground was kind of crowded. Not my favorite night, but it was o.k. We had some through-hikers in the site next to ours. They went to bed at about 7 p.m. Their tents were a sheet of plastic held up by their trekking poles. They seemed exhausted because they didn't move an inch while we moved around camp and went back and forth to the bathrooms.
Day 6, Sunday
Mark, Cassie, Susie and Paul arrived at 8 am. (I was impressed by their promptness). We breakfasted at the motor lodge. Great breakfast.
Then we all got in David and Jann’s car to drive up to the Canadian border to start our hike since we had to do an alternate route because of bears.
Ptarmagan tunnel was closed. That meant that we hiked south from the border to Elizabeth Lake and then backtracked a bit to Cosley Lake.
We had a gorgeous 10 mile hike without too much elevation.
We stopped at the ranger station for our lunch.
I love this photo. I love having such great daughters-in-law. I'm glad we can do things like this together!
We enjoyed grand mountain views most of the day and Oregon-like forests. Jann and Ian saw a mama black bear with a cub crossing the path in front of them.
We had interesting people to share the camp with last night at Elizabeth Lake. One couple, the man runs a food bank and the wife is a high school biology teacher. The other group was a trio of father and two foul-mouthed sons. They were excitable and noisy. They woke up at 6 am and talked noisily from the tent site next to mine. Annoying. We all kind of slept in until they left camp.
They talked about a bear in camp and how it had walked down our trail. I had gone to the bathroom at 6 am but fortunately didn’t see anything. We walked up and down the trail later looking for footprints but didn’t find any.
Paul is trying to catch fish. Mark and Cassie are exhausted. My lip is cracked. I have a much better appetite today.
Tomorrow we hike only three miles.
Day 7, Monday
We had a pleasant walk this morning. Jann slowed down to talk with me for awhile about piano stuff which I enjoyed.
We had a nice ford across a wide, shallow river. There was a metal wire strung across but I just used my trekking poles.
We are at Cosley Lake, a most beautiful place with a gorgeous view of mountains on both ends.
The bathroom is the worst ever. Stinky!! The campsites all have a view of the lake and are fantastic. We all hung out at the gravelly beach all afternoon. David, Jeff, Ian all submerged themselves in the cold water. Mark skinny-dipped. Paul kept trying to catch a fish— unsuccessfully. I laid down on the gravel, which was smooth and flat and stayed there for 2.5 hours, mostly sleeping!
It was so relaxing. We had mountain house chicken and rice for dinner. It was good but not delicious.
We are heading to bed early because tomorrow we are getting up at 5 am for a 10 mile big climb day across Stony Indian pass.
We have two girls sharing our site. They are staying mostly to themselves.
Day 8, Tuesday
We did Stony Indian Pass today. It was challenging. We woke up at 5 am for an early start and left at 7:25. The first four miles were pretty flat and woodsy. Then we did switchbacks with a gorgeous waterfall in view for the next 3 miles. It was really breathtaking.
We ascended up to the pass. I was feeling a little annoyed—— maybe influenced by being hangry. Jeff and I are 100% last in camp by about a half hour every night. I just have to accept it, but it’s tiring always being last.
That's what we walked down and then around the lake to get to the Stony Indian Campsite.
The Stony Indian campsite is the worst ever. The food and bear bag area is across a bridge and up on a ridge. The campsites are opposite, far away. The bathroom is a pit toilet and while better than the last one, has many flies. It’s up a hill and a long walk from everything.
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| This photo is taken from the food prep area. My pink hat shows where the toilet is. It's a throne type toilet. |
We all sat crowded in the food area for about two hours waiting to cook our dinner. This
Then we waited around in the same place until 7:30 when we felt like going to bed.
A deer found one of Paul's shirts and tried to digest the whole thing. Ugh!
Day 9, Wednesday
To Fifty Mountain campsite all day long. First we descended for about two hours from Stony Indian campground. There were some pretty waterfalls. Then we headed uphill for about five hours. Fortunately there was a fair amount of shade. Mark and Cassie walked with us most of the way because Cassie hadn’t felt so well last night. It was nice to have their company.
Just a very long time walking uphill all day. We were exhausted. When we reached the top, there was a beautiful open grassy plateau.
We filled up on water before reaching the campsite since we had been warned of the dry stream.
Poor Cassie's toes
We are sharing the site with a group of five (who are supposed to be four) and a long distance guy whom we passed earlier on Stony Indian pass mountain. (His name is 7-11, Sam Wilcox, pleasant guy in his early 50's)
We arrived at about 4:20 pm and sat in the eating area for awhile.
At 8:45 I walked down to the toilet. Jann was behind me so I asked her to guard while I left the door open. In the middle of the job, I noticed two bears off in the distance wandering away. They were two grizzly bears! What great timing. I mentioned it to Mark, Paul, Cassie, Susie and they went running to see... . . . but the bears were too far away by then.
Tonight and tomorrow night. It’s been fun.
Day 10 Thursday
Mark blew up his bear spray when he dropped it on the ground and it got punctured. We stayed clear while the fumes dissipated.
Waterfalls. Mark’s boundless energy. And Ian’s. Steep walk out of Fifty Mountain campsite.
Jeff gave wiffle ball to Sam Wilcox, 7-11 on trail to help his feet.
Glacier lunch. William crawled under.
This is the Cattle Queen Drift.
We had to bushwhack around it. I slipped. Stopping at a stream before 80 glacier. Today is an 11.4 hike. We are at about 7 or 8 miles. Cassie and Susie are doing great!!
We also passed the Ahern glacier. There was a little snow on the path, but nothing that impeded our passing.
This is part of the Ahern drift. Jeff had worried about how we would cross it, but it turned out to be fine.
I was so tired as we got to the end of the hike. At the last junction, rangers had posted a sign saying that some roads and campgrounds were closed due to forest fires. It didn’t affect our last spot so we headed down. I noticed a campsite to the left and felt bothered about having to go down and then up. My feet hurt. I watched David lead the group up the hill. I told Jeff that if I were a swearing woman, now would be the time. We walked up the hill then decided we were on our way to the chalet. Jeff checked his map and indeed, we had missed the turn off at the bottom of the hill. We walked back down (my feet were not comfortable), past the destroyed ranger station (avalanche) and arrived at the Granite campsite. We were surprised that the rest of the group had not arrived. I got my wish to be the first at the campsite. Unfortunately they had hiked all the way up to the chalet.
We all sat around the fire, exhausted. We had to figure out something about water though. David, Jann, Mark, Ian, and William volunteered to go fetch water.. . . . there at the stream by the destroyed ranger station or, if that wasn’t acceptable, to hike up the hill to a potable water spout. Bless their hearts! I couldn't have done it.
We had teriyaki chicken (mountain house) for dinner and chocolate pudding. Excellent. Then to bed. It’s 9:05 p.m.
It’s our last night. Kind of sad.
Day 11, Friday
We left at 8:45 from Granite campsite. We had a steep climb up and out at the pass, Jeff and I added stones to the cairn at the top. Then we descended some 2300 feet. As we came around the corner and were greeted by this site, we were awestruck. In the other direction, we had magnificent views of glaciers, waterfalls. The trail was a bit scary at times and I went very slowly. I was grateful for Jeff's patience.
We stopped at about five miles near the bottom of the mountain for a lunch with the rest of our group then took off for the final four miles. Jeff and I walked very slowly.
We passed rangers near the entrance to Swiftcurrent Motorlodge. They were impressed with our itinerary and group size and recognized that we had gotten a very special route.
Showers felt so good! Lunch was great!
Additional notes:
Undaunted courage (book recommendation from Jann) about Lewis and Clark's travels through the area and their journeys.
Soap John and Jane’s soaps— lotions recommended, bar soap is good
Flour spelt, whole wheat alternative, Bob’s red mill. White lily/- soft white wheat flour good for biscuits, rolls, cake
We got home at about 2 am, exhausted. We flew from Kalispel to SF then to IAD. The SF flight was very hard on me. . . . I was fighting nausea and kept my eyes closed almost all of the five hours!
Now, it’s clean up and unpacking time.
Day 1: Two Medicine Lake
Day 2 No Name Lake
Day 3 Morning Star
Day 4 Red Eagle
Day 5 Reynold's Creek
Day 6 Swiftcurrent
Day 7 Elizabeth
Day 8 Cosley
Day 9 Stony Indian
Day 10 Fifty Mountain
Day 11 Granite
