Day 6 of our Great National Parks Adventure started very
early! This was the day that we
had been waiting for….the day that we had planned this entire trip around….the
day we got to see Glacier National Park!
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| Sunrise over Lake McDonald - Glacier National Park |
Sunrise
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| Sunrise over Lake McDonald - Glacier National Park |
We had planned about a day and a half for seeing
Glacier. That would give us two
mornings but we decided to take advantage of the first morning there and head
out early for sunrise. We figured
that way if it was a bad morning we always had the following day to try
again. As it turned out it was a
good thing that we did as you will see later!
The Hampton Inn in Kalispell was about 40 minutes from
Glacier National Park. The staff
was very nice and grabbed us a “To Go” breakfast on our way out the door. We arrived at the park about an hour
before sunrise so we navigated a bit in the dark. Having read some reviews, it seems as though sunrise from
the East Gate of the park is perhaps a little better. We entered from the West and decided to stop at Lake
McDonald which was only a few miles inside the gate to try to catch sunrise
over the water with the mountains in the background.
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| Sunrise over Lake McDonald - Glacier National Park |
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| Lake McDonald Lodge - Glacier National Park |
We were able to find a path leading right to the water’s
edge and staked out a spot facing the East.
As the sun started to rise the lake was peaceful and serene
and the pink hue from the sun started to rise behind the mountains.
It was a very pretty sunrise but not as
stunning as we had hoped as we found it to be slightly hazy.
Again, little did we know that this
would only worsen during the day.
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| Sunrise over Lake McDonald - Lake McDonald Lodge - Glacier National Park |
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| Walkway to Lake McDonald - Lake McDonald Lodge - Glacier National Park |
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| Breakfast at the Lake McDonald Lodge |
After sunrise, we headed to the Lake McDonald Lodge for
breakfast.
They had a wonderful
view of the sunrise there in the back of the lodge so we walked down there
first and then headed into the lodge.
The breakfast buffet was very good.
The ambiance of the lodge was very nice….rustic and warm
feeling.
This was definitely a
good place to stop for breakfast.
It fills up rather quickly so get here early!
Going to the Sun Road
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| Our First Glimpse of Scenery on The Going to the Sun Road - Glacier National Park |
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| Glacier National Park |
After breakfast we were ready to head further into the
park.
As soon as we left the lodge
the grandeur began.
The mountains
were large and the rays of the sun were coming over the tops making it feel
like you just had a glimpse into heaven.
The further we went into the park the more magnificent the scenery!
It’s hard to describe in words the beauty
that we saw so I am going to include several photos to give you an idea of the
grandeur.
As we headed along the Going to the Sun Road, the road
opened up and wound around a bit.
You can definitely see why it is a seasonal road. You can also see why it’s important to
go when you can drive the entire length of it because each turn brings a new
wonder!
The Going to the Sun Road is about 50 miles in length and
takes at least 2-3 hours to drive and see things along the way. If you plan to do any hiking, please
add time to this estimate.
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| One of my favorite views along The Going to the Sun Road - Glacier National Park |
Many Glacier Road
After a short stop at the gift store we headed back down to the East Entrance of the Going to the Sun Road.
East to West on Going to the Sun Road
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| Visitor's Center at the East Entrance to Going to the Sun Road - Glacier National Park |
The entire time that we traveled from West to East on the roadway, we kept thinking how exciting it would be to travel on the way back and see how different things looked from that direction. Unfortunately by the time we headed back through we started to notice a definite haze descending on the mountains. We stopped at a very nice Visitor's Center just inside the gate. It has various displays and very nice restroom facilities. Once we got into the main part of the roadway, the haze had really settled in. Turns out that the smoke from the western wild fires that were in Washington State had moved into the area. We were very happy that we had gotten up early and made the trip through in the one direction already because it was very hard to see anything at times!
The trip back was a little faster than the trip from West to East since the views from the pullouts were mostly obscured. Unfortunately the next day's weather wasn't looking any better with the smoke in the area. We were very fortunate to see what we did in the morning! This just means that we have to make a trip back some day!!
Tips for Viewing Glacier National Park
From our observations I have compiled a list of tips for visiting the park. These of course are subjective as I can only speak from my own experience but hopefully they will be helpful for someone who is traveling to Glacier National Park for the first time.
1. Get to the park early. Ideally you should arrive before the shuttles start their regular runs for the day if you plan on driving through yourself. The road is much less crowded at this time and there is no problem with parking at the many overlooks or at the various Visitor's Centers.
2. Try to time your visit for when both the Going to the Sun Road and the Many Glacier Roads are open.
3. Waterton Lake National Park is a short drive North of the border in Alberta, Canada. If you would like to visit, be sure to pack your passport with you and take with you when you visit Glacier. I had mine, my husband packed his passport but left it in the hotel room the day we visited Glacier. The road to Waterton is out the East Gate of Glacier so by the time we had traveled the road and thought about it, we would have had to drive all the way across and back after getting the passport! That didn't happen....so yet another reason to head back to the park someday!
4. Travel West to East on the Road if you only have time to go one direction. The scenery is more striking that way. At least this was the case on the day we visited. Part of that may have been due to the smokiness but just the order of the scenery and the angles seemed to be better from that direction.
5. Just because you've seen something from one pullout don't skip the next one. Each pullout offered a different perspective.
6. Take your time and just soak this park in....it is amazing!!
Montana Club
Dinner this night was at the Montana Club. We had high hopes for a good meal here but unfortunately our expectations weren't met. Both my husband and I had a steak. The steaks were very fatty and very tough to cut let alone eat. We ordered their specialty steak and it was like that so not sure what the regular steaks would have been like. I will say that the steak did have some flavor but it was just not great. The prices were high to start with let alone for the quality of the food. If you are familiar with the Texas Roadhouse chain, we have had much better quality steaks there for a lot more reasonable price! The service was good and the ambiance was nice.
Back to the Hampton Inn
We spent a second night at the Hampton Inn in Kalispell. The plan was to get up early again and head back to Glacier for a second time to see anything we may have missed. However, with the building smoke we changed our plans and decided to head to Yellowstone National Park a little early. So it was off to bed early to get ready for still another action packed day!
Coming Next: The Great National Park Adventure Day 7: A Whole New Look at Yellowstone National Park
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We started at the West Entrance and took the road to the East Entrance. Once we got to the East entrance we took the roadway north a
few miles to the entrance of Many Glaciers Road. You may not have heard as much about this roadway as you have Going to the Sun Road but it's definitely a worthwhile trip. This is a shorter roadway. There is a lodge along the way as well as a stop with food, a gift store and a grocery store. The lake is beautiful with the mountains in the background. There are some short hikes from this area also. There were lots of warnings for bears and bear bells were at a premium in the store so I would say be careful if you are hiking...a bear bell and bear spray is a must!
Dinner this night was at the Montana Club. We had high hopes for a good meal here but unfortunately our expectations weren't met. Both my husband and I had a steak. The steaks were very fatty and very tough to cut let alone eat. We ordered their specialty steak and it was like that so not sure what the regular steaks would have been like. I will say that the steak did have some flavor but it was just not great. The prices were high to start with let alone for the quality of the food. If you are familiar with the Texas Roadhouse chain, we have had much better quality steaks there for a lot more reasonable price! The service was good and the ambiance was nice. 
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