When I was planning my trip to Glacier NP, I almost accidentally came across a piece of news that made me a little nervous: the park, for the second year in a row, is allowing access to the road with the poetic name “Road to the Sun”"Only with special passes. Passes must be purchased, and although the price is purely symbolic ($1 per day), their supply is limited. This is how the park addresses the problem of overtourism. The problem with this road is that it's the only way to get around the park: trails to almost all the lakes, waterfalls, and other trails start from here.
There was still a month and a half left before the trip, but, as expected, all the passes had long since been purchased. I signed up for the pass availability notification mailing list (sometimes people cancel their purchased passes, and they become available again) and even received several notifications about vacancies. But every time I tried to buy one, it turned out someone else had already gotten it faster…
But later, I read the road information more carefully and calmed down: the road was closed after 7 a.m., and before that, entry was free. Considering I rented a place 10 minutes' drive from the park, and we planned to stay on Michigan time (two hours ahead of the park's time zone), there shouldn't have been any problems. And so it turned out.
The plan was to get up early and leave the hotel around 5:30 a.m., and we followed it. We quickly crossed the empty road to the park entrance and then drove more slowly along that very same Going to the Sun Road—the speed limit was 40 miles per hour.
Deep down, I hoped we'd keep going until the very end, because who in their right mind would wake up at 5:30 a.m.? However, the park sees over 3 million visitors a year, with around 800,000 of those in July. That's nearly 27,000 people a day—the population of a small town. And among that many, there are enough crazy people to cause a traffic jam on the park's only road, even at 6 a.m.
So soon we found ourselves at the tail end of a stream that was slowly rolling along the road. Slowly because the climb had just begun with a steep switchback, which even on an empty road wouldn't let you go very fast. It didn't bother us, though, because after the most picturesque serpentine in the world, The road we drove on last year in Greece doesn't scare us like that (though I'm a little apprehensive about the Peru trip—there will be plenty of switchbacks there). But we still have to keep the speed down…
At one point, we pull over to the side of the road and take a few photos—the view is so beautiful in the rays of the rising sun. Perhaps those five minutes would come back to haunt us later…
A few minutes later, we arrived at the visitor center parking lot, and I couldn't believe my eyes—the rather large parking lot was full. And mind you, it was 6:50 a.m.—normal people are still asleep at that hour. We had to keep driving. Several small parking lots on the side of the road were full, but finally, about a kilometer from where we were going, I saw a single empty spot where we could park. Perhaps if we hadn't stopped for those five minutes to take photos, we would have managed to park a little closer to the center. But the photos were worth it.
The view from our parking lot, however, was wonderful. Shivering slightly from the cold (the temperature this morning was just above freezing, with snow in places), we cooked breakfast on the stove, drank a traditional cup of cappuccino, and briskly headed back along the road to the trailhead.
We made our way back to the visitor center, the first route for today is trail to Hidden Lake. When I walk along trails like these, the first thing that comes to mind is "May Day demonstration." The trail is beautiful, short, and easy, so all those crowds that occupied our parking space are heading that way. And so are we, because what else could we do? 🙂 We didn't make it all the way to the lake—about halfway there, the trail was closed due to increased bear activity in the area. Considering I'd forgotten my bear spray in the car again, we decided not to risk crawling under the fence like some others… So we admired the scenery and turned back to the parking lot.
The main trail for today awaited us - Highline Trail (the high trail). It's long—40 miles—and people hike it for days, with tents. But we weren't tourists today, we were just out for a stroll, so we decided to walk it for a few hours (to a small pass near the summit).“Haystack”), and turn back.
I must say, the trail turned out to be the most spectacular of these three very busy days. It's not difficult because it runs parallel to the slope, without significant changes in elevation, but it's very picturesque.
Moreover, since this is the only convenient trail running along the slope, local animals have taken a liking to it. So we encountered a deer (very close, we could reach it with our hand), a marmot (marmot "—it's not a swear word, but the Latin and English word for marmot," and "mountain sheep" (a bit off the trail, but that's for the best). We didn't encounter a bear, though—maybe next time.
Well, the landscapes there themselves are wonderful - I probably took at least a hundred photographs, so it was a real shame to clean them.
Returning back to the car, we had lunch and, since the sun was still high, we drove on to Lake St. Mary (Saint Mary Lake). This is a typical mountain lake, long and narrow, located in a small valley. Many streams flow into the lake, along which there are beautiful waterfalls - they were our target.
The trail to the waterfalls is very scenic, but, like many places in this park, it's a bit gloomy due to the large number of dead trees—apparently, a major fire raged here about 15 years ago. New growth is now growing, and the charred remains of the former trees stand as a reminder of the past cataclysm.
However, the overall impression is very bright and positive. The trail is easy and well-trodden.
The waterfalls themselves are beautiful (there is a cascade of three waterfalls).
More:
Some desperate girls jumped off the bridge into the water. We didn't.
After returning along the same trail, we took a long, leisurely ride back. Nearing the park's exit, we spotted a deer with classic antlers, just like a postcard, on the side of the road.
I think the day was a success!
Go to main page of the trip.
