Going to the Sun Road, MT 🚙 🏞️

I purposely booked my trip to Glacier NP the day after reservations were required knowing full well to still expect the crowds in mid September.

So my 6am wake up call was expected, but still rough nonetheless. The steady rainfall made for a stressful drive along the winding & narrow cliffside road, while the dreamworthy views were unfortunately non-existent. But I made it to the Logan’s Pass parking lot prior to 7am to grab a much coveted parking spot. However, the now steady downpour made me opt to take a nap prior to heading out to tackle the 3mi Hidden Lake overlook trail.

The clouds finally parted, so I donned my rain gear & slowly ascended the steep incline. And wouldn’t you know it, as soon as the path evened out, the storms started pounding us again…… but I kept plowing forward since I had already committed through the most difficult part of the trail. Upon reaching the overlook, I took refuge under a pine tree & waited for the fog to dissipate in hopes of getting rewarded for my efforts thus far. All the other soaked travelers gave up hope, but I stuck it out an extra 10 mins & got that view all by myself for ~8mins before it was swallowed up once again.

I enjoyed my favorite trekking snack, gummy bears, on the way back to the visitor center & continued my journey eastward bound descending into the Two Medicine valley. The 3.6mi hike to both St. Marys & Virginia Falls was a nice, quiet reprieve to end the day. The accommodations in East Glacier were scarce & pretty sketchy, so I barely took a shower & laid my head down for a few hours.

Then I was up early again to make my way to the Many Glacier entrance, historic lodge & numerous short trails with waterfalls, which was packed with very limited parking options.

With the lack of lodging options in this area, I begrudgingly made my way north over the border again to the town of Lethbridge for one night & actually beelined back to the Calgary airport at 3:30am a day early due to an impending Air Canada pilot strike.

And just like that, 10 days of complete silence & rejuvenation expired, and once again…..

I have no regrets!