Day 21: Final day in Glacier National Park, and drive to Bozeman, MT

Miles driven to-date: 5,976
States visited to-date: 20

Three nights ago when we stayed just outside of Glacier, we met a couple who couldn’t stop raving about a 10-mile hike they had just done to Iceberg Lake in the park. They had traveled the world and said it was one of the best treks they had ever done, second only to a trail in the Swiss Alps. We were intrigued and decided to squeeze it into our last morning, even though the map said it would likely take 6-7 hours to finish the hike. We needed to get an early start so we got up at 6:00 and checked out of the hotel before beginning our adventure.

It was wonderful to be some of the only people on the trail at that early hour and the temperature throughout our hike was just perfect. We encountered many bugs during the day so it was nice to be able to wear pants and not be too hot. We were amazed by the beautiful wildflowers around every turn:

The path wound up into the snow-capped mountains and Steve commented that he felt like Frodo on his journey into Mordor in “Lord of the Rings.”

Knowing that bears are especially active in the morning hours, we tried to make lots of noise when coming around curves in the trail. Steve was being very brave until something small and furry (a squirrel) scampered across our path, at which point he practically shouted, “What the &$%# was that?!” Nevertheless, the first five miles passed fairly quickly and when we caught our first glimpse of Iceberg Lake, our efforts were rewarded:

A hotel worker told me that just two weeks ago the whole lake was frozen, so we were glad to be able to see some of the clear blue-green water.

For a couple of northerners, we were awfully excited to see the snow. There was just something so unique about hiking through it in such warm weather, and seeing the little buds of wildflowers peeking out as if it were early spring.

There were only a couple of people at the lake when we arrived so it was very serene and was a nice place to take a snack break (though it was a bit chilly!). One fellow hiker actually climbed from iceberg to iceberg in the lake but the thought of falling in the frigid water deterred us from trying that. Before parting from Iceberg, I took advantage of the “pit toilet,” a tiny shack with a hole in the ground. Steve said he would wait for me further down the path so I entered the structure feeling slightly nervous about what to expect. Things were going fine until I heard a loud bang and felt the walls shake. My heart stopped and I almost fell in the hole but soon realized it was just Steve hurling snowballs at the door. What a lovely travel partner . . .

As we made our way back down the trail we ran into many more people headed up, so we were glad to have gone so early. The walk down was even more beautiful than on the way up and we saw a number of furry animals that looked like a cross between a squirrel and a big chipmunk. In spite of being on high bear alert, we didn’t see any but were glad to have seen our moose, a snake, bison, deer, squirrels, and many beautiful butterflies during our time in Glacier. I must admit my feet were tired by the time we got back to the car so I rewarded myself with some huckleberry ice cream. We then met a couple in the parking lot who were from Connecticut; they noticed us because of our New England license plate and because they were also driving a Town & Country minivan! They were in the middle of a cross-country trip as well so it was fun to compare stories. We’ve seen license plates from all over the country at these parks and talked to a couple of people on journeys similar to ours, though none appear to be quite as sophisticated when it comes to blogging. :)

On the way out of Glacier, we drove through a Native American town called Browning. It was interesting to see all of the Blackfoot Indians and we smiled when we saw a tee pee with a sign advertising espresso for sale. We then drove through several very small towns that had an Old West feel to them – it seemed like you could have a duel right in the middle of Main Street. We also noticed that many of the gas stations here in Montana have casinos right in them. It is quite a different world!

We spent the night in Bozeman getting ready for our next couple of days: Yellowstone and Grand Teton. We won’t have internet again for a few nights but will try to post again as soon as we can. In the meantime, Happy 4^th of July to you all, and hope all is well!