Leg #2 begins in Spokane. We arrived late on Thursday night and headed out early for Glacier National Park. More on Spokane later. We picked up the rental car at 7am, stopped at Incrediburger for a yummy breakfast sandwich to go (we got the New Mexican), and were on our way.
The drive through eastern Washington and the panhandle of Idaho was gorgeous. Lots of trees, winding mountain roads.
Our first stop was Desoto Grill in Kalispell for lunch. We shared a bbq chicken plate. The food was fine, nothing special, but good. Charming little place. Then it was back on the road with about 45 more minutes before we hit the park.
Once we entered the park, our first stop was the visitor center for some maps and finding out what was open trail wise. Then, we headed to Apgar Village to rent some bear spray for our hikes. The village is charming and we would return later that evening.
Once equipped with the necessities, we started our journey up the Going to the Sun road. The drive is amazing. Reminded us a lot f the Road to Hana. We enjoyed the views and made our first big stop at Logan Pass. We talked with the ranger there and since the Highline trail and the trail to Grinnell Glacier were still closed due to snow, she gave us a few other recommendations and we continued up the road.
First stop: Jackson Glacier overlook. This is the only place on the road you can see an actual glacier, so we stopped to take photos.
Then, we parked at Summit Gorge to do the St. Mary’s and Virginia Falls hike. The first half of the hike was through some burnt forest, so you could see the lake and the surrounding terrain. We even had to stop for a deer and her three fawn who were having a snack in the middle of the trail. We also got to see a chatty marmot. There were three waterfalls total, each bigger than the last and the water was clear and tropical blue. The hike took us about 3.5 hours and it was totally worth it! We highly recommend it.
When we made it back to car around 7pm, we decided to go just a little bit further up the road to Rising Sun. We knew we didn’t have time to finish the road, so thought we’d get to one more big marker. But, there was nothing really there for us, so we turned around and headed back. Unfortunately, they were doing road construction and so lots of delays getting past where we started our hike.
The drive down was fun and included a small rain shower and a spotting of a mountain goat jumping down the rock face. We returned our bear spray and picked up some huckleberry ice cream and then tried to get to Columbia Falls in time for dinner.
Checked into our hotel quickly (Travel Inn) and then found a bar called Gunsight that was open late for dinner and drinks and we actually enjoyed our time there and our food was good.
Another successful day, another beautiful national park. Much more to do here...next time!
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