Glacier National Park – Staci Visit

3 Days, 21 Miles, 3,710 Feet of Elevation

We had a good reason to get back to Glacier the next weekend with Staci rolling through as she added us on to her own crazy travel adventure.

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Although she didn’t arrive until the evening the late Montana summer days allowed us to enjoy Flathead Lake for a couple of hours.

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The following day we headed directly to the airport to drop off Janet, drove to Whitefish to board Chica, and did a quick food shop for a weekend of camping and hiking; we were ready for some Glacier.

We arrived at Cut Bank Campground after 2 and all the sites were full so we posted up at a fire ring just outside the park boundaries and were off to our warm up hike.

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Aster Park Overlook (South Shore Trailhead – Two Medicine) 4 miles round trip, elevating just under 800 ft.

The weather was crazy and we were almost rained out, but the clouds broke and we got to experience a gorgeous hike.

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Following the trek, we arrived back at camp, settled in and were about to call it a night when we were not-so-warmly told: “You’re on Blackfoot Tribal Land and can’t stay the night.

At this point it’s 9PM and we knew with certainty that Cut Bank Campground was full, but being less than two miles from the camp we decided to make sure.  Well it was full.  BUT Staci made some friends and they allowed us to share their site – WIN!

We quickly set up shop and dug in for the monster hike to come the following day.

Medicine Grizzly Lake – Triple Divide Pass (Cut Bank Trailhead) 14 miles round trip, 2,380 ft. elevation

Just from the beginning of the hike, we knew it would be outstanding.

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It started with an imperceptible climb through gorgeous meadows full of wild flowers and into thick forest.

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From there the elevation gained quickly and we were treated to a truly epic view of Medicine Grizzly Lake.

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As we continued to climb we approached the Triple Divide vista point from which snow melt flows South to the Gulf and into the Atlantic Ocean, Northwest through Alaska and into the Pacific Ocean and Northeast to the Hudson Bay in Canada.

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Staci bravely snapping away on the edge of a huge mountain!

The descent – as always – provided for a different perspective and was just as much of a treat as the climb.

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While it seemed Staci had enough gas in the tank to do the whole thing again, Amy and I hit our threshold by the end of the hike and we were all excited to lounge out back at camp.

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An official meal was cooked and we enjoyed a few drinks before crashing.

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Hidden Lake (Logan Pass Trailhead) 3 miles round trip, 550 ft. elevation

On our final day we drove West on Going-To-The-Sun-Road and stopped for a short hike along the Continental Divide.

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Normally this would have been an easy hike, but after the prior day it was pretty rough.  The sheer beauty insisted we keep going though.

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As we approached the lake we were welcomed by this guy.

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Yup, glad we did this hike!

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Loving us some Glacier and so happy to have our friends to share the experience with!

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