Today was a relatively quiet day. We left Helena to head up to Glacier. We had hoped to get on the road by 10. We started off pretty well we got breakfast at 9, had everything in the car by 9:45, and started it at 10… but… we needed to get some errands over with first. Gas, groceries, and a stop at the credit union delayed our departure until 10:45.The 5.5 hour drive was fairly straightforward. We had a small stretch on the interstate (30 miles), and saw some impressive cliffs. The highway driving was uneventful, except for some ridiculous winds. There were spectacular views of the Rockies to the west, abd awesome plains. Right before we got to St. Mary’s (the main Eastern entrance to Glacier) we drove through an open range… so, there were cows along the road, and, in a couple of cases, on the road.

Once we got the park entrance, we stopped in the visitor center to get the back country permit. We got to watch a video that was a nice overview of all the ways you can get a bear to kill you by not doing the right thing. Lara says we should be good, I’m not as confident as before, but I think we’ll be OK.

Once we got the permit, we headed to St. Mary’s campground. We got the tent up as quickly as we could due to the wind, and finished just as a round of rain started. We waited in the car for a bit, had lunch, and once the rain stopped for a bit, reorganized our packs in preparation for our hikes. We then made dinner and ate it as the next band of rain hit. We waited in the car, with Lara writing her blog posts, and then got in to the tent when it subsided. We read about the park in a couple of books – one is the 1932 National Park Portfolio, which had some awesome pictures and info (e.g. Going-to-the-Sun road wasn’t completed until 1933, after the book was written, they mention the construction of it).

While I think we’ll be OK the next few days, I am a little concerned by Lara’s sudden coughing fit. She had pneumonia a couple of years ago (due to running after a bus in -25 degree weather) , and gets a cough when she gets cold.

Anyway, here’s the itinerary for th next few days: tomorrow, head up to Elizabeth Lake campground (a 10.1 mile hike with 2500ft elevation gain through the Ptarmigan tunnel), camp for the night. Saturday, head to Poia Lake campground (another 10 mile hike with 2400ft elevation gain, through the Red Pass) and camp for the night. Finally, on Sunday, break camp, hike back to Many Glacier (a 6 mile hike with a 400ft elevation gain, and a 2500 ft decent, followed by a 2 mile hike along the road), find a camp site and sleep a hardy sleep. We’ll leave the park Monday via Going-to-the-Sun, head up to Canada, and down to Okanagan, WA.

We’ll be journaling on the hike and post them once we’re back in civilization (post dated for clarity).

Updated trip stats: 5 days, 4 national parks, 2NRAs, 1 hike, 4 states, 1208 miles