In September 2020 daughter Susan and I went to Glacier NP in Montana for a week of hiking. I drove to Madison, WI on Sept. 22, and on Sept. 23 we flew to Kalispell, MT. We picked up a rental car at the airport and headed directly to the Western Park Entrance, stopping at Columbia Falls to pick up some groceries. Once inside the park we drove on the Going-to-the-Sun Road along the shores of Lake McDonald and stopped at the Trail of the Cedars trailhead. We then hiked onto the trail to Avalanche Lake, spent some time at the lake, then hiked back to the car. We picked up some more groceries at a store in Hungry Horse and then headed to Martin City and self-checked ourselves into Glacier Getaway, our rented apartment (found on airbnb) for a week. Our apartment was only a 15-20 minute drive to the park entrance, and each morning we left early to visit different areas of the park and hike the trails. Because of COVID large sections of the park were closed off to visitors and the Eastern Entrance to the park was closed as well, so we could only drive the Going-to-the-Sun Road as far as Rising Sun. On two occasions we couldn't go further on the trail we were hiking, because signage warned us to turn back because of Grizzly bears in the area. Still, there was much to do and see, and the weather cooperated wonderfully, except for the brief periods of rain, sleet, or snow. During our 6 days of hiking in the park, we hiked about 56 miles in total. Here are some photos taken on our hikes.
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Lake McDonald
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Huckleberry Mt. trail |
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Howe Lake |
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Lake McDonald |
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View from Howe Lake
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Snyder Lake |
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Snyder Lake |
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Snyder Lake |
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Trail to Trout Lake
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McDonald Falls
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Hidden Lake
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Trail to Hidden Lake |
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Highline Trail with Going-to-the-Sun road below
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On the Highline Trail |
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Highline Trail |
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Virginia Falls |
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View at Rising Sun |
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St. Mary's Falls
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St. Mary's Lake |
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On the trail to Avalanche Lake |
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Avalanche Lake
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Avalanche Lake |
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On the trail to Avalanche Lake |
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Large Cedar on the Trail of Cedars |