We’re not big hikers but still want to enjoy Glacier National Park

Last Updated on September 9, 2023 by

Going-To-The-Sun Road

I have to say, even if you don’t hike a step, this drive is worth the price of admission all by itself. The road is narrow and winding and takes you to some simply breathtaking vistas with (surprisingly) lots of pullouts to take it all in (provided your fellow tourists haven’t already taken your spot). And waterfalls EVERYWHERE. There are three visitor centers, one east (St. Mary), one west (Apgar), and the highlight reel right in the middle (Logan Pass). Unfortunately, because there is just the one road, Logan Pass parking is typically full by about 7:00 AM, so there’s that. Again, even if you don’t hike a step, the drive is worth it, but Glacier really is a serious hikers paradise. (Frankly, more serious than me and Ang.) (Hold my beer. I’ve got this!) A good portion of the hikes are over 10 miles one way with many more well over 15. If that doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, the Going-to-the-Sun Road is a perfect opportunity to spend an entire day getting some great views of the park with numerous options for short quarter to half mile walks to get a different vantage point for your perfect photograph.

Breathtaking views and lots of waterfalls, yes. But let’s not forget the glaciers. I have to admit (rather stupidly), I thought there was only one glacier here. And I was picturing a massive floating glacier like those in Alaska. Like Montana is surrounded by oceans. Silly me. What we have are glaciers clinging to the side of all the mountains in these ranges looking like they are just going to slide right off. So cool. I was amazed to find that there are 26 glaciers in the park. Then I was surprised to see how much those 26 glaciers have receded since 1966. Then I was shocked to learn there were 100+ glaciers in the park when established, down to 35 in 1966 and now 26. I won’t start talking about climate change here, but I have to say, I am really glad we made this our destination national park for our first summer post retirement. There are people who think these glaciers are going to be gone by 2050. It IS a hikers paradise.

The guides say to allow yourself 2 hours to complete a one way traverse of the Sun Road, so 4 hours round trip. Angela and I took a little over 8 hours with one little mile and a half loop to a falls, a short jaunt down to St. Mary lake (more on that later), and a few more quick little excursions off the side of the road. We probably could have added another 2 or 3 hours easily without ever really leaving sight of the car, but the day was getting late, and little dog was probably going to shun us if we didn’t get back.

Unlike Yellowstone, Glacier does not have huge signs everywhere letting you know there was a bear sighting 3 or 4 weeks ago. Rather, each trailhead simply says you ARE entering Grizzly country (and you are not the alpha…..). I bring this up as a prelude to Angela and I walking down a short slope (5 or 600 feet max) from the Wild Goose Island Lookout to a small little pond (or puddle), just before the lake shore. Ang went right and I went left at the pond. About 100 yards in, I heard something rustling the bushes right in front of me, so I did the responsible thing and immediately headed back toward the Lookout in the hopes of finding fresh underwear. Ang had also turned around, albeit for completely different reasons and asked me what was up. I told her, and she responded with “I’m sure it’s just squirrels” and proceeded to head in the direction from whence I had just come. I know what many of you are thinking, but in my defense, we were well outside the 50 mile radius, so I was justified. If you’ve been following this blog, you know rule 1 is the half mile rule. Rule 2 is the 50 mile radius rule, as anyone who has ever watched true crime knows that as soon as you are more than 50 miles from home, mysterious spousal death rates jump exponentially. I won’t steal her thunder, but let’s just say while she’s still here to write her portion, I was totally vindicated.

Wow! On that note, let me give you my side of the story. The real deal. This was basically an overlook off the side of the road. Very limited parking to give you an idea. Basically, a jump out of the car, take your picture of the cute little island in the middle of massive St. Mary Lake, you might see some wild geese (aren’t they all wild out here?!), get back in your car, and move on, kind of stop. Nevertheless, we had been in the car for quite a while (noting that Logan’s Pass VC was jam packed with no chance we could get out there) and I needed to get out of the car to stretch my legs. This is what we did. Step over the tiny little stone wall (just big enough to keep you from driving your car over the cliff), follow some bedrock shelf/steps down through some brush to a cute little marsh right next to the shore and do some bird watching. Shawn decided to continue on down the path because the pines looked gorgeous and nice and cool. Plus, he’s a little blind and can’t see the birds without the binoculars – which were still up in the car.

For my part, there were quite a few birds and those birds were making quite a racket in the thickets around the marsh. However, I had said to Shawn as we were walking down to the marsh, “This looks like prime bear territory. Marsh, berry bushes, lake. You decide.” (Shawn had been whining a little that we hadn’t seen any large mammals so far that day. I was just trying to give him a pep talk). In any case, he comes rapidly back around the corner out of the pines towards me standing at the top side of the marsh, stage whispering (we’re getting good at that), “I hear something big down there.” To which I replied, “It’s probably just the birds. They’re small but carrying big sticks.” And since we all now know Shawn can’t be trusted on animal sightings, I decided to walk down the pine path to see what was really making the noise. Much to my surprise, about 10 steps down the path, there WAS some loud movements in the underbrush. I decided to get a closer look. Talk about thinning the herd. That was when I heard a really loud snort. Close. Someone else needed to change her pants when she got back up to the overlook. When we got back to a safe distance, we were rewarded with a view of a brown bear popping up from some brush on his hind legs right along side the lake. I assumed he was a brown bear and that he was on his hind legs as we only got a view of his bust and he disappeared 3 seconds later. The binoculars were still in the car. So was the bear spray. You’d think we would learn. Scene of the crime below.

As a happy surprise, when we got back to the car, there was a Red Glacier Bus sitting in the parking lot. This fleet of 33 buses is “widely considered to be the oldest touring fleet of vehicles anywhere in the world”. Stepping back in time again.

For future reference, hiking rules are as follows – Rule #1 is The Half Mile Rule. About 95% of tourists will go no further than half a mile from a visitor center or lookout point. Rule #2 is The 50 Mile Rule. As stated above and in the Yellowstone blog. Be on alert ladies.