Glacier National Park is a great national park to visit in the summer. Even though I could do without crowds, it is easy to find remote areas if you know where to look. Glacier National Park is located in Montana and goes up to the Canadian border. We entered through the West Entrance of the park and tried to see as much as possible. Fortunately, the Going to the Sun Road opened a few days before we arrived, which made traveling through the park easier. When planning your trip, don’t forget to check for road closures.
We drove through the night and arrived at McDonald Lake as the sun was rising. The calmness of the lake provided reflected the morning sky radiance.
Driving from Lake McDonald towards Logan Pass, the road winds through the forest along McDonald Creek. The water’s aqua blue and white colors made for a gorgeous drive before climbing above the tree line.
Looking at Reynolds Mountain as the snow continued to melt and drain to McDonald Creek.
After driving over Logan Pass, we headed towards Two Medicine Lake to find a place to stay for the night. To get to Two Medicine Lake, we drove south and out of the park and re-entered right before reaching the campground.
After finding a level campsite, we pitched a tent and laid out our bedding for the night. The summer heat kept us from napping and forced us out on the trail around Two Medicine Lake.
Before starting the hike, I couldn’t resist stopping and admiring the mountains of Glacier National Park.
The start of the hike hike around Two Medicine Lake was picturesque. The trail was narrow with a variety of bridge/water crossing and pushing through overgrown grass and wildflowers, not to mentioned the mosquitoes trying to suck our blood!
We saw a moose!
We left Two Medicine Lake and headed north to the US/Canadian border to the trailhead for Cosley Lake. The trail to Cosley Lake meandered through the forest before coming out to meadows with wide sweeping views of the mountains carved out by glaciers.
The wide mountainous views of hiking along the Belly River.
We took a small detour off the main trail to see Gros Ventre Falls.
We were greeted by Steve, a friendly deer grazing near our backcountry camping site.
There are four spacious campsites at Cosley Lake that all have lakefront access. Be careful not to leave any sweaty trekking poles or gear out. The animals in glacier like to nibble and steal electrolytes.
Cosley Lake was cold but refreshing after the 8 miles of hiking. The red and pink stones added color to the blue lake and snowy mountains.
After hiking back from Cosley Lake, we spent the last night at Many Glacier Lodge to repack and clean up before the long drive back to Washington. Many Glacier Lodge is located at Swiftcurrent Lake, where boats will take you across to a short trail to Lake Josephine. At Lake Josephine another boat is waiting to show off the natural beauty. For those wanting to connect with the lake a workout, canoes and kayaks can be rented by the hour.
We decided to rent a canoe and paddle across Swiftcurrent lake, walk the short trail to Lake Josephine, jump in Swiftcurrent Lake, and return the canoe back at Many Glacier lodge within an hour.
On the way out of the park, we stopped at Logan Pass Visitor Center that sits at the base of Reynolds Mountain before heading west into the sunset.
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