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Glacier National Park, What State Is It In?

JohnnyRage

By JohnnyRage
in Can You Help Me With This?

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JohnnyRage

JohnnyRage 1,617

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I'm pretty sure it's Montana, but have never been to either.

Permit request/lottery with specific trails have to be put in by March 15th. I know next to nothing, especially hidden secrets or hikes.

- Possible range of dates, Friday 9-9 through Mon. 9-19

- At least 3 able body guys capable of carrying their own gear

- 3-4 days of being off the grid, one long trail or break into two different hikes

- Moderate on equipment, can upgrade

- Would like to maybe do something fun in the area before and after

- Flying out of Austin and DFW

 

What are your experiences? Is it better to apply for midweek since schools are back in session?

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troph

troph 25,089

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MT yes. Been twice it’s gorgeous. Fires a few years ago in the park don’t know how it’s recovered there. We spent time on the eastern side last time. We don’t do the extreme stuff so don’t know about that. You should do it. Summer will be busy no matter though less in the back country. Summer is short there I recall road to the sun just opened when we went 20 years ago the first time in the spring. I think it was may. 

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Kennythetiger

Kennythetiger 9,584

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Thought I miss-read a question in the Wives thread. 
The website has a cool bit about building the Going To The Sun Road. I wish I would have read it before we did the drive. 
Pretty cool how the western side is rain forest and the eastern side is dry. Moose’s is a dive bar in Kalispell with pretty good pizza.  Snappy’s is a neat sporting goods store if you forget any camping/hiking stuff. 
Not sure what the fishing bite would be on Flathead but it’s a beautiful lake. 

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CooterBrown

CooterBrown 18,272

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Don’t worry about the lottery. Right next door in Flathead National Forest are 700 miles of stellar hiking trails and there’s no entrance rules. The awesomeness of Glacier doesn’t end at the park boundaries. In Flathead there are hundreds of glacier lakes. Bowman being the most well known. There’s also lots of cabins in the forest service inventory. Schnaus Cabin is an amazing location. Best thing about being in the NF vs the NP is you’re free to do pretty much anything, anywhere and you’ll never run into anyone else. If something happens though, you are on your own. Last time I went to Schnaus Cabin, I lost cell coverage about 15 miles before I got there.

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Hook1997

Hook1997 5,486

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On 3/20/2022 at 8:48 PM, Bevo said:

I personally prefer the Canadian side of Glacier called Waterton. The town is nice and animals come right into the town. You take a boat across the lake and enter great hiking.

Took that boat one time when I was around 11-12 on family vacation.  People on the trail kept saying there was a moose up ahead, so I keep going….  My friend turns back, I finally find said moose a while later.  I get back just in time for the last boat.  Well my parents evidently thought I was gone too long and lost, I pass them and a search crew on another boat on the boat ride back and wave lol. 

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JohnnyRage

JohnnyRage 1,617

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Unnecessary Update:

Flights purchased, not too worried about the flying cancellation crisis. BUT RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GOT DAMN ALABAMA GAME, Saturday September 10th.

Only one modified back country wilderness permit was approved:

  • Entry: Sunday, Jackson Glacier Trailhead on the Sun to God Road
  • To: Gunsight Lake overnight
  • To: Sperry Chalet overnight
  • Exit: Lake McDonald

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/montana/gunsight-pass-trailhead-to-lake-mcdonald-lodge

 

Only problem is this is a one way ticket, but there are free shuttles that don't seem fun. Figure we will get the shuttle out of the way on the first day so that we exit at our rental vehicle. Renting a car is probably a necessary evil.

 

We'll probably take it easy at a hotel or nearby campground for the night Tuesday.

Rest of the week is open, but having some difficulties with the permits and most of the park is OUT OF SEASON beginning the day after we land. Threw in a hail Mary request at the physical Granite Park Chalet to try and do the Highline Trail, but also barely out of season. Can still put in another official Wilderness Permit application to sleep this trail, but each application is $40 with slim chances.

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/montana/highline-trail

 

I booked an out of the park motel on the East side for day hikes near Baab from Thursday through Sunday morning, but we fly out on Saturday afternoon.

Excited, but it seems like you need two weeks up there, and the season is less than 3 months.

 

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JohnnyRage

JohnnyRage 1,617

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Jackson Glacier Overlook to Lake Mcdonald Lodge, 2 nights. We lost 1/3 of us along the way, the braggadocios one. One of the hardest things I've done in life, but did very little training. Pack was probably nearing 50lbs. If they allow a horse ride with gear to Sperry Chalet in the reverse order, this hike would be a piece of cake. Highly recommended. Also, Lake Ellen Wilson could add an extra night and give one a lot of extra free time and rest; otherwise, it's two passes in one day. One car, so parked and shuttled on day one, that was a beatdown with entering the park, finding the ranger station for permits, parking and transferring three different free shuttles on The Going To The Sun Road.

 

 

 

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JohnnyRage

JohnnyRage 1,617

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The Ptarmigian Tunnel, day trip, somehow developed into a symbolic inside joke leading up to the trip. I don't know why manifesting it became so important to me, but it had. This was the final hike of the trip and expected an easy day. However, starting off on the trip I was dragging and very quickly my heart and my body started to say fuck this. It was embarrassing. But after sitting down for 5 minutes everything normalized and we set off again. If I had to guess, a large diner breakfast told my body one thing, starting off on an inclined trail too soon after said another. Would recommend, especially continuing further along to get a full view of the mountains and the glaciers. A few hikers were pressing on or returning from over-nighters.

The other forked destination along the way was closed due to bears. We saw a grizzly from a distance  on some scree while driving out the day before - a brown bear in hyperphagia eating berries right along the road - and a Momma grizzly and two cubs racing in front of our car late one night on a gravel road. The Many Glaciers Campgrounds at the beginning of the hike was the only place one could have campfires, but was completely filled up. So we stayed at a pretty awesome KOA right outside the park. A one room cabin for the stoic, worth it just for the public showers. No Homo.

 

 

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JohnnyRage

JohnnyRage 1,617

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The long and the short of it is that I cannot wait to get back. I know that I have a late summer misrepresentation of it, but I could see myself retiring near the park and getting my cardio in near daily on its many hikes. I'm sure half the year sucks donkey balls, and I bet the don't like Texans moving there.

However, if one just thinks they can do a day or two in the park just along the Going To The Sun Road, the overcrowding and logistics of it all I can't see being worth it. That's just not the type of dude that I am. But if you can go on 6 mile day hikes or over nights, my God this place is beautiful. And an international airport that flies direct from DFW is a major plus.

 

 

 

 

 

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JohnnyRage

JohnnyRage 1,617

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3 minutes ago, Telegraph_it said:

Okay. This makes me want to get back there or go hike and camp in the backcountry in Teton National Park again. 
 

Nothing tastes better than the whiskey you hauled in your pack up 6k feet or so. 

It may have just been decided by another fellow, but Teton may be the choice this year. Permit applications start on January, 10th, and I know nothing.

 

This was back in mid-September, I'm just technological and social media lazy.

 

 

 

 

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