Canadian Rockies + Glacier of USA Adventure Trip (2) : At Glacier National Park of USA

Mountain Goats @ Logan Pass, Glacier National Park, Montana, USA

Glacier National Park of USA ( there is also another Glacier National Park, in Canada ) is considered by Native Americans as the "Shining Mountains" and the "Backbone of the World". It preserves more than a million acres of forests, alpine meadows, lakes, rugged peaks and glacial-carved valleys in the Northern Rocky Mountains.

Our visit here was 2nd time around for me and hubby, while it was the first for my hubby's niece and brother. We were here summer of 2012, and obviously, did not get enough.

hike to Grinell Lake, summer 2012

Actually, I don't think I could ever get enough of Glacier National Park. I won't mind visiting this park, again, and again.

Last summer 2012, one of our target hikes was Grinell Glacier. At that time ( early July), the trail was closed due to dangerous bear activity. Instead of hiking Grinell Glacier, we hiked instead to Grinell Lake, where from the trails of Grinell Lake, we saw bears on Grinell Glacier trail.

Grizzly Bears @ Grinell Glacier Trail as Seen From Grinell Lake Trail, summer 2012

That was then we understood why they had to close the trail to Grinell Glacier for hikers.

Grinell Lake Hike, Glacier National Park, MT

 Grinell Lake

Trail Description:

Mileage: 8 miles round trip without taking the boat

Elevation Gain/Loss: 220 ft

Trailhead: Many Glacier Hotel or Grinell Lake/Grinell Glacier trailhead @ Swiftcurrent campground

From Yellowstone to Glacier National Park

Part 4 of 4: Exploring Glacier-Grand Teton-Yellowstone National Parks

Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park ( in part 3 of this series)

This is the conclusion of my trip sharing about our exploration of Glacier-Grand Teton- Yellowstone National Parks. If you missed the first 3 parts, and would like to learn about:

1. Itinerary and sights to see for this trip- please go to part 1.

2. Sights to see in the south loop of Yellowstone National Park.- please go to part 2.

3. sights to see in the north loop of Yellowstone National Park - please go to part 3.

Part 3 of 4: Exploring Glacier-Yellowstone-Grand Teton National Parks

This is the continuation of the summary of our Yellowstone-Grand Teton-Glacier National Parks trip. If you missed the first two parts, and is interested to learn more about:

1. Planning for a Yellowstone-Grand Teton-Glacier National Parks itinerary with some of the sights- please visit Part 1 of this series.

2. Sights to see in the south loop of Yellowstone National Park - please visit Part 2 of this series.

The previous day, we explored the south loop going North from Madison Junction to Canyon Village and Lake Village, ending at sunset in the Old Faithful area. Since we already have covered the eastern part of the north loop on our first day, we decided to take some time to explore some parts of the south loop that we had missed before proceeding to explore the western part of the north loop.

wanted to share this blue to my dear friend, Kulasa of The Letters of November

Part A: Lower and Midway Geyser Basins in the south loop.

1. Coming from West Yellowstone, before turning left to go North from Madison Junction, we turned right to continue our exploring of the south loop. Out first right turn was at the Firehole Canyon Drive.

Hot Spring Next to the River

Exploring Glacier-Yellowstone-Grand Teton National Parks (Part 1 of 4)

Field of Canola Flowers, Montana

Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park are two parks which are right next to each other where visitors can experience some interesting places of both parks in one day. Glacier National Park on the other hand is quite a drive from Yellowstone National Park, about 7 hours (400 miles). However, Great Falls International Airport in Montana is quite strategically located right in the middle of Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks, thus, it allowed us to experience all these majestic parks in 7 days by dividing the drive into smaller segments. Also, the drive from Yellowstone to Glacier was never boring because of the scenery, we had to pull over so many times because of the sights.

Great Falls, MT from our airplane window