Road Trip Leg 2

Glacier National Park > Yosemite National Park > Grand Teton National Park

Saturday, September 7 marked the start of our second leg of the trip; we started off strong with a ten hour drive from Mount Hood to Glacier National Park! Despite the lengthy drive, it was very scenic and we stayed occupied by listening to five hours of an audiobook, Grinnell: America’s Environmental Pioneer and His Restless Drive to Save the West. George Bird Grinnell helped found many national parks, including Yellowstone and Glacier, and spent a lot of time studying and documenting Native American life in those areas. The book was a bit dry, but it was intriguing to learn about one of the men who had such a prominent part in founding the places we would soon be exploring! We also found it was a pretty effective sleeping aid for Kay. We arrived in Kalispell, MT at about 5:30pm MDT and decided to stay at a hotel that night as most of the camping in Glacier is first-come, first-served and we didn’t figure our chances of getting a site were great on a Saturday evening. We spent our usual hour hauling everything from the back seat into the hotel and called it a night.

Lower Grinnell Lake

The next day we woke up at 4:30am and started the drive into Glacier National Park. While the west entrance is only about an hour from Kalispell, we were hoping to camp at Many Glacier, on the northeast side of the park, another two hours drive! There’s only one road through the park, Going-to-the-Sun Road, so by starting early, not only did we have the slightly sketchy road mostly to ourselves, but we were also able to witness a gorgeous sunrise over the mountains and lakes. We arrived to Many Glacier Campground a few minutes before 8am and pulled into a long line of cars. As this was a first-come, first-served ground, we were nervous that our place in line would not guarantee us a spot and we were unsure why we were even being stopped. To our surprise, at 8am, the rangers told all of us to turn our cars off and come up to the front for a safety chat and to get everyone’s sites assigned to them! Apparently, we were the first batch of people there that morning and would get a site with no trouble. Whew! After a quick chat about all the bears that would be walking through the grounds, we made the quick drive to our site, which had a beautiful view of Mount Grinnell. As it was a nice morning and the weather was supposed to turn later in the day, we scurried off to the Grinnell Glacier trailhead, which was only about ¼ mile away from our campsite. Since it was just the two of us hiking together in grizzly country during high season, we asked a Dutch couple if they’d like to hike with us. The woman had also read that it was better to hike in groups larger than three so they were happy to have some companions. We were on the trail early, before most people, and there had been warnings of a bear frequenting on this particular trail, so that made all of us even more open to hiking with strangers! The trail followed a few lakes, including Lower Grinnell Lake which, being a glacial lake, was an incredibly bright blue lake. It also offered beautiful views of surrounding mountains, waterfalls off in the distance, and ended at Grinnell Glacier and Upper Grinnell Lake (this Grinnell guy really liked naming things after himself). Being Dutch, the couple we were hiking with, were tall and quite fit, so we made it up the long steep trail in no time. All of the views were breathtaking and ending at the glacier was cool as we hadn’t experienced that scenery together. Fog did roll in once we got to the top though, and by the time we were heading back down, the lake had become very ominous with fog looming low over the glacial masses.

Mountain Goats be Grazin

On the way down, we hiked most of the way with a really nice couple from Indiana, Brandon and Christina (shout out) so it was really pleasant chatting with them while taking in the views. About halfway down we spotted a group of four mountain goats seated in the long grass on an eye level ridge less than ten feet away. They were incredibly patient creatures, posing as each passerby got a shot of them, and we were happy to have spotted them instead of bears! After the hike, we went back to our campsite to set up camp and have a Mountain House meal. Since rain was in the radar, we decided to go check out the Many Glacier Hotel. The hotel was very elegant, historical, and cozy, similar to the Timberline Lodge in Mount Hood, and provided a stunning view of Mount Grinnell. After we relaxed for a little bit, we headed back to the campsite, had another Mountain House for dinner, and went to bed.

Mount Grinnell

On Monday morning, we woke up early to some light rain. Luckily our campsite had some tree cover so we were able to make some coffee outside without getting too wet. There was rain in the forecast for the whole day so we were a little nervous about our CA tent finally having to see heavy rain! Since it was a wet day to begin with, we decided to explore some of the waterfalls Glacier has to offer. We did the St. Mary and Virginia Falls Trail which led us to a few different falls and cascades. Each of the falls were unique and beautiful; the tallest and most impressive being Virginia Falls, the midpoint of this out-and-back trail. Rain was coming down the whole hike which made it chilly, but only added to the beauty of all the falls! To warm up a bit, we spent some time at the Many Glacier Hotel and treated ourselves to a tasty burger and a cold beer. Thankfully when we got back to camp, we were relieved to see that our little tent had held up throughout the nonstop rain.

Start of Highline Trail

Tuesday morning started shockingly similarly to Monday morning…more rain…and to our dismay, we noticed water starting to soak through the tent. Since there was no sign of it clearing up, we contemplated leaving Glacier early to head to Yellowstone, but ultimately decided to stay for one more night since it was also raining in Yellowstone. Before we left camp for the day, we packed up our sleeping pads and bags in case the tent continued leaking. The park is enormous so we were hopeful that the weather might be different at the trailhead of the hike we were hoping to complete; that was unfortunately a very hopeful and slightly delusional thought as the trailhead was at Logan Pass, the highest point of Going-to-the-Sun Road and the continental divide, making its weather conditions harsher than other locations in the park. Alas, it was pouring, windy, cold, and the visibility was terrible up at Logan Pass and we saw no point in attempting the hike, Highline Trail, as we wouldn’t be able to see any of the expansive views the trail is famous for. Instead, we ventured off to the west side of the park via Going-to-the-Sun Road with hopes that the rest of the park was a hidden oasis of cloudless skies. Our luck did finally turn after heading to a lower elevation west of Logan Pass; it was substantially clearer than we had experienced all morning. Along the drive, we stopped at countless pull-outs to admire the magnificent valleys and do some short hikes; the drive ended up taking us four hours. This park is no joke! After enjoying the scenery and some sunshine, we headed back up to Logan Pass to check on the weather; we really wanted to fit the Highline Trail in, but once we started climbing higher and higher, the weather got worse and worse. It had definitely become a bit more bearable up there, but the visibility was still pretty dismal and the hike still didn’t seem worth it. There was another trailhead from Logan Pass though, so we decided to do the Hidden Lake Overlook Trail which, true to its name, ended at an overlook of a beautiful alpine lake surrounded by sweeping mountains. We greatly enjoyed this hike and miraculously the fog lifted for a bit while we were enjoying the end views. After a long day, we returned to camp and were ecstatic to see that our tent had not been soaked through! Despite not being able to complete the Highline Trail, we were able to enjoy some breathtaking views from Going-to-the-Sun Road and were pleasantly surprised by the hike that we ended up completing.

On Wednesday, September 11, we left Glacier and started the eight hour drive down to Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone welcomed us with yet more rain! However, we waited the weather out in the Yellowstone Hotel, another historic and beautiful lodge, and luckily the rain cleared up relatively quickly. We booked it to our campsite to set up camp and almost finished all of our chores before the rain picked back up again, continuing into the night.

Old Faithful

The next morning we awoke to clear skies and sunshine, the first since Mount Hood! Our luck continued - just as we popped out of our tent, our site neighbors, an outdoorsy father, and his curious son, walked past and told us that there were elk just on the other side of the road and invited us to come scout the creatures with them. We happily joined and were rewarded with the amazing sight of four elk grazing in a meadow overlooking Yellowstone Lake. You could see the elk clear as day without aid, but the neighbors let us use their telescope to get a closer look. After getting ready and eating some breakfast, we set off for Old Faithful. We waited about 25 minutes for the next “scheduled” eruption and were there early enough in the day to beat the crowds. We enjoyed watching the eruption and were excited to see more of the interesting features Yellowstone is famous for. We walked the Upper Basin Trail which was a nature walk through a highly active geothermal area, allowing you to see more geysers and hot springs all in a central area. There were countless features to admire, but we really enjoyed the Morning Glory Pool and were lucky to see the Beehive Geyser erupt (it only erupts twice per day). Some viewers got more than they bargained for, as everyone with front row seats downwind of Beehive Geyser got completely soaked and quickly ran away. After seeing a few people shivering, soaking wet, we were happy to have had our distance from the eruption! The remainder of the day was spent seeing various different sights, most that you drive to and then just follow a boardwalk trail to the main attraction. Some highlights, in our opinion, were the Grand Prismatic Hotsprings, Mammoth Hot Springs, Lamar Valley, and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone which we admired via Artist’s Point. Our day of sight-seeing ended around dinner time, so we were eager to get back to camp; however, the bison had different plans for us. Throughout the day, we’d already encountered a few different herds, a few causing traffic backups, and this particular group caused the biggest backup of all! We waited for each and every bison to cross the road, anxious that one was going to get feisty and decide to get a little too friendly with us, until finally we were able to pass through. We sped back to camp, had a late dinner and made some s’mores, and then went to bed, thankful that we got to spend the day in the sun.

Teton Range

On Friday, we woke up at 5:45am to head to Grand Teton National Park. All of the camping in the Tetons is first-come, first-served, and as it was the beginning of the weekend, we wanted to get an early start to ensure that we’d get a site. We arrived to Jenny Lake Campground nice and early, and had no trouble getting a campsite. The campground was particularly scenic with views of Grand Teton from some sites! After settling into camp, we decided to reorganize the backseat yet again - four days of camping in the rain had the car in disarray! Once our monotonous, yet necessary chores were complete, we walked over to Jenny Lake. We walked around the lake for a while and played around on some of the boulders, and then, after realizing how tired of the constant threat of grizzlies we were, we decided to rent a canoe and paddle around Jenny Lake! The Jenny Lake Visitor Center was built up in a helpful, but inconspicuous way, and they had a boat rental center. We took the canoe out for a while, enjoying the views from a perspective we otherwise wouldn’t have gotten. After canoeing, we walked over to Moose Pond and immediately saw three moose! The bull moose was closest to us, dunking its entire head in to drink heaps of water, while the mother and calf were wading in an adjacent pond. We admired the moose for a while and then started back towards Jenny Lake and our campsite. On the way, Hans dunked his head in the fresh lake water to try and tame five days of unwashed bed head. From our campsite, we decided to go check out the Jackson Lake Lodge; it was always nice to relax on a comfy couch and get a few minutes with WiFi. This lodge was particularly spectacular - massive floor-to-ceiling windows looked out to the Tetons as the sun spilled in and illuminated the lobby. As it was already on the later side, we didn’t hang out here too long but decided that we’d come back the next day and have a beer at the outdoor bar. We called it a night after having two Mountain Houses for dinner.

Cascade Canyon Trail

The next day we slept in as late as we had the whole trip, 7:30am. We were able to dawdle because we planned to take a boat out to our trailhead and the first boat didn’t depart until 10am. With our free time, we made oatmeal and coffee, and in the midst of eating it, we were alerted of a bear in the campground! The camp host drove through in his golf cart yelling to everyone that there was a bear heading our way and to pack up all food. We did as told in record time - fifteen seconds later, our breakfast, stove, and our scared selves were seated in the car, doors locked. Our nearest neighbors, on the other hand, had scurried off, hoping to spot the bear. After about five minutes, the camp host gave the all clear and we didn’t ever see anything; however, two of our neighbors did see the bear running through a field nearby. We got conflicting stories about the type of bear, grizzly or black. We were happy with our cowardly move of safety over seeking out the bear, and we’re sure our parents are pleased with that choice too. After chatting with our neighbors, a really kind couple from New Hampshire who are retired and spend two weeks out west each summer, it was about time to head to the boat. We got the last two seats on the first boat out and started the Cascade Canyon trail at 10:15am. The hike started out pretty busy as the first few highlights, Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point, were their own separate hikes; however, after passing those sights, the crowds thinned out. The remainder of the hike was amazing and we would highly recommend it! We walked upwards through the canyon, following a river almost the whole way, the mountain peaks visible from every turn. The trail passed through both lush forested areas as well as open, rocky terrain, and even though the end was a bit anticlimactic, we were excited to turn around and witness all of the scenery again. Instead of taking the boat back to the “mainland”, we took the Jenny Lake Trail around the lake to get us home, which added a few more miles to the trip, but the views of the lake made it well worth it. We arrived back to our campsite at 3:30pm and headed straight for the Jackson Lake Lodge where we enjoyed two well-deserved beers at the outdoor bar offering front row views of the Teton Range. In the blink of an eye, a few hours had already passed and we watched a beautiful sunset over the mountains from our seats. With sunkissed faces and bellies happy to have had a real dinner, we headed back to camp to end the night.

For more pictures, check out our Instagram, from_oakland_to_auckland, also linked below, and Hiking, Climbing, and Camping - The Road Trip Details for specifics on where we went and stayed!