Glacier Grizzlies.

39 miles hiked.
4 nights.
3 days.
1 eclipse.
0 bears.

Glacier National Park was simply superb.

Montana's crown jewel is nothing if not exceptional. About fifty miles long, the only road to take you from one side of the park to the other is, drum roll please, Going-to-the-Sun Road. Completed in 1932, it took nine years to pave and cuts right through the continental divide and Logan's Pass where it reaches its highest elevation of 6,646 ft. I drove the whole thing quite a few times, the first time during that golden hour just before the sun sets and my goodness, was it beautiful. A few people have asked me if it was something I was going to see, their eyes big and in awe while they told me all about the drive they had yet to do. Finally, I understood what all the fuss was about and I can check that one off my National Park bucket list.

I got there Friday evening after a long, long drive through Washington and Northern Idaho. On my way I stopped one night in the cutest little town with a hostel, Winthrop, Washington, took a free tour of the Grand Coulee Dam, and stayed another night at Priest Lake in Idaho having heard it was a beautiful place and in need of a good camping spot. It was both of those things and I'm glad I stopped there. I usually don't take pictures with park entrance signs but considering I had driven close to seven hours that day, it seemed necessary when I finally arrived at Glacier. I asked a couple doing the same next to their motorcycle to take it for me, not being a huge selfie fan, and immediately spotted their Steelers headband. Excited they could be from PA I was instantly disappointed to find out they weren't but pleasantly surprised to find the man was a Sixers fan. Of all the places, I thought. I continued on through the park in awe of the view and straight out the other side. A former couch surfing host of mine from Texas has been living in Montana and working with the forest service for the past few months since last we met and I really enjoyed seeing a familiar face before exploring the park. A Grateful Dead cover band, a few beers, and a cheap, delicious burrito later, I passed out almost instantly in my tent and woke up refreshed and ready for lots of hiking.

That's the thing about Glacier, it is definitely a hiker's paradise. There are more trails than I knew what to do with but day one I did get a tip. I'll share it with you all. Do Siyeh Pass and start at Siyeh Bend. The eleven mile loop starting at the bend and ending a little farther up the road from the trailhead was my favorite hike at the park. The 4.5 mile gradual incline with a steep last half mile was worth it since the rest of the hike was down through a gorgeous meadow. The first half of the hike I was so nervous the clouds would never clear and a storm would ruin my so far perfect hike. Looking back from the top of Siyeh Pass, I admired the valley below and the mountains in the background in varying shades of red. I came up over the edge of the last of the uphill climb and looked out over a far different expanse. St. Mary Lake was highlighted by sun rays breaking through the clouds and the yellow flower covered meadow was broken up by purple and blue rocks. Taking my time and taking it all in, I kept staring at the glacier off to my right while trying not to trip, clearly not looking down at all. It's mass slowly melting and trickling down the side of the mountain making small, tall, and crooked waterfalls was very hard to look away from. I kept waiting for the moment the sun would shine through and hit it just right. Snapping me out of my daze was someone singing Carly Simon. I recognized You're So Vein immediately, who wouldn't, and helped out when the words escaped the man who would become a new friend. Ray, Chris and Susan worked at the park and hike together on their days off. They gave me awesome tips for some other great hikes to do in the park which I feel like I may never have known had I just walked into the visitor center. Some of the kindest people, they so graciously took me in for the day and the rest of the hike which I was very relieved about - the more bear spray the better. We trucked along the winding path in awe of how it looked below us and thankful to be going down it instead of up. Chris and I lead the pack and talked about all the parks we loved and hikes we've enjoyed. Every once in a while we'd stop and Chris would ask where the others were in an exasperated and joking tone. Bringing up the rear and enjoying their Glacier photoshoot, Susan, the botanist, clued me in on the names of everything I had been wondering about and Ray, generous, kind, the head chef at Lake McDonald and soon to be professional selfie taker, kept making jokes about how he'd stop cooking for Chris if he wasn't careful. I chuckled and knew right off the bat I was happy to have met them. The massive sheets of rocks next to us made a wall of color and from far away we could see the lines in them forming curving paths we never knew existed until then. Passing by a vibrant red wall of rocks with a gushing waterfall racing through them and a forest making a comeback after a fire, we reached the road again and decided to meet for a beer. Hitchhiking my way back to Bertha when the shuttle took too long, my first time doing so, I regrouped and waited at the park's restaurant for the gang. We exchanged stories and photographs from our travels over food and I loved hearing about the other parks they had worked at. Excited at the chance to be part of my story, they helped me pick out a new patch for my jacket and I couldn't wait to sew it on and pick the perfect spot for it.

Day two I started fairly early and did the Highline trail. I had heard the trail was exposed to the sun so I wanted to get a jump on it and hopefully be blocked by mountains for at least some of it. One of the most famous and most populated trails in the park, it starts at the highest point at Logan's Pass and if you do the whole eleven miles goes past the chalet and ends at the loop. I did the whole thing plus a rather grueling less than a mile offshoot to the Grinnell Glacier overlook and loved it. An easy first eight miles, its gradual ascent is barely noticeable compared to everything else I've done. The trail follows the same path as Going-to-the-Sun Road and hovers above it, curving along the mountains and mirroring the cars and historic red jammers, an original fleet of buses from the 1930s, giving tours. The never ending view of mountains and glaciers had yet to get old, I doubt it ever could. The green valley below climbed up the side of the mountains covered in trees and the morning light cast beautifully long shadows as I hiked onward toward the Chalet. Leapfrogging each other for most of the hike, I passed by the same woman for the third time and heard her say "we should be on a first name basis already." I turned back, smiled, and introduced myself and we immediately hit off. Sarah told me all about her travel nursing, love for hiking and fear of heights and shortly after offered me a place to stay when I make it to Theodore Roosevelt National Park. I can't wait. We had originally decided to finish the hike together until we got to the offshoot towards the overlook. Sarah got a little less than halfway and bailed. I didn't blame her though, that stretch was steep. Claiming to be only .06 miles to the overlook of Grinnell Glacier, the park's most famous ice patch and one I knew I wanted to see, that was the hardest section I hiked my entire time at Glacier. The up was brutal and the down was worse but the view was completely worth it. The light blue lake was tucked under the glacier and the two peaked out behind the edge of the mountain I had just struggled to get over. After all the climbing I only spent ten minutes up there, the wind was too much to bear. Slipping my way back down to the main trail, I came up to the chalet and tried a huckleberry gummy bear a stranger so kindly offered while catching my breath. Eager to get back down I started to make my descent. Only a little bit into the four mile hike back I realized that what I was doing was incredibly dumb. A hiker at the top told me he had a seen two bears this way just an hour or so earlier and of course I was a little more than nervous. I had bear spray handy and, in theory, ready to grab at any moment but seeing as how I was currently standing in a meadow-like and lush area by myself presumably where Grizzly bears like to hang out, I didn't want to risk it. I stopped and looked back hoping to see people then looked ahead and longed for the same. Trying to remember everything Ray had taught me the day before about bear awareness without psyching myself out further, I unhooked my spray and took the safety off while firmly but lightly holding it in my left hand, walking stick in my right and dragging behind me. I sang whatever Disney song was stuck in my head and reverted back to Carly Simon trying to make my presence known and proceeded quickly without running. I kept reminding myself not to look the Grizzly in the eye over and over in my head like a crazy person. Unlike Black Bears, Grizzlies are bigger and badder and definitely do not try and make yourself big against them. Every time I saw a new pair of people I hustled to catch up with them. It was the same thing every time; I'd catch up, they'd think I wanted to pass them and would step to the side, I would pass and thank them, I'd speed ahead to the next group and so on and so on. I made it to the road and took a good, long breath of relief and tucked my bear spray back in its place.

I hopped the shuttle back to Bertha and found an awesome surprise tucked into my door. A couple I had met also working at the hostel in San Antonio, TX when I stayed there recognized Bertha in the sea of cars and left me a note and a polaroid of themselves. That made my day. Smiling from ear to ear, my legs completely dead having now hiked 25 miles in two days, I met Sarah on the east side of the park where we grabbed a beer and reminisced over our bear freak outs. We decided to head a little south for a bed and a shower at a hostel in East Glacier Park and took the very scenic route. Montana really is beautiful with its rolling golden and green hills surrounded by mountain ranges.

I didn't have glasses for the eclipse. I figured there were thousands of other people in the park I would be around at the time that would probably be nice enough to let me use theirs if only for a minute or two. Nicki, another solo traveler choosing to spend her week long vacation solely at Glacier, had just gotten to there and was beyond excited to see and do it all - and she had two pairs of glasses. Liking her already and loving the idea that I could actually see the eclipse, I was all in for whatever hike she had marked off. We drove Going-to-the-Sun Road for sunrise, stopping here and there to gaze out over the lake and the smokey orange sky that we hoped would clear in time before heading over to another section of the park I highly recommend - Many Glacier. The hike to Iceberg Lake was pretty but nothing out of the ordinary. The lake, however, was. Settled at the base of a caved wall of mountains covered in small patches of snow, the gorgeous turquoise lake was covered in floating chunks of ice. Their huge forms floated rather quickly from one side to the other and it was the perfect place to watch the eclipse. We weren't the only ones who had that thought. There must have been at least thirty other people there, some of whom decided they needed to jump in to the freezing alpine lake. No thank you. The wind chill was enough to make me shiver I couldn't imagine jumping in knowing I'd have to get back out into the cold air. We snacked and patiently waited, sharing our glasses with those who didn't have them, and wondered how dark the world was going to get. Having heard we were supposed to see a little less than 90%, I was very curious and it was definitely noticeable. The world was cast in shadow and the shadows themselves were far too long for it only being 11:30 in the morning. It sort of looked like dusk was upon us in the middle of the day. I wonder what it would have been like to be in the path of totality. I was close enough I could have experienced it but then I would have had to rush through Glacier. I'm so happy I didn't do that. I feel like I could have spent easily another week there and still never seen all of it. I wouldn't have met Sam either, yet another solo road tripper who quit his life for adventure and spent the rest of the day hiking with Nicki and I. The three of us reluctantly tackled the hike to the tunnel and a brand new overlook our legs screaming with each new step and fatigue right around the corner. Once again, it was worth it. I knew it would be.

It's easy to say the reason I loved the park so much was the scenery, which is true, but credit has to go where it's due. The people I met were a huge part of my experience and I cannot thank them enough for that. Global warming is real and I will be back sooner rather than later.

- G.

The Photo:
Siyeh Pass.
Glacier National Park, Montana.
8/19/17.