Glacier National Park Ebook + Workbook by Natasha Mila

T H E T I T L E O F YO U R P R I N TA B L E

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

Table of Contents

Introduction

Quick Travel Guide Information

Train Travel Stories

Shuttle Folk Stories

Day 1 Backpacking Stories

Day 2 Backpacking Stories

Day 3 Backpacking Stories

Day 4 Backpacking Stories

Day 5 + 6 Backpacking Stories

Trail Folk

Nature + Wildlife of Glacier National Park

Plan Your Trip Worksheets for YOUR Travels

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

Copyright ÂŠ 2016 by Natasha Thompson of heartofthewoods.com. All rights reserved. You are welcome to print a copy of this document for your personal use. Other than that, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the author. Requests to the author and publisher for permission should be addressed to the following email: mnnatashamila.mail@gmail.com. Limitation of liability/disclaimer of warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this guide and workbook, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this document and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives, promoters, or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. Due to the dynamic nature of the Internet, certain links and website information contained in this publication may have changed. The author and publisher make no representations to the current accuracy of the web information shared.

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

Glacier National Park Travel Guide The following travel information is based on our personal travels to Glacier National Park. You may find the information useful to complete the same route. Train travel information is from the location of Wisconsin to Glacier National Park. In the ebook portion, you will find stories of our travels. In the workbook portion you will be guided through planning your trip to Glacier National Park.

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

General Travel Plans

Train from Milwaukee, WI to East Glacier National Park: Milwaukee, WI Intermodal Amtrak Station (MKE) to East Glacier Park, MT (GPK) Prior to Entering Backcountry: Overnight stay at Whistling Swan Motel Breakfast at Two Medicine Grill East Side Shuttles Prior to Entering Backcountry: Reservable Price: $15 per segment per person Glacier Park Lodge to Two Medicine Two Medicine to St. Mary Lodge St. Mary Lodge to Chief Mountain Customs

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

Backpacking Route Plans

Total Backcountry Mileage: 50.2 Apgar to West Glacier Amtrak Mileage: 3.1 Total Trip Mileage: 53.1 Route for Day 1: Enter at Chief Mountain Trailhead End at Glenns Head Backcountry Campsite Elevation Up: 277 feet Elevation Down: 744 feet Length: 12.9 miles Route for Day 2: Begin at Glenns Head Backcountry Campsite End at Stoney Backcountry Campsite Elevation Up: 2,448 feet Elevation Down: 1,000 feet Length: 6.1 miles

Route for Day 3: Begin at Stoney Backcountry Campsite End at Flattop Backcountry Campsite Elevation Up: 3,365 feet Elevation Down: 2,670 feet Length: 14.6 miles Route for Day 4: Begin at Flattop Backcountry Campsite End at Granite Backcountry Campsite Elevation Up: 3,355 feet Elevation Down: 2,640 feet Length: 9.0 miles Route for Day 5: Begin at Granite Backcountry Campsite Exit at Logan Pass trailhead Elevation Up: 1,026 feet Elevation Down: 830 feet Length: 7.6 miles Total Elevation Up: 10,471 feet Total Elevation Down: 7,884 feetâ&#x20AC;Š

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

Useful Travel Information and Links Going to the Sun Road Free Shuttle Upon Exiting Backcountry: Non reservable - ﬁrst come ﬁrst serve Price: Free Logan Pass Lodge to Apgar Campground Final Night Stay: Non reservable Price: $10 per night on foot/bike, $20 per night with vehicle Apgar Campground Campground to Amtrak Station: Breakfast: West Glacier Restaurant Train Ride Groceries: Groceries, Dried Goods, and Meats Walking directions from Apgar to West Glacier Amtrak Train from West Glacier National Park to Milwaukee, WI: West Glacier, MT (WGL) to Milwaukee, WI Intermodal Amtrak Station (MKE) USEFUL TRIP PLANNING LINKS Amtrak Train GNP Entrance Fees GNP Map Plan Your GNP Visit Homepage Going to the Sun Road Shuttle East Side Shuttle GNP Lodging Visit GNP Tourism

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

Train Travel Stories This summer, Evan and I took the Empire Builder Amtrak train from Milwaukee to Glacier National Park. It was our first train ride and I’d definitely travel via train again. Although it is not nearly as cheap as European train travel, taking the cheapest option was about the equivalent to gas price, no wear and tear on vehicles, no need to reserve hotels/motels mid road trip, no driving, and the ability to get other things done while traveling. The cons to Amtrak train travel: no stops except for so called “smoke breaks” and one 30 minute train maintenance check up stop per 46 hour east to west (or vice versa) Empire Builder trip, not so delicious and expensive-for-what-it-is food, and having to deal with the same (sometimes annoying) folks in your passenger car for the length of your travels – for us this was 30ish hours. Both the train ride from Milwaukee to GNP and the ride from GNP back to Milwaukee were delayed several hours. Apparently this is typical of the Amtrak. The seats are comfortable and far apart from one another so there is plenty of room to sleep in the coach section. If you want to splurge, you can purchase a room with beds. The train cars are all connected and can be accessed. Both stretches we traveled we were in a passenger car in the back of the train – where employees typically place folks traveling longer distances. Surrounding our passenger car were the following amenities: • Each passenger car has several flush toilets (like plane toilets). • There is a den car available to all passengers – tables, chairs and large windows to look out. • Beneath the den car, on the lower level of the double decker train, is a snack bar – open nearly all day. • There is also a dining car. All passengers have the opportunity to schedule reservations and pay for a meal (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) in the dining car.

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

Train Travel Adventures People: On both rides, our passenger cars were ﬁlled with Amish. We met a group of four younger Amish men who were going backpacking just south of Glacier National Park during the same week as our travel. They were near our passenger car on both west and east train stretches. Deb was our train “attendant” on the way to GNP. She kept the bathrooms extremely clean (for a bumpy train ride), was overly nice, gave up her seat to passengers, kept families sitting together, and designated the front of her passenger car to families with children so those who wanted a more quiet trip could sit in the back of the car. Deb was fabulous. On our ride there we also met an awesome man named The Gran Torino. Okay his name was actually Clint Eastwood. Okay maybe his name was neither and maybe we never asked for his real name, but he sure as heck looked like and had the tendencies of The Gran Torino.

The Gran Torino Story: Evan and I were both jealous of The Gran Torino’s life. He was a retired professor from UW Eau Claire’s business program and is now living in Mexico. He had recently biked the entire way from Florida to Wisconsin in some absurd (I don’t remember the exact) minimal number of days. The Gran Torino had just ﬁnished visiting one of his daughters that lived in Madison, WI and was on his way to visit his son in Portland and then was traveling down to California to visit his third son before going back to Mexico. In addition to his awesome life stories, The Gran Torino had a plethora of national park knowledge as he had hiked and biked through a large amount of U.S. national parks.

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

Why not in Minot? “Why not in Minot?” – the coined phrase for the day (and we might still say it every time we say, “why not?” to this day). There is a scheduled Empire Builder train maintenance stop in Minot, ND which is supposed to be 30 minutes long. Because of another train’s delay, we had 1.5 hours of overlay here so Evan and I decided to explore within walking distance. We ate McDonald’s breakfast, watched an extremely long cargo train pass, and found a really neat park called the Scandinavian Heritage Center. After the Minot overlay the train ride was smooth sailing until we arrived at our motel prior to backpacking. On the train ride back we managed to wash ourselves in the sinks at our ﬁnal campsite in which we slept. We also washed our clothes and hung them to dry so the whole train didn’t have to wear a nose plug. The ride back was more average with the Minot longer break being in the middle of the night so no crazy adventures this ride and since we were so exhausted, we relaxed and played cards most of the way back.

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

Shuttle Folk - John’s Life Story

You know those trail folk you meet and get the opportunity to hear their amazing life stories? Well national park employees have incredible stories as well, even if you aren’t meeting them on the trail. John was our third shuttle driver in Glacier National Park. He shuttled us an hour and a half from St. Mary lodge to the Canadian border Chief Mountain Trailhead and told us many of his stories.

John’s Story Before John was a park employee, he was working a normal 9-5 engineering job. John’s life was ﬂipped upside down when, in the same year, he lost his job and his wife passed away. He slipped into depression and one day decided he had had enough. He called up his kids and told them to take anything they wanted from the house before he gave it all away. John sold all his possessions, bought an RV and took oﬀ. His RV traveling life continued for two years before it began to get lonely. John would reach over to where his wife used to sit in the passenger side and try to tap her and tell her to look at something incredible, like an amazing sunset, but she wasn’t there. The loneliness was beginning to get to him. His confusion was answered one night while traveling through Louisiana when a strong tornado hit. The windy storm totaled his RV for the time being. When the storm died down, John exited his motor home and something pushed him to walk down the street to a local church. He walked in and was greeted by members asking him if he had eaten since before the storm. He replied no and one of the men invited John to his house for dinner. John went to dinner, not knowing that his life was about to change. Dinner was unusual for John. The family had their entire extended family and friends over like a party. This family was so close, their dinners often looked like this. He met many of the family members, including a woman about his age who enjoyed playing with her grandkids. That day turned into a week and John kept running into that same woman about his age with her grandkids around the town. Eventually John would marry this woman and his week in the town would turn into months, and months into a year. W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

One day John and his new wife decided to go on a trip in the RV. On their way out of Louisiana, John’s wife began sobbing. He knew she’d never left her grandkids so he quickly insisted they turn around. She hollered at him to pull the RV over that very second. John immediately pulled over. His wife grabbed the camera and slowly got out of the car, still sobbing. She turned around to take a picture of the “Welcome to Arkansas” sign. John realized this was the ﬁrst time she had ever left that state. She then told him she had barely ever left her small town. Now the two travel and live in the RV. They live and work at Glacier National Park during the summer season – John is a shuttle and red bus tour guide driver and his wife is a manager at East Glacier Lodge. In the other seasons, the two set up kiosks and sell See’s Candies. John told us this amazing life story of his among the plethora of information on the land and wildlife in Glacier National Park. He told us when we came back to Glacier National Park in the future, that we must meet his highly spoken about wife at East Glacier Lodge. So that is now added to our bucket list!

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

Day 1 Route for Day 1: Canadian Border (Chief Mountain Trailhead) to Glenns Head Backcountry Site We woke up at the Whistling Swan Motel and began our day with breakfast at the Two Medicine Grill. Our waitress was extremely friendly, we received gigantic plates of delicious food and coffee (we both ordered breakfast sandwiches), and the prices were very reasonable. After breakfast, we walked to the East Glacier Lodge for the our first shuttle of the day with our driver Pat. Pat drove both the East Side Shuttle we rode and the Red Bus for tours so he knew a lot of park information and since we were the only two on the shuttle he gave us an awesome park spiel. He also let us get out and take some pictures near Two Medicine Lake. Pat even took a picture for us (our only couple picture that wasn’t a GoPro selfie on this trip). He then drove us to the Two Medicine Visitor Center where we paid our entry fee, planned our trip, and bought our backcountry permits. If you are visiting Glacier National Park, everyone is required to pay a park entry fee. The prices vary depending on length of time you buy the permit for as well as if you buy it for you as a person on foot/bike or for your vehicle. On foot, we paid $12 per person. We did not go to Glacier National Park with a route plan – a bit more risky of a decision than we usually make. We like plans. A very helpful gal at the visitor center helped us plan an awesome trip. Although the employees are not able to recommend specific routes, she did tell us her favorite area was near the Canadian border. There is usually ice and snow keeping the sites near that area closed until late August. Since this was the hottest year the park had had in decades, nearly all snow was melted, the temps reached 110 degrees Fahrenheit, and those sites near the border were open! We were the first to reserve a few of them. The employee told us we were lucky because near the end of the season when those sites start to normally open up, people flock to this minimally touched land. So we planned our route near this area.

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

Trip Route Enter at Chief Mountain Trailhead Night 1 – GLH Glenns Head Night 2 – STO Stoney Night 3 – FLA Flattop Night 4 – GRN Granite Exit at Logan Pass We spent our last night at the non-reservable campground – Apgar. The only problem with our trip plan was that we had only reserved a shuttle from Two Medicine to St. Mary’s, and not all the way to the Chief Mountain Trailhead near the Canadian border. We picked up our last reserved shuttle from Two Medicine to St. Mary’s (we almost missed it because my dumb butt was sitting at the visitor center when Evan realized we were supposed to be at the lodge about a half mile down the road – got our morning jog in…). Bob was our driver for this second shuttle. Our hour-ish long shuttle ride was with another older couple. Side note: The couple raved about the fact that our national park system allows seniors to purchase a $10 LIFELONG admission pass! You can buy the pass when you are 62 years old, it gets you and your car into every national park, and if you have guests in the car, they get in with that pass too! Wish they meant 26 years old… Anywho, when we got to St. Mary’s Lodge, Bob kindly asked another driver if he’d take us on his drive up to the border. The other driver was happy to have us, we paid him in cash, and before we were off on our hour and a half ride up to the border just Evan, myself, and our driver John, we snapped a few pictures from the balcony of the beautiful, rustic St. Mary’s lodge. John was absolutely amazing and full of the best stories. He also gave us a TON of information on the land and animals of Glacier National park. Glacier is surrounded largely by Indian Reservation land. To get from St. Mary’s Lodge to Chief Mountain Trailhead, the shuttle must exit the park, take a highway through reservation land, and then re-enter the park near the Canadian border. On our route we learned about the American Indian significance of Chief Mountain and about the nearby U.S. National Forest called “The Bob” where all of the grizzlies love to hang out and where the grizzlies who are too habituated are relocated. And we also saw an osprey and its babies in a nest just off the highway. W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

We made it to the Chief Mountain Trailhead, 200 feet from the Canadian border, parted ways with John and began our 12.9 mile hike in to our site at about 3:30pm – thank goodness it stays light in GNP in the summer until about 10:30pm. The hike began in a forested region and right away we saw signs of bears – no actual bear sightings on this trail, but the thick brush made it possible they were there without being visible to us. The trail opens into prairie land and leads to a ranger’s home at mile 5.6 (an absolutely beautiful ranger summer home – can I have her job?). The trail then switches back to more woods and ends with some lake access on your left. In this final woodsy part of the trail, we saw just one white tailed deer. Upon arrival at our site, Glenns Head, there was a friendly white tailed deer meandering around closeby to all the campers. Three other groups of folks that were staying the night with us at this site. One of the members and his nephew had a freakish encounter with a grizzly while hiking earlier that day. Apparently a few days ago, the same large grizzly did not move off the trail for a fellow traveling with multiple horses. The man and his nephew saw the grizzly walking toward them on the trail so they began to slowly back away with their bear spray out. The two were forced to back up, off the trail and up the mountain, hiding from the bear and waiting for it to pass because the bear did not move off course and would have continued to walk straight into the two had they not backed up off of the trail. Rangers were notified of both instances and likely the habituated bear will be relocated to “The Bob” because it’s not long after being so habituated that the bear might want to check out what’s inside someone’s tent. Overall this day was filled with minimal elevation change (277 feet up, 744 feet down), plenty of water on the trail to fill up, and a few spots to dip your feet in the lake near the end of the route. Glenns Head campsite had beautiful views of a lake and mountains in the distance and direct lake access.

Route for Day 1 Enter at Chief Mountain Trailhead End at Glenns Head Backcountry Campsite Elevation Up: 277 feet Elevation Down: 744 feet Length: 12.9 miles

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

Day 2 For three reasons, we made day two at Glacier National Park a shorter trip. Reason one: we knew we wouldn’t get to Glenns Head the previous night until very late. Reason two: the employee that helped us plan our trip told us this section of our hike would be beautiful. Reason three: there is a steep pass on this stretch (Stoney Indian Pass) making our elevation change this day 2,448 feet up and 1,000 feet down. We kept today’s distance to 6.1 miles. Route for Day 2: Glenns Head campsite through Stoney Indian Pass to Stoney campsite We started our morning slow because we knew we had a shorter day. The day started with minor upward elevation mostly through thick woods. We came to a clearing and began trekking with a steeper incline. This hike was by far my favorite from the entire trip. It was a steep climb most of the way, but there were incredible waterfalls in front of us and a view of mountains and lakes behind us. Of course we stunk at photography this day – we thought our camera was on automatic focus, but it was on manual… awesome. Luckily a few turned out that still don’t do this place any justice, but pictures never do. I just kept thinking: we are no match for you mother nature. We saw minimal wildlife while hiking up the pass but weren’t worried because of the amazing scenery that only a few number of people ever get to see. Such beautiful, untouched land can only be reached with a backpack on The scenery of such untouched land is appreciated even more when arrived at by foot. Seeing such vast amounts of nearly land made us believe that Yeti may exist. Our trip continued up the steep Stoney Indian Pass and when we reached the top, we could see the lake below. Just on the far side of that lake was our campsite. We trekked down the mountain 1,000 feet, ate a late lunch on the rocks near the front of the lake, and then hiked around to our campsite. This was Evan and I’s favorite campsite. It was settled between a lake and a stream – no bear sightings though I thought it looked like the perfect bear environment. We set up our tent, hung our food, and took a short afternoon W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

siesta. Columbian Ground Squirrels surrounded this site and are apparently called “mini bears” because they are so pesty. They wouldn’t leave us alone while we were seminapping but they didn’t seem to cause any harm (yet) – just licking the salt off our poles, nibbling a few hole in the bottom of Evan’s drying boot soles, and peeping like crazy. Since it was so hot out we decided it was a good idea to take a dip in the glacial lake – couldn’t have been just above freezing temperatures (farrrrr colder than high school ice bath days). After nearly slipping into hypothermia, we ate dinner and filtered some water. We turned our backs on our water filter for one second and a Columbian Ground Squirrel had nibbled through the hose! Luckily, there was still a long enough section of hose without holes, so we cut off the ruined parts and shortened our filter. That thing was kept near and dear to our hearts the rest of the trip. Despite the mini bear incident, day 2 was full of mother nature’s most amazing scenery. The hike and the campsite were both phenomenal.

Route for Day 2 Begin at Glenns Head Backcountry Campsite End at Stoney Backcountry Campsite Elevation Up: 2,448 feet Elevation Down: 1,000 feet Length: 6.1 miles Get the entire 5 day route plan printable by clicking the image below.

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

Day 3

Evan and I began day three in Glacier National Park knowing it would be a long one – even coined the term “mission FLA” (pronounced ‘flah’ and FLA standing for our night three campsite Flattop). We had a 14.6 mile trek with a 3,365 foot upward elevation climb and a 2,670 foot downward elevation. Route for Day 3: Stoney Backcountry Site to Flattop Backcountry Site Our first 5 miles flew by because it was all downhill. Evan’s giant steps had me literally jogging. We definitely did not mind when we reached the first sign telling us how far we had come in such a quick time. It was also fine by us that we flew through this section of trail because it was mostly rainforest type brush and thick trees and not much view-wise. The hike upward began with the same rainforest-y type of surroundings in the shade due to the side of the mountain we were on. It then opens up with amazing views of surrounding mountains. Those mountain views continued the entire way up. We saw a ton of bear sightings, but no bear until we reached an opening in which we saw a grizzly about 200 yards away. The grizzly was eating some berries and wanted nothing to do with us – he scurried up the mountain. On top of the mountain, before you reach the Fifty Mountain campsite, there is a large field which was Evan’s favorite part of the trip. The field is surrounded by mountains and has a stream that runs through where we took a break to cool down. Envision the field as The Sound of Music. After dipping our feet in the stream and filling up with some water, we continued past Fifty Mountain campsite and on to Flattop Mountain. After hiking along the top of the mountain, it became quite obvious why they called the mountain flattop. The trees on top of this mountain were all dead, either from a prior forest fire or from the parks problems with mountain pine beetles. Either way, it meant hot blazing sun across the entire flattop mountain. If you plan to do this trail, fill up on water when you can – there is no water during this lengthy portion of the trail between sites FIF and FLA. Upon arrival at Flattop, we did a bit of laundry and washed up with water from the nearby stream. We ate our dehydrated spaghetti and went to bed around 10:30pm still the only two at the campsite. We thought nothing of being alone as we were alone at Stoney the previous night.

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

Around about 2am we woke up in a frantic – I looked at Evan and said, “That was just a gunshot.” We sat in our tent for a few minutes, heard nothing else, so we thought we had gone crazy and went back to sleep. The next morning we crawled out of our tent to see another tent on the site. The couple in the tent woke up and told us they had gotten to the site late at night. There had been a mule deer pestering them so they’d shot of a gun in the air to scare it away. At the time we thought the shooting a gun off at 2am seemed a bit excessive to scare off a deer, even a mule deer – little did we understand until day 5… Day three was long and hot but gave us a piece the breathtaking field on top of the mountain in our memories forever.

Route for Day 3 Begin at Stoney Backcountry Campsite End at Flattop Backcountry Campsite Elevation Up: 3,365 feet Elevation Down: 2,670 feet Length: 14.6 miles

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

Day 4

Day four of our Glacier National Park trip described in one word: HOT. Since we climbed down an entire mountain and up an entire mountain on day three, logically we planned to do this two days in a row… same elevation change in five fewer miles. Route for Day 4: Flattop Backcountry Site to Granite Backcountry Site Side note on the hotness and sun factor: this whole trip we did not have sunscreen. What were we thinking right? Evan and I both have skin that fares well in sun. I rarely burn unless I sit in 100 degree F sun for 6 hours straight. Our thought process went as follows: We’re going to a national park. National parks have trees. We won’t be in the straight sun all day, surely we will be on trails with trees. Good thing most of the time we were on top of mountains with limited tree coverage, day four especially. As we left our flattop site, the couple that had arrived late at night told us this trail was on the sunny side of the mountain…great. The hike began with a decline in elevation, likely close to the entirety of the 2,640 feet. On our way down we nearly surprised a mama black bear and her cub. They were only 30 feet from us standing on separate sides of the trail. Luckily, we gave them enough room to run up the mountain and away from us. At the bottom of the elevation decline, we rested and dipped our feet in a large river. We crossed the river’s bridge and began hiking up. And up and up and up – for a grand total elevation gain of 3,355 feet. There is a branch off of the trail to head out to The Loop trailhead. Soon after this trail fork, there is a small stream running through the trail. Lay in this water. Fill up with water. Praise this water. It is the last water until you reach the campsite. We of course did not top off our water or stop because it was so early in our hike up that we figured there would be at least one more small stream. We were very wrong. There was just one teensy trickle, enough for a filter, of water about 0.5 miles from the site

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

(this trickle saved us from heat exhaustion, no joke, and definitely saved our spirits as we used Evan’s baseball cap to drench ourselves). Until that trickle, the trail was hell. The temperature reached 105+ that day and the trail had NO shade until you reach about 0.3 miles prior to the site. I went to the extent of laying the semi-cooler rocks from the ground all over my body I was so hot. We survived the Sahara desert and made it to the Granite campsite which is less than a mile from the Granite Park Chalet. I think we were on the verge of heat exhaustion. I could barely move, felt like I was going to throw up, was short of breath and a was bit dizzy. We set up our tent, Evan laid in the glacial river water, and then we took a nap. After our nap we felt a million times better. Other folks had arrived to camp at the site that night so we went and ate our dinner with them. After chatting a while, we all settled down for bed. Evan and I were just sleeping when we heard our poles that had been standing against a tree fall over. We peeked out the tent vents to see a mule deer munching away at Evan’s trekking pole handle strap. Yelling, clapping, inching near the mule deer – nothing scared this gal away. Luckily she dropped the pole and trotted to our fellow campers to harass them and their salty poles. We tucked our packs and poles under our tent’s rain tarp – the poles were on top of our packs, the packs were nearly a foot from the edge of the rain tarp, and the rain tarp pulls down to only 2 inches off the ground. At around 2am, I heard a noise just outside my side of the tent. I quietly listened and heard trotting around to Evan’s side so I knew this was a deer. All of a sudden the pesky mule deer stuck its head under our rain tarp, woke Evan up in a frenzy, and stole his pole again! We quickly realize that it was one expensive pole that had been stolen – the one with the GoPro attached! After several minutes of Evan’s attempts to get the pole back, the mule deer dropped it but the hardly was scared away for the night. She pestered the rest of the campsite forcing folks to hang their packs and poles on the bear pole. We could now understand why the couple on night 3 shot off a gun to somewhat scare away the mule deer!

Route for Day 4 Begin at Flattop Backcountry Campsite End at Granite Backcountry Campsite Elevation Up: 3,355 feet Elevation Down: 2,640 feet Length: 9.0 miles

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

Day 5 + 6 Day 5 in Glacier National Park was a different kind of adventure. We hiked out of the backcountry going the opposite direction than most on the highline trail and ended the day at the non-reservable Apgar Campground. Route for Day 5: Started at Granite Backcountry Campsite, popped out at Logan Pass Trailhead, and stayed the night at Apgar Campground Day 6: Hiked several miles out from Apgar to the West Glacier Amtrak Station and began our train ride home to Milwaukee After eating breakfast with our fellow campers at Granite, we parted ways and Evan and I began our short hike out. We stopped at the Granite Park Chalet and snapped some photos – this is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. We opted out of the two overlooks on the highline trail because we didn’t know what the site availability at Apgar Campground would be like (it was the Friday of 4th of July weekend). Both overlooks are about one mile off the highline trail and offer spectacular 360 views – apparently. Next time. On the highline trail, we saw wildlife galore. There was a smaller grizzly downhill from the trail, more of our favorite Columbian Ground Squirrels, and lots of marmots. We really wanted to see a mountain goat the entire hike. Everyone coming the opposite direction of us told us that there were two families of mountain goats hiking the same direction as us on the trail. We never ran into them, but at the very end, near Logan Pass trailhead, we finally got to see one mountain goat hanging out on some rocks! Side note: This entire hike from the Granite Park Chalet to Logan Pass I wore flip flops. My feet had so many blisters, it was such a relief. I am a “I hate shoes” type person – so my spirits were lifted when my feet were finally free. Next time, I’ll definitely be adding the extra weight and bringing along my camping sandals to walk in more than my hiking boots and instead of my Walmart $1 foam flip flops. From the Logan Pass trailhead, we walked across the street to the visitor center. The rangers loved chatting with us about our adventures and we looked far more relaxed than the hundreds of fourth of July tourists. Sorry for our backcountry stench tourists. We filled W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

up with water and waited in line for a Glacier Park Shuttle to head to Apgar. While we were waiting, we met a ranger who had invented new football helmet chin strap clips and was just in our college town of Madison, WI sharing his invention with the badger team (he mentioned this to us because of Evan’s UW hat). The Going to the Sun Road shuttle ride was stunning. I highly recommend taking your car or motorcycle. There are plenty of places to pull over a snap a few touristy, but beautiful shots. As we passed the Apgar campground entrance sign while riding the shuttle, it was listed as “full”. Evan and I had a minor freak out. After asking a gal at the Apgar Visitor Center, she said and I quote, “The campground always reserves spots for people on foot or bike. If they are actually full, come back here and you can camp out in my backyard.” We walked over to the campground and sure enough, there was room for folks on bike or foot. We set up camp, did some laundry, and washed up in the campsite sinks. Just a ways away was the Apgar Village, so we took a walk over there to check it out. Well it is seriously a village! There were restaurants, shops and a lodge all near Lake McDonald. Of course I made Evan stop to get ice cream – it was huckleberry season, so we got a delicious dish of huckleberry ice cream before walking back to our site for the night. Early on Saturday morning we started our hike from Apgar to the West Glacier Amtrak Station. On our way out we stopped to get some bread and peanut butter at the Groceries, Dried Goods, and Meats shop (an overpriced grocery store) and a giant and delicious breakfast from the West Glacier Restaurant (with leftovers for the train).

Route for Day 5 Begin at Granite Backcountry Campsite End at Logan Pass trailhead Elevation Up: 1,026 feet Elevation Down: 830 feet Length: 7.6 miles Flip Flop Wearing – Okay

Day 6 Hiked out several miles from Apgar Stopped for breakfast and train food in West Glacier Made it to the West Glacier Amtrak Station Train ride back to Milwaukee

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

Trail Folk

If you are a hiker you can contest that the folks you meet on the trail are some of the most genuine and interesting you’ll ever meet. If you backcountry camp, out stems new breed of trail folk that are just like you (and all a little bit crazy – also likely just like you). While Evan and I were in both the Smokies and Glacier, we met some amazing folks that will be stuck in our memories forever. In the Smokies we met a large quantity of trail folk at a shelter on the Appalachian Trail. A Georgian dad and his son were on a backpacking trip. These two kept a much needed fire going all night for everyone staying in the shelter. There was a fellow twenty-something traveling with his girlfriend – it was the gals first backpacking trip. And we met a young couple testing out the backpacking waters with little experience, school backpacks, a cast iron pan and hot dogs with no gas or way to start a fire. In Glacier we spoke with a ranger who lived at a cabin in the backcountry during summers, two friendly gals about our age on our first night’s stay, and a couple (one of which also graduated from UW Madison) on our third night. This third night couple scared us half to death when they shot a handgun in the air to scare away a mule deer at 2am. Our most memorable night of trail folk from Glacier trip was on our last night in the backcountry at Granite. Here, we met a younger fellow named Henry who was in college in Colorado and was beginning a trip through Glacier’s backcountry with his dad whom we also met. There was also a family of three, a dad and his two over-30 sons – Gabe and Chris. We all chatted dehydrated foods versus packaged powder food, about the quantity of Wisconsinites moving to Seattle, about stories from the trails, and about our lives. As a hiker I often take advantage of trail folk. Seeing the mountains and the land often sounds more memorable than meeting people on the trail. But whenever I finish hiking and head back home, some of my most lasting memories stem from the trail folk I met (even if it was just a 5 minute conversation).

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

I wish… – I wrote down names of all the trail folk I meet – I snapped a picture with each trail folk I meet even if it seems ridiculous at the time – in some cases, that I took down contact information of fellow trail folk to possibly meet them on a trip in the future (#creepywish) I write these wishes and goals to keep myself accountable on my next trip so I will remember to write down names so I don’t forget and snap a few pictures with fellow trail folk! All us trail folk are a bit crazy. Crazy enough hike miles for enjoyment! Let’s start snapping some pictures together to help us remember the stories.

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

Nature + Wildlife of Glacier National Park Glacier National Park is home to diverse nature and wildlife. While Evan and I were there, we had the opportunity to chat with some fellow hikers and park employees about some of Glacier’s diverse land. Below are some of the things we learned and some animals we encountered.

CHIEF MOUNTAIN There is a tall, steep mountain in the park called Chief Mountain (click the link for an image). Western early explorers could see this mountain from afar and knew the Canadian border was near. They called it “King’s Peak”. The surrounding Blackfoot Indians historically have and still have sacred ceremonies involving this mountain. Early legends involve Blackfeet braving the peak of the mountain in a ritual called their “medicine vision”. There is a legend of a young Flathead Indian who climbed to the top with a bison skull on his back, staying at the summit several days in search of his “medicine vision”. It was not until 1892 that Henry L. Stimson (later Secretary of State) and his companions, ﬁrst climbed the mountain to ﬁnd a bison skull decomposing on the summit and just about prove the Chief Mountain legend true (unless bison used to know how to rock climb).

THE BOB Near Glacier National Park is a U.S. National Forest called “The Bob” where all the grizzlies love to hang out – its real name is The Bob Marshall Wilderness. GNP park rangers relocate grizzlies who have become too habituated to The Bob.

BEARGRASS Beargrass grows in Glacier National Park. Its flowers only bloom every 5-10 years. You won’t miss the plethora beargrass flowers throughout the park, but knowing how special each bloom is will allow you to appreciate it more. There was a forest fire several years ago and one of our shuttle drivers told us an entire burnt field regrew and bloomed with beargrass flowers the following year.

BEARS Glacier National Park has both black bears and grizzlies. On our backcountry trip we had the opportunity to see three grizzlies and two black bears. During our shuttle ride there was a grizzly in a ﬁeld just oﬀ of the highway. The next bear we saw wasn’t until the grizzly on top of the mountain on day 3’s hike to Flattop. He was far away and still looking gigantic – happy this bear was seen at a distance. Descending from Flattop en route to Granite, we had a close encounter with a mama and baby black bear about 30 feet away. Luckily they wanted nothing to do with us and after the mama made sure we weren’t coming closer, they scurred away. The last grizzly we saw was downhill of the highline trail. He was a smaller bear and far in the distance.

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

COLUMBIAN GROUND SQUIRRELS (aka mini bears) Columbian Ground Squirrels are also known as mini bears because they can be bothersome to humans. On our second night at Stoney, a mini bear chomped holes in our water ﬁlter. Luckily, enough of the hose was saved to still work the rest of our trip. These ground squirrels love salt and will nibble and lick any salty gear you leave outside your tent.

MOUNTAIN GOATS Mountain Goats are common in Glacier National Park. Unfortunately, apparently not where we were in the backcountry. Our hike out of the backcountry, on the highline trail, was ﬁlled with people hiking the opposite direction of us. We were told multiple times that we were following the path of two families of mountain goats. They must have kept walking because we never ran into them. Just a few hundred yards from the Logan Pass trailhead when we had nearly exited the trail, we ﬁnally saw one mountain goat chillin’ in the shade on the rocks.

WHITE-TAILED DEER White-tailed Deer are also all over GNP and we saw these throughout our trip. Beautiful animal, yes. We’re from Wisconsin so these guys roam our backyards all the time. I will say that the deer in Glacier National Park were far less concerned with people. We could have walked up and pet every deer we saw in GNP. In Wisconsin, if you get within 100 feet of a deer it will ﬂee – do they expect us to always be hunting them?

MULE DEER (aka evil mother you know what-ers) Oh the mule deer. On our third night stay in the backcountry, we were woken by a gunshot at 2am. Apparently our fellow campers used their handgun to scare off an extremely pesky mule deer. Evan and I thought the gunshot was a bit extreme to scare off a deer until we closely encountered a mule deer at our final backcountry campsite – Granite. The Granite mule deer was bothersome to all the site campers for a better part of the night. She stole poles and salty gear and gave us campers great difficulty when attempting to get our gear back. She even went to the extent of reaching her head under our tent’s fly tarp (only an inch off the ground), right near Evan’s face, and grabbing Evan’s pole that had our GoPro attached. Under our fly tarp! Can you believe that?! Luckily Evan scared her off to the next camper’s tent (sorry fellow camper – we tried to scare her into the woods but she wouldn’t go) and she dropped our GoPro selfie stick/trekking pole.

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

Plan Your Own Trip - Adult Worksheets When planning your trip you will need to consider many things: time of year, where you are going, how many people you are traveling with, how many miles are you going to hike, where will you sleep, maps and regulations of the park, what you are packing for clothing, what you are packing for food, what are some emergency items you need to pack for your destination, and more. If all planning is done correctly the trip should be smooth sailing!

Planning to Backpack Exercise

Wear Your Hiking Boots I can promise you that you will regret hiking more than 5 miles in new boots or shoes. Wear them in! Walk around in them for a few days inside or outside of your home.

Being ďŹ t will help make your backpacking trip more enjoyable. Below are several links to help you get in shape for your hike. 1. Get Fit in 6 Weeks 2. H i k e F a r t h e r a n d Stronger 3. Get Fit in 4 Weeks 4. Hiking, Trekking, and Backpacking Strength Training

Test New + Old Gear Make sure any of your old gear and new gear that youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve recently purchased is working properly. You do not want to be 15 miles into your trip and realize your stove is not working. Cold, dry food = gross!

Check It Off Hiking shoes/boots are worn in All gear is tested and works properly Fitness level = in shape for backpacking

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

Plan Your Own Trip - Adult Worksheets

Planning The Where

Time of Year Decide what time of year is best for your schedule. Think about the temperatures you want to hike in. And understand that different conditions require different levels of experience. National park websites often explain what experience is needed to visit during specific seasons. Many parks are closed with winter snow or are open to experienced snow campers. And in spring, some river crossings can be very dangerous.

Choose a Park Best for Season Understand what the season entails for the specific park you wish to visit. Often times, if it is a national park, the park’s website will list something along the lines of “best time of year to visit Yosemite” or a link to what the park looks like/ what trails and roads are open during different seasons. Use your best judgement on temperature before you choose a specific park. For example, you might not want to visit Arizona in the dead of summer and wouldn’t want to visit GNP early in spring because there is still snow in the mountains.

Check It Off Season for travel is chosen The location is chosen

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

Plan Your Own Trip - Adult Worksheets

Plan Your Route

Days + Dates

Mileage

Route Options

Plan the amount of days you want to hike, account for travel time, and then set dates.

Plan the average amount of miles you want to hike in one day before you begin to map out your route. Here is a forum and a blog post on mileage. A good average is 10 miles a day. Depending on your elevation change, this takes a lot longer than you might think!

Look at park maps and decide on several route options. Consider average mileage per day as well as starting and ending points (especially if you are not traveling with a vehicle).

Campsite Availability Check campsite availability and schedule (if possible). Some parks do not allow reservations at certain times in the year or hold extra spots as a ďŹ rst come ďŹ rst serve to visitors who reserve at the park once they arrive.

Check It Off The amount of days I will be backpacking is ______________. The dates I will be traveling are ____________________________. I will hike an average of _____________ miles per day. I have planned and mapped out several route options (for availability purposes). I have reserved campsites on my desired route (if possible).

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

Plan Your Own Trip - Adult Worksheets â&#x20AC;Š

Plan Travel

Are you going to travel by PLANE?

Are you going to travel by TRAIN?

Check It Off I will be traveling by _______________ to my destination. I will be traveling by _______________ from my destination.

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

Are you going to travel by CAR?

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

OFFICIAL TRAVEL PLANS Give a copy of these official travel plans to a relative prior to departure for safety and emergencies. Times when able to be reached via cell + cell number

Departure Date

Return Date

Times when I will be in backcountry and unable to receive cell service

Traveling by: Plane Train Vehicle Hotel/Motel Lodging Names + Dates

Names + numbers of all traveling companions

Travel Route Options or Reserved Campsites. Call relative and verify conﬁrmed campsites when able to reserve, prior to ﬁrst hike. Other important information

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

Plan Your Own Trip - Adult Worksheets

Meal Planning

How Much Food

Types of Food

Planning the amount of food to bring is still something I struggle with. I pack too much (better than too little I suppose because I get hangry, but it makes our packs a lot heavier than needed). Bring enough food to fuel your energy. Dehydrate for MUCH less weight! Here is one blog post and another one that will help you decide how much food to pack!

Find a list of backpacking food options on my blog post here. You can also ďŹ nd recipes for awesome backpacking food on this blog post as well as the free printable ebook at the bottom! Think smart when purchasing food at the grocery store. Be nutritious, especially when traveling for a week or more. Look at these best backpacking foods for ideas. And think lightweight with these ideas!

â&#x20AC;Š

GO TO THIS FREE PDF PRINTABLE TO PLAN YOUR MEALS! It has two ways for you to meal plan: 1. By Meal 2. By Day

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

Plan Your Own Trip - Adult Worksheets

Packing

Clothing

Cooking Gear

Layers. Layers. Layers. I am always freezing at night and sweating during the day so layers are my best friend. Please remember cotton kills so do not pack cotton! Read this article and this article for more clothing packing tips.

Make sure you pack what you need to use to cook all the food you bring. Don’t forget to pack enough water storage! We also include kitchen cleaning materials and spices. Here is a cooking gear checklist.

Shelter + Sleeping

Emergency

Of course you need a tent and all necessary campsite equipment to keep you safe and comfortable overnight! The ﬁrst section of this checklist list the items needed for shelter and sleeping!

There are many times you won’t even touch a ﬁrst aid/emergency backpacking kit, but packing one is necessary in case of emergency! Find checklists for what to include in your survival kit in these three articles: pdf 1, article 2, article 3.

There are several checklists online ready to rock and roll for you to click on and get to packing! I’ve linked to my favorites here: REI Backpacking Checklist - Website Post REI Backpacking Checklist Printable PDF The Lightweight Backpacker’s Backpacking Checklist REI’s Ultralight Backpacking Checklist - Website Post REI’s Ultralight Backpacking Checklist Printable PDF

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

Final Planning Steps Checklist

Know/write down all travel details Fill out oďŹ&#x192;cial plan worksheet page Hotels/motels booked Campsites reserved (if possible) Read over park news/regulations Give copy of oďŹ&#x192;cial plan worksheet to relative

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

Day Before You Leave Checklist

All plans ﬁnalized - travel, routes, stays, meals, packing Everything is packed and ready to grab Oﬃcial travel plan worksheet given to relative Plan/train tickets printed (if applicable) Hotel/motel information printed (if applicable) Travel info printed or written Route plan documented on printed park map Phone charged and charger packed if needed Camera charged SHOWER! Especially if it is your last time :)

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M

G L A C I E R N AT I O N A L PA R K

NOTES & RESOURCES

.................................................................................................................................................................................................... .................................................................................................................................................................................................... .................................................................................................................................................................................................... .................................................................................................................................................................................................... .................................................................................................................................................................................................... .................................................................................................................................................................................................... .................................................................................................................................................................................................... .................................................................................................................................................................................................... .................................................................................................................................................................................................... .................................................................................................................................................................................................... .................................................................................................................................................................................................... .................................................................................................................................................................................................... .................................................................................................................................................................................................... .................................................................................................................................................................................................... .................................................................................................................................................................................................... .................................................................................................................................................................................................... .................................................................................................................................................................................................... .................................................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................................................

W W W. H E A R T O F T H E W O O D S . C O M