{"id":61234,"date":"2023-12-09T09:47:45","date_gmt":"2023-12-09T16:47:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebigoutside.com\/?p=61234"},"modified":"2024-03-08T11:59:03","modified_gmt":"2024-03-08T18:59:03","slug":"deja-vu-all-over-again-backpacking-in-glacier-national-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebigoutside.com\/deja-vu-all-over-again-backpacking-in-glacier-national-park\/","title":{"rendered":"D\u00e9j\u00e0 vu All Over Again: Backpacking in Glacier National Park"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Michael Lanza<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the second week of September, the cool air in the shade of the forest nips at our cheeks as we leave our first night\u2019s camp beside Glenns Lake in the backcountry of Glacier National Park, starting at a reasonably early hour for a day where we will walk nearly 16 miles and 6,000 feet of combined uphill and downhill. I\u2019m hiking in a fleece hoodie, pants, and gloves and my friends Pam Solon and Jeff Wilhelm are similarly layered up. Once the sun reaches us within an hour, we\u2019ll strip down to shorts and T-shirts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Where the trail crosses a meadow, the expansive view west across a calm and insistently blue Cosley Lake reveals what looks like a long wall of overlapping stone shields jammed into the earth, each 2,000 or more feet tall and tilting at different angles. At the lake\u2019s outlet\u2014now in warm sunshine\u2014we ford the Belly River, ankle- to calf-deep here with just a few tiny riffles and not very cold. More hiking through quiet forest brings us to the refrigerated, cliff-shaded alcove below Dawn Mist Falls, which spills thunderously over a sheer drop and crashes onto fallen boulders at its base, its force releasing a perpetual mist. Moss wallpapers the alcove\u2019s short cliffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Pam Solon backpacking the Ptarmigan Tunnel Trail in Glacier National Park.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After a thoroughly relaxing lunch break on the pebbly beach at Elizabeth Lake\u2014where the perfect combination of solar warmth and soft breeze probably converts in direct value to about a thousand hours of counseling\u2014we start the long climb to the Ptarmigan Tunnel. Reaching the open alpine terrain, I repeatedly stop to spin 180 degrees and take big bites of our view of the valley of Helen and Elizabeth lakes and the peaks on the other side, which shelter what remains of a couple of glaciers in the shade of north-facing cliffs just below the mountaintops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve backpacked this trail before; this isn\u2019t new to me. But time slowly renders a bit fuzzier the memory of how constantly breathtaking it is\u2014which is, in a funny way, a gift to us: We get to experience that awe anew each time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone laughed when the legendary Yogi Berra said, \u201cIt\u2019s like d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu all over again,\u201d but I think I knew what he meant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/strong>Hi, I\u2019m Michael Lanza, creator of The Big Outside.\u00a0Click here<\/a> to sign up for my FREE email newsletter. Join The Big Outside<\/a> to get full access to all of my blog\u2019s stories. Click here<\/a> for my e-guides to classic backpacking trips. Click here<\/a> to learn how I can help you plan your next trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Morning
Morning Star Lake in Glacier National Park.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The trail leads us upward across the cliff face of the long rampart known as the Ptarmigan Wall, the path growing wide as a city sidewalk, with a stone wall just in case its ample width isn\u2019t enough to prevent anyone tripping into the abyss. Then we walk through the 250-foot-long Ptarmigan Tunnel, blasted through the Ptarmigan Wall and completed in 1930 to enable people to ride horses between the Belly River Valley and Many Glacier. Today, it\u2019s a novelty of a bygone era that happens to create a gorgeous trail for backpackers. The Ptarmigan Wall\u2019s shadow falls over us as we descend past Ptarmigan Lake, rippling in the light wind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Afternoon slides into evening as we walk below peaks that resemble giant cutting tools attempting to dice and chop the infinite sky. At dusk, we stroll into the backpacker campsites in the campground at Many Glacier\u2014wrapping up another day of hiking that would receive no true justice from overused superlatives because the baseline for any day hiking in Glacier is already \u201cgreat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being in this campground again (I\u2019ve lost track of how many times), I\u2019m reminded of the only aspect of my planning for this trip that barely missed the target: Due largely to the frenzied process of reserving a Glacier backcountry permit (this story<\/a> explains how to do that), I got a permit that had us arriving at Many Glacier the day after<\/em> Nells Restaurant at the Swiftcurrent Motel, across the road from the campground, closed for the season. Jeff and I, with two other friends, had camped here one night on a previous backpacking trip<\/a> and we were looking forward to another real dinner and gut-packing breakfast at Nells; instead, we\u2019ll settle for backpacking food while sitting just a five-minute walk from a closed restaurant. (Before you question whether a restaurant compromises our wilderness experience, understand this: The Many Glacier campground is basically a small town, anyway. But it\u2019s also a strategically located camp for backpackers. Nothing wrong with taking advantage of good food and<\/em> trimming your pack\u2019s food weight by two meals. As they say, when in Rome\u2026)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life really isn\u2019t fair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But considering that the seven-day hike we started yesterday was, of necessity, the best alternative\u2014and a damn good one\u2014to my original route, for which I had a permit, we have many reasons to be happy with the outcome of a situation that could have turned out much worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get the right gear for your trips. See \u201cThe 10 Best Backpacking Packs<\/a>\u201d
\nand \u201cThe 10 Best Backpacking Tents<\/a>.\u201d<\/h4>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/figure><\/div>
\"A<\/figure>
\"The<\/figure><\/div>
\"A<\/figure><\/div><\/div>
\"Backpackers<\/figure>
\"A<\/figure>
\"Gros<\/figure><\/div>
\"Backpackers<\/figure><\/div><\/div>
\"Dawn<\/figure><\/div>
\"Glenns<\/figure>
\"A<\/figure><\/div><\/div>
\"The<\/figure><\/div>
\"Cosley<\/figure><\/div>
\"A<\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Bear Trouble Equals Permit Troubles<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s a hard truth about backpacking in Glacier National Park: You can succeed at reserving a very hard-to-get backcountry permit<\/a>, feel the anticipation building for months as your trip approaches, and then arrive at the park to discover that your planned route has been rendered impossible because of recent bear activity\u2014meaning your only option is to try to alter your permit on the spot, creating a new route based on whatever backcountry campgrounds are still available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s exactly what happened to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Pam and I drove up to the park backcountry office in Apgar Village in the darkness of 6:15 a.m. yesterday to pick up our permit, we stepped out of the car to our first big surprise of the morning. Expecting to see 20 or more people waiting for walk-in permits\u2014the typical situation, and a backcountry ranger had warned me on the phone yesterday to expect a line forming two hours before the office opened at 7:30 a.m.\u2014I found just one guy comprising the entire \u201cline\u201d until I doubled its length. And just one couple joined us before the office opened, the five of us getting to know each other while waiting together. Pam took orders from everyone and made a run to the nearest coffee shop open that early on a Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve helped many readers plan an unforgettable backpacking trip in Glacier.
Want my help with yours? Find out more here<\/a>.<\/h4>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Pam Solon backpacking past Cosley Lake in Glacier National Park.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But the propitious spot second in line only gained us a small advantage. Once inside, we encountered our second big surprise of the morning when a backcountry ranger informed us that my original permit reservation for a variation I\u2019d customized of the classic Northern Loop<\/a> would not work because two of our six camps\u2014Fifty Mountain and Mokowanis Junction\u2014were closed due to bear activity. (Disturbing detail: A bear at Mokowanis had shredded a tent, fortunately while no one was inside. The catalyst was food inside it, a no-no that proved expensive but could have gone much<\/em> worse.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And there were no good alternative camp options available for us on that loop or anywhere near it\u2014another bear-related backcountry campground closure west of the Waterton Valley prevented us from hiking a traverse over to Kintla or Bowman Lake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find your next adventure in your Inbox. Sign up now for my FREE email newsletter<\/a>.<\/em><\/h4>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Jeff Wilhelm above Oldman Lake along the Dawson Pass Trail in Glacier National Park.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We scrambled to find an alternative route, hoping to preserve a seven-day hike. This ranger, clearly eager to help us, laid out our options for campground availability on our dates. In the end, we walked out of there with an almost completely revamped itinerary, with our first two days unchanged but adding five days following the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) south to Two Medicine. It\u2019s nearly identical to the route<\/a> Jeff and I backpacked with two other friends five years ago (when we also had to change one day on our itinerary because of bear activity), with just one significant variation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It feels a little disappointing to miss out on the Northern Loop. But we salvaged a great hike out of a difficult situation that, in reality, can arise anytime in Glacier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n