Glorious Glaciers

After leaving the North Cascades, we travelled east on Highway 20 through northern Idaho and into Montana. We stopped in the small town of Whitefish Montana and quickly found the The Great Northern brewery. Great beer and shuffleboard had us smiling while we made our way to the local farmers market. Not a ton of fresh produce for so early in the season, but a lot of arts and crafts and some good food booths. We asked around for a good place to camp and ended up at the Whitefish Bike Retreat. A bike specific campground with showers, a bike wash, and trail side access to the Whitefish trail network. I rode the trail the next day and found great singletrack that weaved through a number of small lakes. Great trails that are growing every year.

After two nights in Whitefish, we travelled to West Glacier and the entrance to Glacier National Park. We had intentions of backpacking in the park and headed to the backcountry permit office. We were surprised to find so many options available. Based on a recommendation from someone that had worked in the park, we settled on the Belly River basin in the northeastern corner of the park.

A three hour drive around the southern boundary found us at the Many Glacier Campground for a night of car camping and trip preparation.

The next day we drove north to the Big Chief Trailhead and hiked into the Cosley Lake campground. We spent the next three nights at the lakeside campground and spent the days hiking to various parts of the basin.

On one of our day trips we headed into one of the side drainages with the hope of getting close to one the many waterfalls. As we worked our way higher into the basin, Teresa let out a bear call and pointed up valley. Sure enough an adult grizzly popped out of the vegetation and was walking down trail towards us. We both let out a big bear call and caught the attention of the grizzly. It stood up on its hind legs and sniffed the air looking for us. We started backing down trail and watched as it took off up valley into the bushes. Quite a thrill to be that close to a grizzly and really glad that it didn't follow us back down the trail.

We took a ton of photos and are trying not to overwhelm everyone. So below is some of our favorites.