Glacier NP family backpacking trip
Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2014 3:05 am
We were looking for another great family backpacking trip to Sierra with our 8 & 10 yr olds, then all of a sudden got an urge to explore Glacier NP. It was always in our minds but the distance and time did not work out in the past. We bought non refundable tickets, and by the time we realized what we had done, we had no way out. So the last minute trip planning began which was pretty much nothing else other than choosing some possible routes.
We headed out of our home in Orange County with 4 backpacks with 6 days supplies, and flew to Kalispell, MT. After arriving at midnight, Kids and wife spent the first night in a rental car (it was 30 min drive from the airport) while I spend the night in front of the wilderness office for permits. Needless to say I was the first one in line, but still barely managed to get the permits for our preferred route, which was to go from Lake St. Mary via Gunsight trail to Lake McDonald. After returning the rental car on the following day to West Glacier, and hitching a ride back to the park, we spent the first night at Apgar CG walkin site, which was the closest campground to the shuttle stop for the ride next morning to Lake St. Mary. The next morning, we began our trek to Gunsight Lake where kids had great time fishing. On the following day, we stayed at Lake Ellen Wilson which was... just about as good as it gets. The next camp at Sperry was kind of dry in comparison to the two previous days (with a lot of mosquitoes), but still offered a fantastic view overlooking Lakw McDonald.
All in all we did some 20+ miles and went over two passes, four short but steep snow chutes, and a few waterfalls. The daily miles were less than 6-7, so the kids had no trouble, especially at a much lower elevation than a typical Sierra trip. And the views... just BREATHTAKING.
Videos are here:
short version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_08E-c4Tvm8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
for a full length:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ug2bGIEtY8E" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Well.. it was great! but thinking about our next Sierra trip feels like coming back home!
Dennis
We headed out of our home in Orange County with 4 backpacks with 6 days supplies, and flew to Kalispell, MT. After arriving at midnight, Kids and wife spent the first night in a rental car (it was 30 min drive from the airport) while I spend the night in front of the wilderness office for permits. Needless to say I was the first one in line, but still barely managed to get the permits for our preferred route, which was to go from Lake St. Mary via Gunsight trail to Lake McDonald. After returning the rental car on the following day to West Glacier, and hitching a ride back to the park, we spent the first night at Apgar CG walkin site, which was the closest campground to the shuttle stop for the ride next morning to Lake St. Mary. The next morning, we began our trek to Gunsight Lake where kids had great time fishing. On the following day, we stayed at Lake Ellen Wilson which was... just about as good as it gets. The next camp at Sperry was kind of dry in comparison to the two previous days (with a lot of mosquitoes), but still offered a fantastic view overlooking Lakw McDonald.
All in all we did some 20+ miles and went over two passes, four short but steep snow chutes, and a few waterfalls. The daily miles were less than 6-7, so the kids had no trouble, especially at a much lower elevation than a typical Sierra trip. And the views... just BREATHTAKING.
Videos are here:
short version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_08E-c4Tvm8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
for a full length:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ug2bGIEtY8E" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Well.. it was great! but thinking about our next Sierra trip feels like coming back home!
Dennis