Glacier is one of the true gems of the national park system. I thought that after my first visit and I think it with even more conviction after spending a few more days there this week. The vista over Hidden Lake atop Logan Pass is right up there among the best views in the world, something I’ve mentally reinforced through the years by having it as one of the pictures that rotates through the display on my digital picture frame. There are several other lakes too that can be great end points of hikes—a hike up to Iceberg Lake on my prior visit was one of the great hiking days I’ve ever had. The Going to the Sun Road is among the prettiest drives in the world (as long as you aren’t in a hurry). There are high alpine meadows with dots of red, yellow, white, and purple throughout the park. There are bighorn sheep, mountain goats, and grizzly bears to see. On my first trip I also saw a moose but not this time. There are even little pika running around that are closely related to groundhogs but that only live at high altitudes.

I was joined again by my father for this portion of the journey. He couldn’t pass up a quick summer trip to Northwest Montana as he continues to settle into his retirement. I don’t blame him. There are several reasons I chose to be in this part of the country at this time of year. This also gave me the added benefit of being able to take advantage of his lifetime park pass, which for whatever reason costs the same amount as I would have paid for an annual pass.

I did not count on it being as hot as it has been in the afternoons, but during our walk up from the visitor center at Logan Pass to the Hidden Lake overlook we wore long sleeves into a biting wind coming off some of the mountains. That offered some refreshment after a morning drive that started before 6 AM. Quite a few of the days in Kalispell started before 6 AM, a product of the bedrooms in the rental facing eastward without anything approaching a blackout curtain to stop the 5:30 daylight coming through.

It does appear that others are finally catching onto the beauty of Glacier. You have to make vehicle reservations now to enter the various entrances during mornings and early afternoons. This was a new thing for me and the website functioned about as well as I expected a government website to function. I was able to get the reservations I wanted, but the exercise was not without stress.