Night Before: We flew our family of four into Glacier International Airport and stayed at Glacier International Lodge. Our flight didn’t get in until almost midnight so we chose a hotel that was close, in fact a 2 min walk across the parking lot. It made the most sense since the car rental places weren’t open that late and we wanted to get an early start.
Glacier International Lodge is a moderately priced hotel. Rooms are clean and have mini fridges. They provide complimentary breakfast and coffee and cocoa in the lobby and that makes it a win for us. There is also a pool with a waterslide, but we did not have time to take advantage of that.
Day 1 (West Glacier): We rented a car from Budget. Renting cars for this trip is spendy! The tourist season is short so car rental places have a limited inventory. We booked our car 12 months out! Ideally we would have rented our car in Montana and returned in Canada, but the rental companies didn’t allow it.
Hot Tip! Sharing Shack: In Columbia Falls there is a sharing shack at 320 Mountain Ave. The shed is maintained by local volunteers, where travelers may drop off and pick up supplies. We were able to get bear spray, a Styrofoam cooler, bottled water, cans of flavored water, a few sodas, unopened jars of peanut butter and jelly, plastic silverware, paper towels and paper plates. If you can’t get bear spray at the sharing shack, it can also be rented at Go Glacier Outfitters at the airport.
We also stopped at the Super One Foods in town to stock up on lunch making supplies. Along the drive, we also noted the number of small independent coffee shops, so have no fear, you can get your coffee fix before you hit the road.
Next up we headed in to explore the west side of Glacier Park.
We booked the Lake McDonald Lodge in West Glacier nearly a full year ahead of time through Xanterra. More about this later, but I did hear of many people having good luck getting cancellations closer to their travel dates. We opted for the Cobb House at the lodge to accommodate the four of us. The rooms are small and lack the modern conveniences like a microwave or a fridge, but it did have televisions in the two room suite. The food selections at the onsite restaurant were limited and pricey and the pizza restaurant was closed for some reason, but it was nice to have a hot meal option inside the park.
The Cobb House was originally built to house the owner of the lodge and his family. Later it was used as employee housing and most recently it was converted into four larger suite units. The house does not have an elevator, so we needed to haul our luggage up the staircase. There is a wonderful common space that one family used to play games, but we did not take advantage of the space while we were there. However, I did enjoy a quiet cup of coffee in one of the front porch rockers. As I was sipping and looking out at the lake an older gentleman walked by and said I looked like I was in a Hallmark movie and I couldn’t disagree.
Check in isn’t until 4 p.m. so we wanted to head to Avalance Lake Trail. There is a shuttle stop conviently located at the lodge that comes every 15 minutes, but after two shuttles came through without any room to pick up passengers we jumped in our car and headed to Avalanche Lake ourselves. Parking was tight, but we lucked out and found a spot.
Avalanche Lake Hike: The out and back 6.5 mile trail follows Avalanche Creek through a lush cedar forest to the foot of the lake and can also be taken around the lake to the falls. The hike was fairly easy with only 800 feet of elevation gain. We luckily brought our water shoes and spent a little time wading in the very cold water. On our way back, hikers were stopped on the trail because of a black bear that was ahead, we missed getting a glimpse but it was a good reminder that we would be staying together on our hikes during this trip.
Hot Tip! Purchase Day Hikes of Glacier National Park by Jake Bramante. This map was incredibly useful as we chose which hikes were best for our family on this trip. Jake rates and gives great descriptions of every hike in Glacier. All 88 day hikes! It’s a great resource to have on hand.
Wanderlust Travel Diary 