I think it’s safe to say that Glacier is my favorite of the national parks. It may even be safe to say that Montana is my favorite state to visit! When an opportunity came for a ski trip to the Whitefish resort just South and West of GNP, I had to take it! As it turns out, there are some great deals to be had when you ski outside of Colorado, with the added benefit of enabling excursions to some of the more interesting snow-shoeing you can do in the lower 48.
While we spent two days skiing the mountain, I don’t really have any pictures from this time. For obvious reasons I didn’t take my camera on the slopes, and although I could have used my phone I’ve been making a point to just enjoy these moments when they come. Suffice to say, Whitefish has some truly incredible skiing, with some great snow and the potential for great views if the clouds lift. While we were unfortunately “socked in” (that’s a new Montana phrase I learned) most of the trip, I’m assured that’s it does occasionally open up. Hopefully I can return and see one of these days too!
What I do have pictures from is the extra day we took to hike through GNP. Having visited the summer before, I was shocked at how different the park feels in the winter! We happened to visit at a particularly warm time, so we didn’t struggle too much with temperature, but the snow was overbearing and the weather harsh.
The clouds were ever present throughout our trip, flowing over the mountains and collecting in the valleys.
When we arrived, we did a ranger led tour along a short path. The park service is kind enough to provide snow shoes for this activity, but we were on our own as soon as the tour was over. Having assumed we would be able to get shoes in the park, we were left with only our normal hiking boots to post-hole our way through foot deep snow in some places.
This challenge actually proved easier than we expected. By sticking to mostly packed snow we were able to make it fairly easily along a quick 5 mile trip to the McDonald Falls and back.
This is the footbridge over McDonald creek, just before the trail turns into the forest.
This is McDonald creek itself, taken just off the trail.
Soon enough, we arrived at the falls themselves.
I loved the small snowballs that had collected on rocks in the middle of the creek!
Fortunately we did get to see some blue sky during the hike!
Eventually, we arrived at an opening in the trees that gave us some great views of the surrounding mountains. With the snow, they looked like something you’d see in Alaska.
Towards the end of our hike, we arrived back at McDonald Lodge. In the summer months, this lodge is bustling with activity. Hundreds of people collect here: there are busses, tour cars, and ranger guides. In the winter, we had the entire place to ourselves.
The lack of visitors gave me some great opportunities for pictures off the normally crowded docks.
The lake was in general very relaxing and peaceful. We spent a lot of time just standing here, watching the sun go down and the shadows fall on the mountains.
This was a fantastic trip. I really enjoy all the time I get to spend in Montana, and I can’t wait to return! There’s definitely more for me to see in this great park!