How My Five-Day Adventure to Glacier National Park Turned Into Three Close Calls and Lessons Learned

My twin sister Delia and I embarked on our journey to Glacier National Park in Montana. Our journey began with a touch of luxury as we flew first class, courtesy of her Delta Airline miles. Our destination was Kalispell, Montana, on the park’s west side. However, we chose to stay in Babb, a quaint town on the east side, influenced by the proximity of St. Mary’s entrance to the trails and lakes we were eager to explore.

As we entered the park, a dense pine tree forest welcomed us. However, after a scenic 1-hour drive, the forest gave way to the majestic sight of mountains that Glacier National Park is renowned for, revealed just after we passed Lake McDonald on our left. The view was undeniably beautiful, but the panorama that unfolded before us once we reached the Going to the Sun road took our breath away. ‘Stunning’ and ‘scary’ are the only words that come close to describing it.

Going to the Sun Road is NOT for the faint of heart. It has hairpin turns winding up through the mountains. At times, it was a sheer rock drop-off to the valley below. The narrow road didn’t help, especially when one of the large park buses passed you from the other direction. You could pull off several areas for pictures, but carefully. We chose to stop once we reached Logan Pass, and I’m glad we did. We spotted our first Grizzly bear, which was barely recognizable to the naked eye.

We stayed at Glacier Trailhead Cabins, which had tiny log cabins on the property—one of 10 cabins. The owner lived about a 10-minute walk away.

We had two trails in mind. The trail to Iceberg Lake was our first choice, but unfortunately, it was closed because some bears decided to munch on the huckleberry bushes blocking the trail. So we went with our second choice, the trail to Cracker Lake. You share the first two miles of the trail with the horses. It was not the best idea because the horses wore down the dirt so that it resembled a gully—a gully filled with horse shit and mud. We had practiced all summer on different hiking trails, but we weren’t ready for this trail.

We made it past the gully and started up the switchbacks.

We reached the top, where it leveled off, and then it happened—my worst nightmare. My stomach started with the low rumble, then came the pain and rush of what could only end in a torrential shit storm! Yes, I had to shit in the woods; oh, the shame, I couldn’t believe this was happening. There was no stopping it; we walked into the woods off trail; I found a log, Dee held up my coat for privacy, I placed a bandana on the log (I’m a lady, after all), and hung my ass off the log and blasted!! I didn’t think it would stop, and my poor sister did stay strong even though she was dry-heaving. Thank goodness I came prepared with toilet paper (which I carried out).

We decided to turn around and head back to the car. It was a two-and-a-half-hour hike, and I wasn’t sure I would make it. I immediately felt as if my energy left me as quickly as the shit had. At any moment, I thought we would have to call air rescue to airlift me out, but I made it to the end with a rush of adrenaline as soon I saw the parking lot.

Lesson One: Don’t eat cured meat at the start of a long hike.

The next day, we wanted to drive across the border into Canada to explore the Waterton Glacier International Peace Park. I learned my lesson and ate a sensible breakfast of peanut butter and huckleberry jam sandwich. As we pulled onto the highway, we immediately went to the small graveled lookout to take photos of the beautiful mountains. As Dee took pictures, I walked a car length in front of our car, looking around. I turned around and reached the car, and Dee’s face went white and said, “Get in the car.” I thought, why do you see a spider? Then she repeated herself with even more urgency. As I turned to get into the car, I saw why she was so scared.

Two giant grizzly bears were in single file, standing right where I had been 1 minute earlier. They froze. They looked unreal until they turned and ran back into the woods. They were so quiet walking on the gravel, and I was surprised we didn’t hear them. I didn’t think about this then, but after telling my story to a few people, I realized they must have smelled peanut butter and huckleberries (their favorite) on my breath.

Lesson Two: Don’t eat peanut butter and huckleberries when bears are around.

We enjoyed the rest of our day and had a great dinner at Two Sisters Restaurant, down the road from our log cabin. We joked that the bears were two sisters staring at two sisters down the road from two sisters.

Our cabin had a small deck with chairs that we enjoyed each night. So, after we got comfy, we went out onto the deck, and Dee accidentally locked us out. We had no phone, shoes, car keys, or way of getting back inside. Our only choice was to walk down the gravel road to the owner’s house so he could let us back in. It was pitch black, and we were freaked out, so we ran. Luckily, the owner was still awake. We were breathless when he opened the door and he asked if we ran there. When we said yes, he looked surprised and said we were lucky that a mountain lion didn’t spot us. It would have thought we were prey if it had seen us running. He also told us a black bear family was spotted earlier on the property.

We ended the night laughing at Dee’s wool socks covered in hay from the run. My cotton socks had nothing on them.

Lesson Three: Always make sure we have our keys when leaving. A lesson we still practice today.

Despite all of these close calls, it was a fantastic trip. Traveling is an adventure; you must go with the flow and enjoy the ride.