(This is a trip report of camping and hiking in Glacier Nat. Park......skip it and save your time if you think it has any paddling in it).  But if you just have to read something about paddling....I'lll throw in a little snippet near the end.

Our original plan was to tow across Lake Yellowstone....then walk to Thorofare cabin at SE corner of park....then to Hawk's Rest (most remote place in lower 48)...then on down to "Parting of the Waters national landmark"...then out to civilization near Moran, WY.  About 50-60 miles.

But...this chickenfoot got cold feet over the flight to Jackson.....so safest thing in my twisted mind was to take the train to Glacier and do some hiking.  Last minute scrambling two months before departure got us some backcountry reservations.

Day1....Amtrak service?  Well, lets just say it has to be experienced to be appreciated.  Ride time averages 16 hours from Detroit Lakes, MN to East Glacier, MT.

I'll post a trip log and photo links for any of you who desire to see it, or need some info on what to do there.  You more experienced hikers will be bored.  I oversharpened my 1st attempt at the post-production photos.  You'll have to live with the "graininess" as I'm too lazy to go back and redo the originals.

Day2....arrived last night 2 hours late, to East Glacier station.  The station is quite historic.  Car rental place was still open and picked us up nicely, and today we are off, to see what there is to see for a day.

East Glacierlodge from the Amtrak station
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View from the lodge balcony from which we had brunch.
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A view from the 3rd floor inside the lodge.  Rooms are spartan and decor is 1950'ish.  A night here goes for $189 up in the nosebleed section.  Hint...stay at the many mom/pop places nearby.  Seeing the hotel is free and it's open to the public.  Same amount of dough will get you 3 nights elsewhere.  Notice the lodge is virtually supported by massive pines.
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We decide to spend the day circling the park..Tomorrow we start a 5 day hike and we want to see a few things first.  A short jaunt up the road is Two Medicine lake.  Here's a typical view of Mt. Sinopah at the lake.  A close by view of the scenery as we leave there and head for St. Mary.
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We run up to Many Glacier to see the hotel and Swiftcurrent lake.  It's truely breath-taking as you come round the last corner.  Two views of the area.  You can see why the early RR buisnessmen sold it as "the American Alps" to the traveling public.  Trying to entice them to travel here instead of Europe.
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We head back down to St. Mary for lunch.  Try the Park cafe if you're out there...the pie is awesome.  It's worth waiting in line.  We decide to spend the afternoon going up to Logan pass on the "Going to the Sun Hiway".  For those of you who have never done it....it easily rivals the Beartooth hiway down near Yellowstone.  Narrow, twisty road with enough vistas to suck the life right out of you.

Here are some scattered views from along the road as I drive with one knee and hand, the other hand out the window on the camera.....my wife was screaming something at me but I never did figure it out?.
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And of course...who would pass up a shot at the infamous Wild Goose Isle....they make it easy for you...they run the road right past this vista.  This gem sits along the N shore of St. Mary lake.
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I'll post a sidebar (next post) of our afternoon excursion on the "Highline trail".  That kept us busy for about 5 hours.  We walked to Haystack butte and back (about 1/2 way to Granite Park Chalet) for those of you familiar with the area.

Next we head down the west side...I only took one pic as I was too busy playing Mario Andretti with the "paddle shift" in our rented Audi.  By the way, if you're wondering who won.....Wally did...no one was killed to the best of my knowledge.  Mrs Wally had even quit her incessant screaming and was enjoying the race.  A view from near McDonald lodge on same named lake.
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We now race back against the darkness to East Glacier along the S border on US #2.  A short 50+ miles.  We wine and dine ourselves at the little Mexican joint in town...Serrano's.  Highly recommended to any of you staying out there.

Tommorrow...we enter the wilds!

.....more to follow......

Highline Trail sidebar.....

This trail bisects Logan pass atop the continental divide.  Many day hikers go to Hidden lake southward.  We chose to walk to Haystack butte (about 3.5 mi one-way).  Had to try out the new hiking boots.  Wally is not a hiker and never broke his boots in.  He never researched socks and he failed to understand the concept of "liner socks" to reduce friction.  In fact, Wally had just bought these boots as a "second reject" from a REI 2nd hand reseller, 2 days before the trip.  Now Wally is about to "go to school"!

The Highline trail heading north proceeds all the way up to Goat Haunt at the S end of Waterton lake.  About 8 mi or so in, is the remote outpost Granite Park where you can backcountry sleep in style at the Chalet if you desire.

We see MUCHO fresh grizzly scat and my bladder was squeamish.  We never see the big bruin up close though.  After a rest at Haystack, we head back to the car at Logan.  I got to thinkin'....all the views are gorgeous here...one pic will do, so here's my fav....it typifies the entire experience of this section of the Highline trail.
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The start of the Higline to the N from Logan features a several hundred yard traverse of the loose rock shale these mt's are made of.  The trail gets somewhat narrow....and the park has placed a handline covered in garden hose for those who've soiled themselves.  Mrs. Wally clung to it and had to be drug accross.....you can see the line here in the pic behind her (the green garden hose).....doesn't she look happy to be posing out here on the ledge?  You can note the road dropping away to the W as it heads down the other side of Logan pass.
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.....later.....

Day3....
Our backcountry hike begins.  We head out of East Glacier enroute to  West Glacier along US#2.  Then into Apgar village where the local back-country office is, to pickup our permits.  They also have an obligatory video....just like the BW/Q.

This one's all about backcountry behavior, and much about bear awareness and safety.  My bear "pucker factor" had been growing for a month....and by the end of the video...I was ready to call it quits.  Here's a line from the end of the video that I'll quote for you via recollection....

"......most grizzly bears want to avoid you as much as you want to avoid them.  But, occasionaly, a grizzly might see you as a potential food source.  If you feel threatened by the bear, or feel that the grizzly intends to eat you, then it's very important to act aggressive.  Pick up a stick and wave it.  Throw rocks.  Wave your hands.  Do everything possible to show the bear you are not going to be an easy meal....".

Ok, see my reason for fear?  The ranger gets in his last barbs by warning me that the Bowman lake trialhead and backwoods camp are being frequented by grizzly.  Perhaps we'd like to purchase a can of bear spray?  Mrs. Wally decides we are going in sans-spray and drags me out to the car and changes my underwear.

We head N up into Northfork country (the Northfork of Flathead river borders the park here).  We are headed up about 30 miles of rough gravel road to Bowman lake campground....about 10 mi S of Canadian border.  After a slow ride we arrive.
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We take way too long to gearup and load our packs and don't hit the trailhead 'tll 2 PM.  We are headed in 7 mi to the end of the lake in the photo, for our first nights camp.  Days 2-3 will take us up and over the pass you see at the end of the lake.  Here was the "Last Will and Testament" photo.
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View from along the N shore of Bowman trail.  It follows the shoreline the whole way, making for a stunning hike.  MUCHO bear scat everywhere!  I was sans-spray and now I was sans-tinker bells.  My wife was breaking all the rules by "not hiking together".  She was constantly running ahead of my lard-butt.  You'd think she wanted to lose me or something?  Hiking alone, I was no match for the grizzly.
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Rainbow peak on S side of Bowman lake.
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Sunrise from Bowman camp the next morning....we're going up and over that badboy today....
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let the pain begin......

Day 4....
If I was to write a journel, I'm sure it would have read...."today I was schooled in the fine art of pain".  We hit the trail early and I was sopping wet within 1 hour.  Had to tie a bandana around my drip line to keep the salt out of my eyes.  Wife continued to leave me alone behind on the trail.  Me and the bears, I felt they were watching me from behind every nook....
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After a couple of hours...we begin to get some elevation.  We climb 2100 ft in 1.5 miles.  You figure it out!  But if it wasn't for the six-pack I carry (see Last Will Testament pic....last post), I would have failed the challenge.  Actually my wife informed me if it wasn't for the "party ball" I carry, she would have gotten over the pass in half the time.  Gesh, you'd think I asked her to carry my pack the whole way?

Another potential journal entry...."when attemting a challenge....make sure the necessitites of life are in your pack (tent and food).  That way, when you turn around to quit, there's no question as to who's in charge". ...

My feet were screaming as if they'd been torched with gasoline.  I begged and screamed like a baby to quit.  But the woman kept going, never even contemplating the word "quit".  She continually threatens to tell all my work associates back home, of my testicular weakness.  We were going to attempt a hike to a special Glacier place, "Hole-in-the-Wall" tomorrow.  But it was now evident that I'd be doing no additional mileage due to the erosions developing on my feet.  The only thing I saw of Hole-in-the-Wall was this shot of it.  It's about 1000 ft above us as we traverse to Brown's pass.  If you "Google" it, you'll see that it's a "hanging cirque".  If you look hard enough, you can see the hanging edge up above us.
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We make Brown's pass and here's the pic to prove it.  We have another 2.5 mi to go to camp...and to our horror.....we discover it's 900 ft downhill.  We both sat down and cried for 10 minutes.  Our dogs were starting to scream and now mine were bleeding too.
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My last view towards Hole-in-the-Wall spur as we decide to skip it and head for camp.
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The view back towards where we'd come from.  Off in the distance is Bowman lake where we started.
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After we cried a spell, my wife began the descent down to Thunderbird pond and valley.  Our camp was only a mile+ away, but a bone-jarring 900 ft drop on top of bleeding feet.  This view is of the "Hawksbill" as we contemplate our descent.  The Hawksbill is a promentory/feature that juts out to the N off of Thunderbird mountain.  Our camp for the night lies just off the point of the "bill".
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At the bottom we came across ice-cold Thunderbird pond....melt-water off of Thunderbird glacier.  Momma moose awaited for our amusement.  She didn't even care that we had our stinky dogs in with her.  Perhaps this is where I innocculated my colon?
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....the nightmare continues....

Day 5....
Morning view out the tent door brings hope to my soul....
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Most camps in Glacier are quite scenic...but when you reserve on short notice...you tend to get less desirable ones.  Here's the Hawksbill camp.  Just a wide dirt spot in the trail....not in the forest, but gorgeous views.
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We decide to spend the morning at Lake Francis.....probably the second most scenic spot in Glacier (IMO).  It was absolute heaven...We stripped down to our skivies and bathed...then laid, drying in the sun for a couple of hours, just licking our wounds.  A real "do-nothing" day.  View of the Lake Francis waterfall coming down off of Dixon glacier.
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View down the Valley towards Lake Janet, Goat Haunt and Waterton lake...thats the Citadel peaks in the distance.
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View from camp N....the flanks of Chapman peak.  Canada and Waterton park and Cameron lake are just over that "hill".
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.....the metamorphosis...

Day6....heading out

We climb up and over on our way out, back to Bowman lake to spend the last night.  The 900 ft climb back up to pass.
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One last view of the pass.
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Back down, both of us hobbling.  We limp back into Bowman camp just at dusk.  Again, I'm alone, 1/2 mi behind wife......Echos of the bear video ringing in my head...."never hike alone in the dark"!

****---->OBLIGATORY PADDLING INSERT HERE<-----*****
That night a father and son from CO paddled into camp...they came the 7 miles up lake, in twin kayaks from the trailhead.  They said they had some phenomenal pics from out on the water.  Son had brought a fishing rig and dad didn't know how to make head nor tails of it.  I helped kid tie on an old rusty spoon and in 10 minutes he had a 2 lb. Lake Trout from shore.  Lakers are non-native, and can not be thrown back (I believe?).  It tasted yummy as he shared a small bite with all those in camp.

Day 7....

This morning, just 50 yds down beach from camp....yes indeed we did see a grizzly.  Was an avg sized bear.  We're sunnin' on beach and wife says..."look a bear"...Grizz is chasing a deer right down the beach.  Deer loses the grizz by ducking into woods.  Bear stops and looks at us for a few seconds and disappears into trees also..
...."Just great" I thought...Now there's a hungry bear thinking about me!
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Walking back 7 mi to Bowman trailhead.
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Driving back to West Glacier...we stop in the small village of Polebridge.  This place is like a LSD trip.  You can go back in time and see flower children (now in their 50-60's) running the place.  Electricity by generator only.  One of the few phones in the North fork is here.  And here is where a little slice of heaven comes down to Earth.  The bakery here makes some treats that I can't even describe.  We fill our gastrums on $20 worth and call it lunch.
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Remainder of day is back across GTS hiway and up to Waterton park for the night.  We were to hike the infamous Crypt lake trail at Waterton tomorrow, but I can't even walk to the bathroom because of the ulcers on my feet.  That hike is off, but we head up to Canada for the night anyway.   Waterton village is pretty touristy.  I took no pics of the place.

Day 8....since no hiking for us....we drive back to Lake Cameron in S Waterton and scope out a possible future hike.  Our backcountry camp in Glacier a few days prior was just 2 mi over that ridge.
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Getting out of Waterton, I take a couple of pics of the valley.  S end of the lake lies within the USA/Glacier park.  Note, in the first pic you can see the famous "Prince of Wales" hotel up to the right.
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Then we get the heck out of there...decide to go back to Many Glacier and take the boat ride to Lake Josephine.  We pass Chief Mt. along the way back into the US.  Eat at Park cafe again!
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At Many Glacier....you get in a boat...cruise across Swiftcurrent lake....walk 1/4 mi to the landing at Josephine...and get in another boat.  View from Josephine towards Grinell glacier...that glacier up near top is Salamander.
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How dry was it this year?  Well, here we're leaving Many Glacier and Swiftcurrent creek is dammed to form Lake Sherburne.  See for yourself how dry it is.
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After a long afternoon at Many Glacier...we decide to take the "outside" loop, farther/but faster...back to our last night in East Glacier.  This time we stayed at the Mt. Pine motel...more like $69/night.  View of the Glacier front as seen from the plains of Montana....somewhere just N of Browning, MT.  Again, one last feast for the belly at Serrano's that night.
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.....and home tomorrow....Oh the agony of 16 hrs on a train.

Day 9...

Get on train at 10AM

Gut cramps and freq trips to the potty start at 11 AM.

Fever and chills start about noon.

Pull into Detroit lakes at 3:30 AM on Day 10.

Gotta work that afternoon.  Think I'm calling in sick.

Next time, bring better boots and socks.  Ulcers on my feet take 3 weeks to heal.

Was a blast...gonna do it again!  Hope you all can get there yourselves.

nice report wally :) read every word..I've always wanted to Glacier, but haven't yet, thanks to your report, I won't have to go .saved me thou$and$..I read your first lines about going to the S. end of Yellowstone lake with high hopes.. thought we were going there...see other places to paddle :)

Too funny River....!  Man I wish we had taken on Yellowstone....but I was woefully weak.

Yes, you can paddle in Glacier on Lake Bowman and many other lakes.  Thought the report was fair fodder here as you can also camp many places here.

I'll add a disclaimer at the top to prevent time wasteage.

Paddling on Two Medicine Lake!

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Stunning photos Wally, the place is gorgeous.  Appreciate the time you spent displaying them here.

-YB

Thanks for the great report, Wally! You definitely put Glacier on my list of places to visit.

Ranger

davkumi.....nice shot of Painted Teepee in the background.  Did you rent the boat at the lake?  Or bring personal craft?

YB and Ranger....thanks. I enjoyed reliving it.  Hope you both can go.

I'm considering another trip out the to stay at Granit Park Chalet and day trip over three days to various backcountry vistas.

Yellowstone....awaits for me another day...

Wally:  We brought our own canoe.  It is an ultalight aluminum 14 ft by Radisson.  Only weights 41 lbs!   We camped at the Two Medicine campground and took day trips on the lake.   Another photo attached.

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Wally,
What a coincidence, I am planning a similar trip this summer over the 4th of July weekend. Do you have a list of things you would do different? Our plan as it stands now (will change 100+ times.) Is to drive their the 3rd, 4th, and arrive on the 5th.

We were going to try and backcountry hike/camp for 5 nights and then hike out.

What I have picked up is, make sure you have broken in your boots!!! Any other nuggets of knowledge to pass along? Would hike the same trail in the future? Also having similar feelings about bears, not so much for my safety but am worried for my wife etc... Black Bears no problem, Grizzly' makes me nervous.

I'll take any info you have, it's tough to plan it having never been their before.

Furball.....
some novice thoughts on a 5-day hike, from myself....

...get in shape prior to leaving
...obtain and break-in your boots well before the trip
...have a plan to deal with blisters...moleskin, tape, padding,etc.
...consider experimenting with a liner sock that hikers use to decrease friction over their foots pressure points
...use high quality hiking socks

if you're more of a flabby, weaker hiker (like me)...consider trying out trekking poles before you go.  The experienced hikers give mixed reviews.  Some amazingly fit hikers choose to use them as well.  Here's a link to the Glacier chat page on the "trekking pole" thread/discussion for you to review.

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The bear danger is real...just use your head.  My buddy told me from his days hiking in Alaska..."if the grizz can fit your head in it's mouth, you'll probably die.  If it can't, you'll probably live".  Reassuring I thought.  He correlated death rates in Grizz atacks, to the ability of the animal to puncture or crush your skull.  You can remember that when you hear that "bump" in the night at 2AM.

One thing's for sure...Although bears are numerous...attacks are quite rare.  Search the above Glacier link for the discussions on bear sprays.

Your biggest "threat" may be the deer.  They have absolutly no fear of people...and if a dry year, will come right to your tent and take anything they can get.  If it has sweat...thay want the material to chew and get the salt you left behind.  Many who left t-shirts, socks, shoes out, found them gone.  The Lake Francis site even had a warning posted to the tree on the deer.  If you urinate on the ground....go well away from your camp...the deer and other critters will be attracted to the salt products in it.

If you're a photo hound....bracket shoot everytghing.  The place is stunning....you'll take twice as many pics as you think.

Go lightweight with all your gear if you can afford it....you'll be happy later.

The prior link to the Glacier board has all the info you could ever want and they are quite helpful.

Have fun!

Wally this was excellent.  It brought back many memories for me and my wife.  We went there twice before we were married.  

In 1984 we were young and kinda stupid but we took the train from Chicago with only our backpacks for two weeks.  Made the BIG mistake of reading "Night of the Grizzlies" (true account of 2 girls eaten alive in 1966 at Glacier Park) on the train.  We stayed at the East Glacier Lodge then set out on what was supposed to be a three hour hike up to "scenic point."  Well, we disregarded a cowboys advice not to go because of high winds and ended up spending the night at 7,000 feet laying on our ground tarp in 70 mile an hr. gusts.

My girlfriend (now wife) sprained an ankle on the way down so we ended up hitch hiking around the park and taking those big red tour buses.  We had $3.50 to our name when it was time to leave so we bought a loaf of bread and peanut butter & jelly for the 28 hour train ride home.

The next year we drove out to Yellowstone/Glacier for 2 weeks in my Jeep wrangler.  Cody Wyoming is a great place to stop.  We were there for the 4th of July.  Went to a rodeo and saw the parade down Main St.

Thanks for the memories.  We hope to get back there real soon.   :)

East Glacier in 1984

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High camp in 1985

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Daypack and pre Mrs. Daypack 1985

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July 4th 1985 parade in Cody Wy.  You don't see this sort of stuff everyday where I'm from.

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Hey Daypack!

Nice pics and a story.  Seems many of us have done the young and wild thing.  Pre-Mrs. Wally and I did a similar but less intesnse hike in Glacier back in 1992.    I also got her to walk up Mt. Sheridan back at Heart Lake/Yellowstone in 1988.  We drove out in my Pinto that had a 1600cc motor with no heater core and about $50 to our name.  "Hoboed" on the backroads, on private property each nite.

Love your pics!  Those types of stories are priceless.  I hear the Cody museum is a must, if one has time to see it.

East Glacier Lodge is timeless isn't it.

Train ride from C town?....UGGHH!  That was a true feat of endurance.

Nice to meet you.

You mention about the bears in Glacier - that whole thing really messes with your mind.  Pre Mrs. Daypack was extremely frightened when on the trail.  She wore these bells on the outside of her pack so as not to startle a bear.  

One time she saw what appeared to be a large bear coming down the trail at us.  She sorta sqeaked and ran off in the opposite direction like a bat outta hell.  I looked further and realized what she saw was a bunch of free ranging cattle walking down the trail.   ;D

On the 85 trip we did the girlfriend flew home after 2 weeks and I spent 10 days solo backpacking.  That was a real test of my mental endurance as I pictured man eating bears chasing me down for lunch.   :-/  

One morning camped beside a gorgeous trout lake in the woods I DID hear a bear.  I was laying in my tent in the early dawn and heard what sounded like a low moan.  It then got louder but seemed to be moving back down the trail.  I was scared crapless.

My guess is that the bear (grizzly or black, not sure) saw my tent and ran.

And that train ride....  ::)  We were in coach not having money for a sleeper car.  It was extremely hard to sleep with all the stops and commotion.  But it was a very good experience.  I remember hanging in the lounge car after dark with people from all over and this dude had a guitar and was singing folk songs.  It was pretty magical.  

I remember talking with someone who was moving to alaska.  As a young twenty something that was pretty inspiring.  When we went back to Glacier the following year I applied for a job at the Forest Service.

About a month later I got a message that they had called me back about a position.  And then I did something that I regret to this day.  I didn't return the call.   :-/

It was nice to meet you Wally.   :)

A friend of mine who doesn't do the outdoor thing sent me this regarding the difference between black and grizzly bears and the use of "bear" bells and bear spray.

" Outdoors men should recognize the difference between black bear and grizzly bear scat:
Black bear scat is smaller and contains lots of berries and squirrel fur.
Grizzly bear scat is larger, has little bells in it, and smells like pepper."

A little dark humor for the outdoor set ;)