Quantum Insanity, Part 2—Glacier National Park
“You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
Any direction you choose.”
Once the feet in my shoes healed—two months after the ill-fated New Mexico section, I pointed them north to Chief Mountain, the Northern Terminus of the CDT. U-Turn and I would walk south through Montana and Idaho and Wyoming. I hoped to make it to Colorado where it would be easy enough to turn left on the Colorado Trail and hike out to Denver if it was late in the season and ice axes became a thing.
I could be happy with going halfsies on a 3,000 mile trail.
Again, the trail tested my ability to be happy…
A little back story:
We weren’t supposed to be hiking the CDT in 2023.
We’d made all the arrangements for a PCT thru hike—permits secured, flights booked, seats saved on the bus to Campo, ice axes purchased and resupply boxes packed.
But snow pummeled the PCT in 2023. For comparison, 2017 was known as an epic snow year in the Sierra with a snowpack that topped out at 47.8 inches. 2023’s snow clocked in at 64.2 inches (from the LA Times).
Yeah, no thanks.
So said we and no doubt a hundred other people as Plan B (Hike the CDT instead!) was initiated by all.
How hard could it be, right? It’s just walking.
See that tiny lake in the way, way back? Start there and keep climbing. It’s just walking.
We met a lot of people who shared our Plan B in East Glacier.
Luna’s hostel looked like a refugee camp for people hoping to score a backcountry camping permit.
U-Turn and I neglected to do our research. We trusted in the walk-up system.
Dear reader…do not trust the walk up system!
Hot Tip: Don’t count on getting the permits you need for the hike you want through Glacier National Park (or probably any national park). Plan ahead. Find a way to make a plan even if you are a staunch non-planner like me. It may save your hike.
(BTW, GNP started a lottery system this year after breaking many, many hiker hearts last year. So there’s hope for next time.)
Doesn’t need a permit to live under a rock and glissade down patches of snow.
Would it have saved my hike?
I can’t say for sure. I’m more inclined to think weight training with a focus on hip abductor strengthening might have saved my hike, but that’s another discussion.
We were only able to plot out a permitted trek through the north half the park, no matter how much we flexed and contorted our itinerary.
The second half would have been a deranged jumble of high mileage days dipping into and out of the park, no doubt through some beautiful country, but all skipping some of the highlights.
At one point, U Turn, in frustration, suggested we just hike the road back to East Glacier (for a “continuous footpath”) and then put the National Park mishegoss as far behind us as possible as quickly as possible.
In the end, I didn’t have to entertain any of those unappetizing options.
I hiked 72.8 miles from Chief Mountain to the Going to the Sun Road, cobbling together a route that joined campsites where permits were available. It was spectacular and included a serendipitous stay in a chalet on the third night that is normally booked months in advance.
I would 100% wreck my knee again for this!
And a dubious privy on Day 2…
But, once again, it was impossible to start slow.
Glacier’s mountains, though not especially high, are challenging in the same way the White Mountains are challenging. The climbs and descents are sustained, rocky and steep. With the added spice of grizzly bears lurking in the shadows.
Approach to Piegan Pass…the trail is going up there somewhere.
My plan had been to slowly hike myself into hiking shape.
Two epiphanies:
This is a bad plan unless you can actually start slow.
This is a bad plan when you are 60 years old and prone to injury.
Imma need a better plan, y’all!
I hobbled down from Piegan Pass, once again in all kinds of hateful knee pain, hitched a ride back to St. Mary’s and within three days was on the Amtrak to Portland then a plane to Asheville, chewing my cud of disappointment and and trying to figure out how to do better next time.
Here comes my ride! On the plus side, I am newly in love with train travel.
At least I was reasonably confident there would be a next time…
I do hope to go back to Glacier and at least finish the park. It’s so special and gets bonus points for having an Amtrak station in East Glacier. Check out my GNP Adventure Page for more photos.
