Background
On Wednesday, September 1st, 2021, I hiked Grinnell Glacier Trail. It's an 11.2 mile heavily trafficked hike near St. Mary in Glacier National Park.
In the morning, I woke up at Fish Creek Campground and drove to the trailhead. The road was being paved so there were many delays to get to the trailhead. Once I attempted to park, I was told to park about a quarter mile away from the trailhead near a boat loading parking lot because the main trailhead was full.
Upon reaching the glacier I heard a loud thunderous sound. The glacier had just cracked and I saw a large piece of it bobbing and floating in the water. To get to the actual glacier, I had to cross a stream. When descending, I saw a grizzly bear in the distance and then later a few mountain goats. It's important to always have bear spray in the park.
Once I finished the hike, I camped at Johnson's Campground and RV Park. There were no camp spots in the park and without a reservation far in advance, it's unlikely to get one in this area. The cost was $34.29 a night. The campground had showers which you could take once with a 6 minute token. They claimed to always have availability so I would recommend this as an option at the last minute.
Going in the park required a pass for $35 and the Going To The Sun Road pass for another $2. It is important to plan ahead with these passes ahead of time because the Going To The Run Road pass is capped at a certain amount of people per day, with the pass lasting a week.
Overall, this was one of the best hikes I did in Glacier National Park for its wildlife and unique glacier lake area.
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