Bergjord Boarding

July 29 – August 7 2016

by: Luke

Samie and I started this day slowly in our tent at the St. Mary campsite. We knew very little about Glacier before visiting. To us it was just another piece of protected land for us to call it quits for a couple of hours between driving. This oversight is what led to how many times we had to pick our jaws up off the ground.

After we got all packed up we plugged in the destination of our next campsite in Washington. The quickest route was through the park and there is only one road that goes through the entire park. This is how we first learned about ” Going to the Sun Road”

This is easily the most beautiful road I have ever driven on. It also happens to be the scariest. There are many hairpin turns with inches of room for error. There is also an incredible drop off to one side. It was the perfect storm for dads to yell at their family while driving and I had to steal glances at the scenery.

One cool little fact: The beginning of the movie “The Shining” is helicopter footage of Going to the Sun Road. The movie is set in Colorado but Stanley Kubrick wanted the feeling of the single road up to the mountain. You can see this tiny island ( Wild Goose Island)

Luckily whoever designed these roads made plenty of turn off areas to park for a few minutes to take photos and move some blood back into your hands.

The drive from East Glacier to West Glacier only takes a couple of hours but we easily filled our day with many stops and pictures. We even took a hike down to a crystal clear stream. The hike ended up being 2.5 miles long and absolutely drained us, but taking a step into nature was worth the sweat. It is also nice foreshadowing to the next year when we would come back to Glacier and go on a 12 mile hike because I read a map wrong.

We had plenty more stops and many more beath taking moments. This protected land is second to none. I often have conversations with people who have also made it a point to visit National Parks and Glacier is number one without fail.

This was a highlight of our road trip and we didn’t plan on it at all. That ended up being a theme our this crazy adventure, and most Sam and I have taken since.

After we made it through the Continental Divide and ended up in Apgar Village, we parked and walked around yet another amazing mountain town. There were many souvenir shops and you better believe we walked out with a magnet or two. There is also a fruit that only grows at high elevation called huckleberry, and we enjoyed that in many different forms from ice-cream to gummy bear.

After our walking and shopping we hit the road for Washington and our newest adventure the next day.