By Michael Lanza
After more than three decades of wilderness backpacking all over the U.S. and around the world, rarely does a new trip immediately leap into my all-time top 10. But that’s exactly what happened when three friends and I backpacked a north-south traverse of 94 miles through Glacier National Park in a glorious week in September, mostly following the Continental Divide Trail.
Backpacking for six days from Chief Mountain Trailhead on the Canadian border to Two Medicine in the park’s southeast corner, we enjoyed the full Glacier experience, from daily wildlife encounters to scenery unlike anything you can find anywhere else in America—as I think you’ll see in the photos below.
We saw bighorn sheep, mountain goats, black bears, moose, and one grizzly bear (from a distance that was adequately safe, though we were wishing it was greater). It being September, we also heard elk bugling almost every morning and evening, and enjoyed mostly sunny, dry days and comfortably cool nights.
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We also happened to meet a number of CDT thru-hikers on the final day or two of their months-long journey, and it was kind of special hearing their stories and seeing their excitement over their imminent completion of an epic trek. Almost to a person, they all said Glacier is one of the two best sections of the CDT (along with the Wind River Range).
And then, of course, there were the views of skyscraping cliffs, waterfalls, and icy peaks looming high above deep, glacier-carved valleys. We made long climbs over five of Glacier ’s finest mountain passes—Redgap, Piegan, Triple Divide, Pitamakan, and Dawson.
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Do this trip right with my expert e-guide to backpacking the CDT through Glacier.
Although the scenery really awed us every day of the trip, it seemed like the perfect culmination of it when, on the last day of backpacking, we followed the high, alpine Dawson Pass Trail. It delivered just maybe the trek’s best, long views of the glaciers and peaks in the park’s remote interior.
After the backpacking trip, we capped off our visit with an eight-mile, out-and-back dayhike from Two Medicine following the CDT up to Scenic Point—for yet more views of those lakes, valleys, and peaks that have reminded visitors for many generations of the Alps.
Click on the photo gallery below and scroll through these pictures from that trip—they’ll give you a strong sense of the inspiring majesty of this north-south traverse through Glacier. Then scroll below the gallery to find links to my stories about this trip and others in Glacier at The Big Outside.
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See my feature story about this 94-mile hike, “Wildness All Around You: Backpacking the CDT Through Glacier.”
See also “America’s Top 10 Best Backpacking Trips” and all of my stories about Glacier National Park, including these (some of which require a paid subscription to read):
“5 Reasons You Must Backpack in Glacier National Park”
“Descending the Food Chain: Backpacking Glacier National Park’s Northern Loop”
“Jagged Peaks, Mountain Lakes, and Wild Goats: A 3-Day Hike on Glacier’s Gunsight Pass Trail”
“The 6 Best Long Hikes in Glacier National Park”
I can help you plan this or any trip you read about at my blog. Find out more here.
Want to take what’s arguably the best long backpacking trip in Glacier? Check out my expert e-guide “The Best Backpacking Trip in Glacier National Park,” which tells you everything you need to know to plan and successfully pull off that 65-mile hike of a lifetime. And see all of my e-guides.
If you want to plan a backpacking trip in Glacier or any other popular park, start with my “10 Tips For Getting a Hard-to-Get National Park Backcountry Permit.”
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