Glacier National Park is one of my favorite national parks that I have visited. It is filled with vast landscapes, mountains, valleys, waterfalls, crystal clear lakes, wildlife, and more. On my last trip to Glacier, I spent three nights backpacking in the backcountry. The first day was quite hazy, which blocked some of our view but led to a beautifully eerie landscape around our first campsite. After a long day of hiking on day two, we pitched our tents in a campsite that was technically closed for bear activity. Having seen a rather large Grizzly not even a mile into the beginning of the trail, we were slightly paranoid. The third day consisted of a lot of hiking on unkept trails, where following the indents in the bushes was our only chance of staying on “trail.” We climbed one final ridge and completed the last few miles with vast, 360 degree views of the mountains around us. Another scare came on top of this ridge, when we saw a lone Grizzly cub meandering around a good ways off the trail to our left. A cub without a mother is not a site you ever want to see in the backcountry, so we held our bear-spray close and kept a watchful eye. About a quarter mile down, we saw the mother on the other side of the trail. Despite the distance that the mother stood, it was clear that this was the largest bear I had ever seen. Just over a mile later, we were forced to pitch our tents and take extra precautions when cooking and eating dinner.
