On the Road Nomad Life: Glacier National Park Montana and Idaho
Snyder Lake Trail, Glacier National Park.
A US Road Trip in Montana and Idaho! Our on the road series continues in Glacier National Park and into Idaho in this post!
The week began with waking up to birds while sleeping on the ground in a tent in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.
The week concluded with birds doing another wake up call (I would assume different birds but who knows for sure), on the ground in the same tent, and residing in Glacier Campground just outside of Glacier National Park in Montana.
Do I need to report more about what has happened in the past seven days or is that enough?
Avalanche Lake, Glacier National Park
This past week really hammered home the magic and the tragedy of some of our big Western states. I’ll start with a recap of what I have done and the magical part.
I spent my time in the massive states of Montana and Idaho this week. After the sun rising in Yellowstone the drive out of the park landed us in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Idaho Falls was a nearby stopping over point to work for the day and spend the night. I had been here once before and it has a nice downtown bike path, gorgeous waterfall overflow from the Snake River, and a Japanese Peace Garden that is a great place to meditate at!
Idaho Falls on the Snake River in downtown Idaho Falls.
Following this night the drive took us up and through Craters of the Moon National Monument, which is a rather fascinating place to witness with the naked eye.
Volcano eruptions (just 2,000 years ago I might add) have turned this place in the middle of nowhere Idaho into a fascinating half day of exploration. With wind gusts up to 50MPH that day we hiked a few miles around volcanic lava rocks but the flowers that grow with the dead trees and old molten craters in the backdrop of the Lost Mountain Range in Idaho make for a picturesque walking path. It was only about an hour out of the way en route to the town we would be spending the rest of the week in so it was well worth it!
Lava Rocks, Craters of the Moon.
If you have listened to our Idaho Podcast you might remember Amy K mentioning that a town in Idaho has declared itself “The Center of the Universe.” Yep you heard me right. Not just of Idaho but the center of the universe. Learn more HERE. Maybe this is part of the tragedy, they obviously aren’t the center of the universe. Neil DeGrasse Tyson is nodding his head in agreement with me somewhere. Either way…it’s interesting to pass through the town.
Goat Lake, Sawtooth National Forest.
The sleeper of the week? We scheduled four nights in Stanley Idaho as a stopping point between Idaho Falls and Glacier National Park for the next weekend. It looked like a cool small mountain town near Redfish Lake.
I was BLOWN AWAY. This region of Idaho to me was every bit as gorgeous as anywhere I have adventured in the lower 48 of the United States.
This was part of the reason I wanted to do the Nomad Life. See places and have experiences slower or that I don’t normally see.
There are several other upcoming encounters like this that I can’t wait to have and I am anticipating. Nothing beats spending time with people you normally don’t see. I think I wrote about that re: my parents and Ryan and Ashley in Volume Two!
While at Redfish Lake I spoke to the kayak rental worker and he gave me some local strenuous hikes to take on. Goat Lake was just as beautiful as any hike I did in Yellowstone or Glacier. This place is a gem and I highly recommend it if you are in GREAT shape and want to hike up/down a loose dirt hill, boulder hop, and cross two beaver dams!
If you enjoy fly fishing or you are a white water rafting lover they have that as well in Stanley Idaho. The outdoor adventure options are endless out of this small town.
Sawtooth National Forest.
The Hot Springs nearby were HOT and so was the Coffee at Peaks & Perks. The best part was the town had great wifi so I could work during the day until EST ended and then go hit the outdoor spaces for several hours because the sun didn’t set until 1030pm or so there!
Saturday morning took us to Glacier National Park. The National Park Service calls it the Crown of the Continent and it was the 2nd trip in my life to this exquisite piece of the world.
The park just reopened due to COVID-19 and most of it is still shut down to keep the Blackfeet Native American Tribe safe from all of us (us being people in our country who won’t wear masks.) If you aren’t aware COVID-19 affected the Native Americans at a much higher rate than the rest of the country and they need us to respect their land and donating HERE.
The camping spot was great at Glacier Campground and the carryout veggie burritos from the Wandering Gringo Cafe across the street were dynamite!
We did hikes to Avalanche Lake, Snyder Lake, Trail of the Cedars, and due to limited parking was able to have the unique luxury of bicycling 18 miles of the Going to the Sun Road with NO CARS on it for half of it. It was an iconic ride and one of the few positive takeaways from COVID-19 to me.
Starting in Yellowstone. Ending in Glacier. Discovering a new gem of a region in Stanley Idaho. Reconvening with an old friend while making new ones (like Luna the dog my Stanley ID pizza eating partner.) What a week.
This is a beautiful slice of the country. I just wish there was more of people from all walks of life in our country/the world. We have a white privilege problem in the outdoors. Our black, latino, women, LGBTQ+, lower income, and more are not able to get access to these places as easily as white men can. Or they don’t feel safe when getting there.
It’s something I have been working on in the past with friends like HERO USA and something that is more of a pressing issue to me now. It’s a lane I hope I can feel in the Equal Rights Movement.
These spaces belong to all of us and they offer us so much joy, stress relief, health/wellness, break from the norm, and a chance to revel in the splendor of the world. Everyone should be able to get to them so easily as myself and other privileged white men can.
The people who live here are kind and soft when I speak to them so the Trump signs, the love of guns, support of border control, and allowing systemic racism to continue blows my mind. I think it’s because they know no different and no one has challenged them to learn or change. They have never been around the kindness and generosity of others that don’t look and act like them.
Trump and his regime have them scared that equal rights means less opportunities for them. That’s wrong and a lie and if you are buying that story then you might have a propaganda bullet lodged inside your skull just like RATM said back in 1991.
Everyone can win. Everyone can enjoy Montana and Idaho. Everyone can enjoy our National Parks.
Let’s make it more accessible because no one should be left out to see and experience places like this!
Another week in Montana beckons along with heading to Washington State finally.
Thanks for following along, be well!
Because Adventure Feeds the Soul,
Mike R
Snyder Lake, Glacier National Park.