Honeymoon Pt 2: Glacier National Park

See Honeymoon Pt. 1: Banff, Canada

Next stop on our honeymoon was Glacier National Park, Montana!

 

We chose Glacier because it was a new experience for both of us.

Berty and I love exploring the mountains, and GNP had so many to choose from. We knew our measly one week here was already going to be too short!

Our first primary pit stop was Kalispel, MT. However, we ended up exploring the surrounding area nearly every day we were there! There is so much to love about this area.

Berty and I especially love the mountains and being outdoors – this place did not disappoint. Here are some highlights:

 

En route from Canada –> Montana

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En route from Canada:

To make a helluva long car ride better, we had some amazing views on our way across the border into Montana. There were so many landscape changes along the way.

Driving through Alberta there were rolling hills and cows in every pasture. Soon after, as we came into Montana the mountains came into view again.

Finally, before we crossed the border back into the states, we traveled through Waterton-Glacier National Park. We had NO IDEA this place existed but it was too beautiful to forget.

We are already thinking about returning here for a camping trip in the coming year. All in all, even though the drive was more than 6 hours (we naively thought it was going to be 4), the views (and company!) would have me do it all over again.

 

Lake Josephine

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Lake Josephine:

We began hiking here around 4:30am to catch the sunrise. With bear spray in hand (we were told it was bear season!) we walked a little over a mile to find this secluded dock and quaint ferry boat.

When we arrived it was still pretty dark, but as soon as the sun came out…it was totally worth it for the oranges and reds that lit up the mountains! This was probably my favorite stop on our honeymoon. It was so peaceful.

 

 

Swiftcurrent Lake

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Swiftcurrent Lake:

Choppy waters didn’t stop Berty from capturing this view! We ended up camping here in Many Glacier after very little persuasion.

It was the first time sleeping in our awesome camper van! We were so thankful to have that van because it provided us with the ability to make split second adventure decisions…like this one.

Ex: “Hey, I know it’s 5pm, but what do you say about camping tonight?…..”  We discovered that it was very easy to camp in many Glacier – especially because we just barely beat the rush of summer campers.

 

 

Lake McDonald

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Lake McDonald:

So many lakes! This one was fun to explore because it had so many picturesque places along its shoreline.

We stayed until sunset and enjoyed the changing colors on the mountain and calming waters. Our original hope was to grab a rental boat and coast along the glassy water, but when we arrived, everywhere was closed!

We ended up having an equally enjoyable time sitting on the shore and visiting with one another. After a while, we caught sight of a huckleberry ice cream stand so OF COURSE, we went to go grab some!

Ice cream by the lake with your new husband…could a girl ask for more?

 

 

Hiawatha Bike Trail (Montana/Idaho)

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Hiawatha Bike Trail:

It is the final day of our honeymoon and we drove through Montana on our way to the Idaho/Montana border.

We rented some bikes and were on our way to meet my family for a fun afternoon. This 15 mile ride kicked our butt! Most noteworthy were the crazy long train tunnels and super-high trestles we got to experience along the way.

As a victory dinner, we naturally went to Denny’s and proceeded to eat back all our calories…and more.

 

Looking back at all we did, we recommend a road-trip honeymoon for anyone! It was fairly inexpensive, and we were able to see new things every day.

Our hope is that we can make this a annual Mandagie family tradition – exploring new places via car every year!

Read also: Honeymoon Pt 1

 

Thanks for reading!

Love, The Mandagies

 

Notes:

Photos by: Berty Mandagie (obvi)