Our Summer Trip to Montana!

Well, this post has been a long time coming. Ok, just a little over a month but I’m finally sitting down to write out our trip to Glacier and Eureka, Montana before it leaves my brain. My husband and I celebrated 10 years of marriage and his 40th birthday earlier this year so we knew a big trip for us was necessary. I can’t remember the last time we took a trip like this, just the 2 of us. It had certainly been years! He had heard amazing things about Glacier and mentioned he wanted to take a trip there. I was hesitant throughout majority of the planning – why are we flying across the country, leaving our children for a full week to go to Montana?! At the end of the trip, I could not have been more thankful for the time we spent together and to see an amazing part of the country I would not have seen otherwise. You can bet I’m already starting to brainstorm where we will go for my 40th. (We’ve got a few more years before that 😉)

Tips I learned along the way: always put in your location of where you are going in google maps because there is not a ton of service. Bring bear spray and bug spray with you on the hikes! (This is the best bug repellent and after bite I have found!)

If you missed my post on what I used to pack for Montana, you can see it here.

We left on a Sunday and flew into Spokane, Washington. Glacier is not an easy place to get to which we learned while booking this trip. We took our time driving after a long day of flying and the time difference was definitely on our side. Thankfully, we made both flights, all of our luggage arrived and our rental car was ready and waiting for us. We asked the local lady at the rental car counter where to eat for lunch and she mentioned Couer d’Alene. We stopped on the drive over and my husband and I will say Crafted was one of the best meals we had on the trip. We continued on our drive to Whitefish even with me having a slight emotional breakdown in the car (I was exhausted and missed my kiddos) we made it to our hotel around 9pm local time. We checked into The Pine Lodge where we would spend the next few nights.

Monday we woke up and popped right up for a busy day of white water rafting and hiking. The weather was absolutely beautiful – a little chilly in the morning but it warmed right up by the middle of the day. White water rafting was first on the itinerary! My husband had booked an early rafting time with Glacier Guides on the Flathead River. It was stunning! I didn’t bring my phone with me so I didn’t get any pictures of us or the scenery. This was one of the top 3 things we did on the whole trip. The company was fantastic and the guide was so knowledgable about the area, the history, white water rafting, everything! Anytime someone had a question, he was able to answer it. One thing we did like about Glacier Guides is that we rafted with only 2 other couples. The other rafts on the river had at least 10-14 people in one raft! Lunch was recommended at a local food truck down the road called Wondering Gringo! It was delicious! We started making our way into West Glacier, enjoyed huckleberry ice cream at the cutest entrance of the park and then started the drive up The Going to the Sun Road after 4pm. It was a beautiful drive and we made it as far as we could since the full road had not opened to cars yet. We hiked Cedar Trails and then headed back to Whitefish for dinner at Abruzzo which was very yummy!

Tuesday was another busy day! We woke up, had breakfast then headed out to East Glacier. The park had still not opened fully to cars so we took the long 2-3 hour drive all the way around to get there. It was worth it! We had a boat tour planned which ended up being my favorite activity of the trip! If you ever take a trip to Glacier, I highly recommend doing a boat tour of St. Mary’s! It’s probably the most beautiful water and mountain filled with snow that I have ever seen! The day had gotten away from us and we were hungry by the end of the boat tour. Two Sisters came highly recommended by a reader here and locals there so we had to try it! We knew we wouldn’t be in the area again and it was worth it! So delicious, the waitress was a local that we enjoyed talking to and their huckleberry shake was amazing!! On the way back to Whitefish, we stopped at 2 Medicine to hike. It was the end of the day and we were the only ones on the hike! Thankfully we didn’t see any bears but the mosquitos were quite intense!

By Wednesday, we had been waiting for The Going to the Sun Road to open and it finally did on this day! Our last day in Glacier! It typically opens in early July but the area had received so much snow they were still working to plow the roads. Once we got up to the top, it all made sense as it was still freezing up there with snow on the mountain! We had learned after talking to locals that if you don’t gain access with a pass to drive the road, you can rent a kayak in the park and that is your entrance! So that’s what we did! We packed pb&j’s, headed out on the water and enjoyed lunch on Lake MacDonald with stunning views. It was so peaceful and quite, the perfect way to spend the morning. We then took off for the top of the mountain to Logan Pass. I had no idea the views that were ahead of us but I can say it was worth the wait and I’m so glad we were able to drive it! (I shared a reel on IG of the views if you missed it) We headed back down after and stopped to hike Johns Lake. We met a nice couple from Texas that we ended up hiking with. After that, we drove to Eureka, MT where we spent the remainder of our trip.

We arrived at Wilderness Lodge which was actually about 10 miles from Canada! Next time we will bring our passports. At this point, I couldn’t believe how late it stays light there. It was almost 10pm and we were outside walking with daylight! The next few days we relaxed, my husband played lots of golf, I lounged by the pool, we enjoyed couples massages, took naps and ate lots of yummy food at the clubhouse.

Saturday, we made the drive back to Couer d’Alene where my husband played another round of golf while I enjoyed a pedicure. We spent the night in Spokane to be there for our flight out the next day.

Let’s chat what I wore. I packed a little bit of everything and spent most of our time in Glacier in athletic clothing which I had anticipated. I packed this puffer jacket last minute and this lightweight water resistant packable windbreaker which was nice for the morning when it was chilly. I threw a dress on for dinner while we were in Eureka every night! The days warm up very nicely and there’s absolutely no humidity which was so great for my hair!

Outfit: racerback tank | athletic shorts | New Balance shoes