Category: Glacier National Park

Glacier checklists day 2, work

packing light
Only these items, plus what i wear on the plane, for an 11-night trip to Glacier National Park. Plus, temps will be near freezing most mornings. Remarkable.
Glacier National Park - The Crown of the Continent
Glacier National Park – The Crown of the Continent. No wifi and no cell signal on the walks.
clothes hanging on outdoor waistline
Merino wool is cleaned using fresh air. Anywhere from 14-30 days between soap and water washings. Travel hack for traveling light.

Whether walking slow or fast, there will almost always be frequent stops for vistas, incredible scenic beauty, wildlife, photos, water/snack breaks.

Speaking of snacks, we travel with two coolers in the rental vehicle. One for cold stuff. One for dry goods that attract chipmunks and mice that might stealthily get inside the rental. This happened once while we parked in Lake McDonald Lodge’s parking lot and then spent three nights seven miles away at Sperry Chalet.

Additionally, we…

  1. Wear layers.
  2. Gloves, warm hat for mornings and potential windchill, cap for sun block later.
  3. Carry bear spray.
  4. Carry plenty of water.
  5. Pack a lunch and snacks.
  6. Leave at o-dark hundred to secure trailhead parking.
  7. Aim to return to car by 1-3pm.
  8. And immediately start a mandatory hour of happiness.
  9. Breakfasts are grab-and-go type things from stuff in our room.
  10. Lunches we pack, often at trailhead, and enjoy on trail.
  11. Dinners, always a hotel or local restaurant.
  12. Evenings at Glacier Park Lodge are spent on a combination of balconies, in the lobby, or on the front lawn.

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This website is about our WORK. To ponder today’s post about our HOME, click here.

Glacier checklists, work

bear and three cubs on mountain lake iceberg
A stunning, unexpected, and 30-minute bear encounter.

Glacier checklists.

We (i) have them for us.

We have a routine, a process.

And yet we remain open to new learning and discovery.

In fact, we seek it out.

Special note: This would be a completely different checklist narrative if two things:

  1. We were both visiting the same first week. Same mountain legs and lungs adaptation needs.
  2. It wasn’t our final trip, but actually just another in a long line of accumulative visits.

Ya feel me?

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This website is about our WORK. To ponder today’s post about our HOME, click here.

Pull up a chair

Walgreens photo app screenshot
One of my favorite memories from our 2025 Glacier visits.

A high-mountain chalet made from mountain-side rocks.

A small, spartan room, stone floor, with a steel bunkbed and one folding chair. A window, modest wall mirror and tiny nightstand. A wooden door that locks only from the inside.

The walls are thick from the massive rock ‘bricks’.

If you climb up onto the outside windowsill, you create a homemade, natural ‘chair’.

Sometimes it’s the best seat on the Continental Divide.

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This website is about our WORK. To ponder today’s post about our HOME, click here.

Disney and Glacier Brands

two post it notes
#Truth

Disney’s brand is delivered through our front-line employees. You know the ones. The Cast Members who interact with the paying Guests all day long.

Same at Glacier National Park.

Same in every organization.

How cool is that?

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This website is about our WORK. To ponder today’s post about our HOME, click here.

Glacier ambitions

mountains and a lake
Bottom to top: Swiftcurrent Lake, Lake Josephine, Angel Wing, with Gem Glacier (formerly a glacier) on the Continental Divide. Many Glacier’s roofline barely visible.

Glacier ambitions in 2026?

To revisit all our favorites.

The photo above is from a new hike we did in 2025.

Seeing Many Glacier Hotel’s roof line from this vantage point was wonderful.

We could spend all our time in Glacier seeking more, newer.

In 2026, the goal is to visit with our closest Glacier friends.

Glacier ‘friends’ in this context means trails, hikes, overlooks, traditions. Nothing new.

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This website is about our WORK. To ponder today’s post about our HOME, click here.