We are so grateful to have experienced so many things during 2022. None any bigger than our trip out west. While we've been to many great places, this was a trip of a lifetime that reignited our passion for the outdoors and everything that our great national park system has to offer. Summer is our main opportunity to travel with Nat being out of school. This trip spanned from July 1st to July 13th and covered 1,200 miles of driving and 53 miles of hikes that we will never forget.
The Plan: Our Route
We flew into Salt Lake City due to construction at Jackson Hole Airport. The next morning we set off on the 4.5 hour ride to Jackson, WY. We'd highly recommend taking the more scenic route that leads you past Bear Lake. This was a very scenic area and a surprise as we made our way through Idaho into Wyoming. In Jackson, we stayed at the Hampton Inn, just outside of downtown. The Jackson Town Square has lots of shops, restaurants, etc. and every corner of the square has an antler arch way. We made sure to have a drink at the "world famous" Cowboy bar where they use horse saddles for bar stools. Our favorite place to eat (during the entire trip) was probably the Virginian Restaurant. The breakfast was amazing and they had cinnamon rolls as big as your head. We spent our first day seeing the sites in downtown Jackson. We had a good experience at Snake River Brewing with food and drinks. While Jackson was nice, our main point of interest was Grand Teton National Park. The park is a short 20 minute drive from Jackson and the first views that you get are spectacular. We couldn't wait for the next morning to arrive!
Grand Teton National Park
Jenny Lake, Hidden Falls, Inspiration Point, & Cascade Canyon: The very first hike of the trip ended up being our longest at a combined 15 miles. 
The hike started at the Jenny Lake trailhead navigating around the lake and up to Inspiration Point and then up Cascade Canyon. You can opt for the ferry across the lake, but we really enjoyed the solitude of the early morning around the water. Before heading up to Inspiration Point, we detoured to see the Hidden Falls. The hike takes you between the Tetons where we saw a Moose and her calf. On the return trip a large bull moose crossed the path in front of us! Make sure to pick up some bear spray when you venture out in this area of the country. While we didn't see any bears on this day, I'd rather have it than not. The hike, while beautiful, was painful and we were wiped out by the time we made it back to the car.
Delta Lake: Our second hike of the trip would end up being our most favorite hike to date. Hiking to Delta Lake via Lupine Meadows had everything you could possibly want. It is rated as hard on AllTrails and we'd agree. Outside of the beginning portion near the meadows, it is all up hill. There are switch backs that lead you up the side of the mountain surrounded by wild flowers. Natalie may or may not have sang a particular song from the sound of music a few times. You cross two boulder fields (video) where you climbing and navigate up the mountain.
Between the boulder sections you navigate up and down narrow vertical descents through the woods with little to no room for people to pass. The last 10th of a mile is almost straight up hill where you have to climb by holding onto trees and roots. The reward at the top is the glacier blue water of Delta Lake. We decided to rest in Jackson our third day before heading to Yellowstone.
Yellowstone National Park
A few weeks before our trip, Yellowstone NP was hit with a terrible flood that destroyed multiple roads, mainly in the northern areas of the park. The park implemented a vehicle registration system to limit the number of vehicles that could enter and we were anticipating only being able to go into the park for one day. To our surprise, and through the great work of the park staff, they discontinued the registration system the day before our scheduled arrival.
Our lodging was in West Yellowstone and we had some time before check in so we decided to drive the entire 3 hour loop of the park. We entered at the southern entrance and headed east on Grand Loop Road along Yellowstone lake. The park's road system is made up of an upper and lower loop and you can see so much without even leaving the car. Yellowstone really has it all. The southern area around the lake is more wooded and as you follow the Yellowstone river you pass plenty of geysers. We stopped and did the boardwalk at the Black Dragon Cauldron Boardwalk. We saw our first bison here (video) before entering the plains of the Hayden Valley. Heading north we stopped at Artist Point and saw the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone (check out the awesome photo Nat took of it in the gallery below). Continuing on passing Mt. Washburn the elevation changes are dramatic compared to the plains of the valley less than 30 minutes to the south. We unfortunately didn't get to see the Lamar Valley in the northeast, where the higher concentration of grizzly bears can be found, but we did manage to see our first black bears during our drive. Turning south we had more geyser views at Mammoth Hot Springs and the Norris Geyser Basin before heading toward the west entrance and the city of West Yellowstone.
We stayed at the Three Bear Lodge and were pleasantly surprised. It appears dated at first, but were happy with the room. There are plenty of food options in West Yellowstone, but the largest draw is it's proximity to the west entrance of the park.
We started early the next morning with The Grand Prismatic Spring being first on the list. It was a short hike to get to the viewing area and seeing the geyser steam early in the morning was a great site. We'd advise visiting it later in the day if you want the full color effects. We drove from there to Old Faithful where we watched it erupt from the boardwalk viewing area. We didn't initially have many a strenuous hike planned for Yellowstone, but since it was still fairly early in the day we decided to make the drive to Avalanche Peak. As you'd expect the hike is rated hard with the entire trek to the peak being steep. You start through the woods before it opening up to the side of a rocky mountain being totally exposed to the elements. There is a flat area near the top where we had to cross snow...in July. The peak was worth the effort with endless views. We will never forget sitting on the side of the mountain during a break for lunch. Needless to say, Yellowstone offers so much and deserves a return visit.
Bozeman, MT
Leaving West Yellowstone the next morning we set off toward Bozeman. It was a planned stop to let our bodies recover from the hiking while getting to see what the hype is all about. It was 2 hour drive passing through Great Sky and views worth stopping for.
Downtown Bozeman is just as depicted with expensive shops and restaurants on the main road through town. We stopped by Bridger Brewing for some good pizza and local drinks. It was nice to walk around and be a tourist, but we had lodging about 10 minutes west of town in a more quiet area. It would be a shame if we didn't mention the Bozeman Spirits Distillery, their great staff, and the huckleberry vodka. Dinner that night was at Nordic Brew Works.
Our Airbnb was a "tiny house" on a piece of property adjacent to quite a few farms. With a hot tub, sitting porch, and views of the mountains it was a perfect place to pause. You can't beat the outdoor early morning cup of coffee in that environment.
We set out to hike some trails during our second day in Bozeman. We went first to Palisade Falls. This is a very easy hike with a paved path all the way to the waterfall. From there we headed to Missouri Headwaters State Park where we didn't get far before we were swarmed with mosquitos. The park looked nice, but it was a bust even with bug spray.
We had experienced so much on the trip thus far, but we were excited for the next day and the last leg of our trip.
Glacier National Park
It was a 4.5 hour drive to Glacier National Park and the views from the road, like the rest of the trip, did not disappoint. Glacier National Park is split by The Going to the Sun Road ("GTTSR"). Let's take a moment to talk about the GTTSR. The road is one of the main attractions of the park with views unlike any other. The middle portion of the road closes during the winter and had yet to reopen, but we were holding out hope. The GTTSR required a specific pass to enter along with the National Park pass. You can get around needing the GTTSR pass if you enter before 6am or after 4pm, which is basically a requirement anyway due to limited parking at trailheads and viewing areas. The GTTSR pass is hard to get with a very limited allotment that sales out quickly.
We entered the west entrance of the park and visited the Apgar Visitor Center where we made sure to get our passport stamp. Arriving mid day we decided to try our luck at finding a parking spot for one of the more popular hikes, Avalanche Lake. This is an easy hike with plenty of wildlife and scenery (check out this video of the water color) so you can understand why it is so popular. We were able to find a spot, navigate the crowds, and were reward with a great view.
Leaving Avalanche we headed to Lake McDonald where we booked Kayaks. Lake McDonald is famous for colorful rocks that make up its shoreline. After a bit of rain and almost falling into the freezing water, we decided it was time to make our way to the eastern side of the park that we'd call home for the next two days.
With the GTTSR being closed, we navigated east to East Glacier Park Village. We stayed in another tiny house that met our needs perfectly. It even came with a couple of neighborhood dogs that Natalie would have brought home if possible. While the lodging was great, the small town didn't offer much in terms of food. We'd recommend staying further north in St. Mary's if possible. East Glacier Park Village and the majority of the drive to the St. Mary's entrance of the park is located on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation so the tourism definitely helps to support this tribe. We'd recommend eating at Serrano's in East Glacier Park Village and the St. Mary Hotel Lodge restaurant just outside of the east entrance. You will read online that many people prefer the west entrance of the park, but we do not. The west entrance is more family friendly and has more amenities, but the views on the east side are significantly better. We did spend a bit of the first day exploring the east side where we had our first close up bear sighting (video)!
The next morning was our 13th anniversary. I'm (Dustin) writing this post, so I will take a minute to thank Nat for being my best friend and I couldn't imagine these adventures without her. We woke up early and drove even further north to the Two Medicine Entrance of the park. It was desolate and quite to say the least with a length gravel road leading you to the Two Medicine hotel and the Grinnell Lake trailhead. We hike along Swiftcurrent Lake and Lake Josephine before making our way up Grinnell Glacier trail. The Trail was closed after a few miles but the views were outstanding. Like many hikes, we'd recommend arriving early because the path is narrow and it gets crowded.
We backtracked and detoured off onto the Grinnell Lake trail to visit the lake. This trail is rated as easy and we'd recommend it for families.
By the time we made it back to our lodging it was late. With most restaurants closing fairly early in the evening, our anniversary dinner was one to remember consisting of turkey sandwiches - it all made for a memorable experience.
The next day the GTTSR had yet to reopen and we were bummed. It was only the 3rd time in history that the road hadn't opened this late in the season. With one full day left at the park, we decided to forgo the trails and experience the GTTSR on foot. On our way to the park we had our second bear experience (video). Driving around a corner and seeing these creatures in the road never gets old. Entering the St. Mary's entrance we drove to the road closure and set off on foot. This impromptu adventure turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip. The experience of having the road and what seemed like the park to ourselves was amazing (video). We walked for about 3 miles with different views around every corner. There was apparently a second road closure that we missed and were advised to go back by a friendly park ranger.
We didn't want to leave this beautiful part of our country as we departed from the Glacier Park International Airport the next day. We are very fortunate to be able to go on these adventures. If you've made it this far, thanks for reading and we are grateful that we not only get to share these adventures with one another, but with you.
Check out our TikTok for more content from this trip!
Final Thoughts & Recommendations
The adventure of a lifetime. I'm not sure that we'd do much different. Flights directly into Jackson would have given us more time for adventure, but that was out of our control. If you're just visiting Glacier, spend the extra money and fly direct to Glacier Park Internal Airport. A couple of other recommendations include:
- Good hiking socks and boots
- Get to parking lots and trailheads before 7am and always carry bear spray
- Carry plenty of water and snacks
- Make noise while on trails, but avoid bear bells as a deterrent. Some locals refer to these as "dinner bells" because it attracts cubs
All of the places that we visited were beautiful and Glacier definitely lived up to our expectations. We've already planned a trip back to Glacier for the summer of 2023 and hope to get to experience the entire GTTSR and some of the hikes that we missed out on due to closure. While we love Georgia and being close to family and friends, we miss this part of the country every day and can't wait to return.
