We found out there was a grizzly bear attack last night, and the park ranger was mauled to death. My friends freaked out about this, and we decided that we should get some bear mace for the hike (we didn't end up getting one because we didn't pass by any stores on the way there, but we survived without it lol). Today, the plan is to explore the "many glacier area" of the park.
So many beautiful lakes on the way, and you can see waterfalls everywhere from the melting glaciers! It is so sad to think about how many more lakes we have right now due to more glaciers melting. Who said global warming ain't real?
We went on the Grinnell glacier hike, 7.6 miles round trip and 1800 ft elevation gain. The trail started at the Swiftcurrent lake, and it was a slow and steady climb up along the lake. We were very sad that we couldn't make it all the way to the glacier because of the ice on the trail (still!!!! It is July!), but it was definitely the most scenic hike. There were so many beautiful wild flowers on the trail. At the end of the hike, we met this "little mountain man" (as his mom called him), he carried his own little backpack with water, hiking all this way and still jumping around at the end. He was so adorable. On the way back, other hikers warned us they saw a grizzly bear 30 feet away from the trail, and we should be careful. So, we clapped our way back (make noises so that the bear won't come close), and fortunately (or unfortunately?) we didn't see it.
Next, we drove to the Waterton National Park, which is a tiny park on the Canadian side next to the Glacier National Park. We didn't really hike much around the park because we still have to drive back to Calgary (~ 3 hours). We went to a very short hike called the Red Rock Canyon, and because the day we went was the Canada Day, it was so PACKED there. It was an easy walk, and you get to see some red rock, waterfall. After that, we just walked around the lake, the giftshops, etc.