The Glacier: Not What You'd Expect

On Saturday, we hiked to Grinnell Glacier, which turned out to be my favorite hike of all. We'd been there for 3 days at this point, and I was getting very concerned that I wouldn't get to see a glacier in Glacier National Park. I mean, you have to, right? Because that's what everyone will ask you about.

(Of course, this turned out to be false: Everyone asks if you've seen a bear, and of course the answer for me is "no.")

When you think "glacier," what do you see? In my empirical research, 97.6% of test subjects imagined a big hunk of ice. Of those, a whopping 68.2% drew a picture of that ice hitting the Titanic with Leonardo DiCaprio on board. The remaining 2.4% of subjects mistakenly heard the word "glazier" and envisioned a person putting in new windows. But they were British, so they don't really count anyway.

I guess I'm not exactly sure what I thought a glacier would look like. I thought it would be more majestic, awe-inspiring, cold.

My favorite hike at Glacier was when we took a boat across two lakes and then hiked up to view, up close and personal, three glaciers. The entire hike was about 8 miles and most of it was along a path carved into the mountainside. Like the rest of our time there, it was a gorgeous, sunny day and I was torn between looking at my feet to ensure I stayed upright and alive, and wanting to look out at the amazing vista spread out before us.

From the ferry boat, the park ranger pointed out Salamander Glacier. It didn't seem nearly deep enough or wide enough to be a glacier—it just looked like snow pack on the side of the mountain.

At the summit of our hike, we snacked while overlooking Salamander Glacier, Grinnell Glacier, and the Jem (glacier). We were far enough away from them that we didn't feel much of a chill. The coldest part of the hike involved following the trail under a small waterfall on the mountainside.

I'm not saying I'm disappointed in the glaciers. I would have been highly disappointed if we hadn't seen a glacier at all. Or, conversely, I'd seen glacier without even realizing it, because they aren't quite as imposing as I'd expected.

I'm sure if you traveled somewhere further north, there would be glaciers aplenty like the ones we all imagine. But, even so, I'm not sure that I'll be planning my next vacation there just to get that tingly fresh "glacier awe" feeling. I'm feeling a hankering to see what the perfect 12-oz. strawberry margarita looks like at sunset ...