Bear Paw Meanderings

August is a good month to take a vacation in Glacier National Park. While there plan to stay for several nights in the Lake McDonald valley on the west side of the Park. While east side campgrounds can be very hot, the Lake McDonald campgrounds are very cool.

Two are larger camping units. They are Apgar and Fish Creek. Fish Creek is right on the Lake and Apgar is close to Apgar village. I believe that one or both of these campgrounds have installed a reservation system. You can see for yourself by going to Glacier’s home page and scrolling to reservations.

I like the two campgrounds in the upper Lake area. There is Sprague Creek which is for tents. It is right on Lake McDonald as well and affords beautiful views along with great displays of Northern Lights on some occasions.

Tenting is really in vogue in the Park these days. I have written again and again that these days a person can buy a two bedroom tent with a main room and screened in porch for under two hundred dollars and they are said to be easy to set up. Once you have your cooking utensils and camping gear, just always leave it in one spot and throw it in the car when heading out tenting and away you go.

My favorite campground, especially during hot weather, is Avalanche Campground a few miles up Going-To-The-Sun Road. The campground is deep in a dark cedar forest and always much cooler than out in the sunshine. You cannot get large motor homes in the campground but small ones will fit.

Avalanche Campground is the trailhead for several of the best hiking trails in the western side of Glacier.

Best of all, Avalanche, like all the other campgrounds, has a campfire program put on by rangers each evening. Those programs are good but even better are meeting families from all over and sharing your and their camping experiences together. That is living!

And, you know, food cooked outside is really living!