Backpacking Trip in Glacier National Park, Polebridge, Montana

One trip I definitely wanted to do this summer was a backpacking trip in Glacier National Park. Being a National Park, reservations were required. When reservations went live in March, I was lucky enough to get a trip itinerary I was excited about. This trip itinerary involved a 5 night trip starting from Many Glacier. The day before our trip, we went to the ranger station to pick up our permits. When we got there we learned that one of the campsites we were set to stay at for two nights was closed due to bear activity. We tried to alter the itinerary to other nearby campsites, but were unsuccessful at finding an itinerary I was truly excited about. I debated cancelling the trip altogether because the smoke from wildfires seemed to be greatly impacting the park on some days, but since it was a beautiful clear day when we went to pick up the permits, I decided to pick another itinerary. I asked if there was any availability for a trip around Bowman Lake/Lake Francis/Hole in the Wall. Somehow we got lucky and all sites in that area were available! I couldn’t believe it as I hadn’t been able to get reservations at these sites online. We ended up getting what I consider a perfect itinerary that was as follows:

Night 1: Bowman Lake

Night 2: Lake Francis

Night 3: Hole in the Wall

Night 4: Boulder Pass

Night 5: Bowman Lake

With a newfound enthusiasm for the trip, Mike and I headed back to our campsite at St. Mary. This campsite was now on the opposite end of the park from where our trip would be starting the following morning, but with only a 7 mile hike along Bowman Lake on our itinerary for the next day, we figured a later start after a three hour drive would be perfectly fine. We set out the next morning and parked at the Bowman Lake Trailhead around 11am. We double checked that we had all of our gear and then set out along the lake to our first campsite.

Day 1 - Trailhead to Bowman Lake Head

The first day was fairly uneventful. There were some day hikers within the first mile of the parking lot, but after that we didn’t see anyone until we got to the campsite. The trail along the lake was in the woods next to the lake and at times we wouldn’t even be able to see the lake because of how dense the forest was. Our newest piece of equipment for this trip was a can of bear spray. It’s something we’ve never hiked with before and added some extra weight to my right hip for the duration of the trip. While we saw some bear scat, we didn’t see any bears on the first day. After about 2.5 hours of hiking, we made it to the Bowman Lake Head campground. The first thing we did at this campsite (and every campsite on the trip) was headed to the food prep area to hang our food so that bears would not be able to eat our food. Out of the 6 campsites available, only one was taken at this point so we were able to pick one of the quieter sites. After setting up the tent, I leaned my trekking poles against a log and we headed to the stream to filter water. I was gone for about 10 minutes and when I came back, my trekking poles weren’t where I left them. After 10 minutes of searching, we were able to find both of them scattered around the campsite. The handles and wrist straps were covered in slobber. They had clearly been chewed, but no teeth marks were left in the handles. We were dumbfounded. After some consideration, I think it was most likely either Bigfoot or a deer. If you have any ideas of your own, please leave a comment below about what you think it could be! I posted a video below of the whole incident. Once my poles were safely stored in our tent, Mike and I headed down to the lake to spend the late afternoon relaxing and reading. We could partially see where we were heading, the next day and we were pretty excited to get into the higher alpine. All of the campsites filled up that night with three of the six groups being from Colorado.

View from the trailhead at the foot of Bowman Lake

Krista & Mike hiking along Bowman Lake

Quite a mushroom

What chewed and slobbered on my poles!?

Pano from camp

Looking at where we'd be heading on day 2

Day 2 - Bowman Lake Head to Lake Francis

The next morning we woke up around sunrise and went to the food prep area to have breakfast. After eating and packing up, we headed out on the trail with Lake Francis being our destination for that night. We hiked up to Brown Pass and then descended the other side. As we descended, views of Thunderbird Falls and Thunderbird Glacier came into view and we frequently found ourselves stopping to look back at them. After passing the Hawksbill campground, we knew we were getting close to Lake Francis. Finally, we came to the turn off to Lake Francis and started descending towards the lake. When we reached the campground, we hung our food in the food prep area and then picked between the two available campsites. The two campsites at Lake Francis were quite close to each other and were fully in the woods with no views. I was eager to see the lake so we set up our tent in record time and walked the final tenth of a mile to the lake. Wow. I think it was the most beautiful lake I’ve ever seen and we had it all to ourselves. The lake was a beautiful shade of blue and on the far side of the lake, a 1500-2000 vertical feet waterfall was cascading down into the lake from Dixon Glacier. It felt like something out of Lord of the Rings. We set up our chairs to read by the lake, but I’m not even sure I turned my Kindle on because I couldn’t stop staring at the waterfall. This ended up being my favorite afternoon of the trip. After an afternoon taking in the views and being thankful we didn’t end up cancelling the trip, we headed up to the food prep area to eat dinner. As we were eating, the other group that we would be sharing the campsite with arrived. This group was made up of 3 guys from Minnesota that had been taking an annual backpacking trip to Glacier for over 30 years together. That’s quite a few trips! After dinner, we went back to check out the lake and waterfall once again before retiring for the night.

Mike below Chapman Peak

Krista & Mike in front of Thunderbird Falls

Lake Francis

How could I look at a Kindle with a view like this?!

Lake Francis

Day 3 - Lake Francis to Hole in the Wall

This was our earliest morning waking up despite it being our shortest day of hiking. The forecast was for a 70% chance of rain and thunderstorms starting at 11 am with a 40% chance at 9am so we decided to get an early start to decrease the odds of us getting caught in a thunderstorm above treeline. We packed up camp and headed back up to Brown Pass. At the intersection at the top of the pass, we turned right to head to Hole in the Wall. The morning light was beautiful when it hit the brush that was a deep shade of red at this point in the fall. After about a mile from the intersection, we turned around a ridge and the trail became a lot more exposed at this point. We were highly impressed at how wide of a trail they were able to put in this section as we were essentially on the side of the cliff. We took a break and took in the 180 degree views of the mountains and valley around us. It was my favorite moment of the day. While eating our snack, a group that had spent the night at Hole in the Wall passed us and told us there was fresh bear scat on the trail to Hole in the Wall that happened overnight. We came across this scat ourselves as we finished the trek to the campsite, and I think it may still have been steaming. We were on high alert and making a lot of noise, but ultimately never saw our furry neighbor.

We were the first group to Hole in the Wall and hung our food when we arrived around 11am. We set up our tent at a campsite that was right on a creek with a small waterfall. Because of our early start, our shoes were soaking wet from the dew/rain on the grass that morning, and we were hoping some sun would come out to dry our shoes and socks, but it stayed hidden. We had about 2 hours to refill our water and relax. By early afternoon, the storms started. Because the sun never really came out that day and it being mid September, I don’t think the temperature had gotten above 50 that day. Add in some soaking wet feet, and we were pretty cold and spent the afternoon during the thunderstorms trying to stay warm in the tent. Because of these storms, we also didn’t eat much of a lunch that day because our food was hanging in the food prep area and neither of us was quite hungry enough to go get it in the pouring rain. Finally, the sun poked out around 4pm, and we headed to the food prep area with our wet shoes and socks. We decided to have an early dinner rather than spoil our appetite with a bunch of snacks. While we were eating, a group of 3 guys in their 30s showed up with a handgun and a glass handle of vodka. They told us on their hike to the campsite, they set up their tent multiple times because of the storms. It looked like this meant they got all of their gear wet because they were trying to dry out tents, sleeping bags, and clothes in the late afternoon sun that was not very warm. I’m still wondering why they stopped to set up tents when they were already soaking wet, but I’m also not someone that would hike with a handgun and a handle of vodka so I think we have different thought processes to begin with. They ended up being the only other group at the campsite that night. After dinner we headed back to our tent since we were looking to take our wet socks and shoes off again.

Bowman Lake can be seen in the distance

Fall colors putting on a show

My favorite flowers of the trip

Mike on the trail to Hole in the Wall

Looking down the valley we had walked up from Bowman Lake

No fall zone

Camp views

View from camp

The rocks were all so colorful!

Day 4 - Hole in the Wall to Boulder Pass

We slept in a little bit on our fourth morning to try to give the grass a little more time to dry out from the overnight dew and avoid soaking wet feet, although our shoes were still wet in the morning anyway. We put on our still wet socks and shoes and set out to the Boulder Pass campground. Thankfully our shoes didn’t get more wet that morning and did ultimately dry that afternoon. The hike to Boulder Pass was beautiful. After less than 4 miles, we made it to camp. We were once again the first to the campground. Because it was only early afternoon and the forecast was for no rain that day, I decided to head up to summit Boulder Peak while Mike decided he wanted to take an afternoon siesta at camp as he hadn’t slept well the night before. While there was no official trail up Boulder Peak, I did find a social trail at times. As I gained the ridge, views of Pocket Lake and the mountains behind it came into view and were some of my favorite views of the trip. I made it to the top of the peak fairly quickly where I was greeted by what looked like a tarantula. This peak had gorgeous 360 degree views. I decide to have a snack while overlooking Pocket Lake. When I sat down and started opening my pack, 5 rocks right next to me started moving and turned out to ptarmigans. They were incredibly well camouflaged and even had spots that matched the moss on the rocks around me. They looked at me with interest but didn’t run off. I took a few pictures of them that you can see below, can you spot them? After my snack break I headed back down the way I came and met Mike back at camp. He was looking much more refreshed and was enjoying his dry socks and full day of sun. We ended up being the only group at the campsite that night.

Looking back at Hole in the Wall

Krista with Boulder Peak in the background

Can you spot the trail we hiked the day before?

Heading up Boulder Peak, looking back at Kintla Lake

Pocket Lake

Summit welcoming committee

Summit views

Can you spot the 5 ptarmigans?

One of my favorite views of the whole trip

Day 5 - Boulder Pass to Bowman Lake Trailhead

We woke up around sunrise and packed up camp and ate breakfast. The toilet at this site was my favorite of the trip and had beautiful views of the sunrise with its first rays hitting Kintla Peak and Kinnerly Peak in the morning. Unfortunately we didn’t linger and quickly headed out on the trail. The night before we had decided that we would try to hike all the way back to the trailhead instead of staying at Bowman Lake Head campground that night. Having done quit a bit of backpacking this summer, we were extremely sick of eating dehydrated meals, granola bars, and sugary candy. We wanted a proper, warm meal. With food being our motivating factor, we made good time to Brown Pass. We then started the steepest part of the descent and went into the trees as we descended from the pass. The last 11 miles of the day would be spent in trees, which made the second half of the day feel like quite a slog. We made it to Bowman Lake Head campground a little after noon and were feeling good so we decided to stick with the plan and head back to the car that afternoon. The 7 miles along Bowman Lake were some of the longest miles I’ve walked. After a few more hours of hiking, we made it to the car and my feet have never been so happy to put on flip flops. We quickly left the trailhead and headed to Polebridge to inhale hamburgers.

If you aren’t looking to end your trip on a 19 mile day, I’d recommend spending one more night at Bowman Lake Head on your way out and take the extra day.

Overall, I really enjoyed this trip. Lake Francis was gorgeous and the scenery around Hole in the Wall and Boulder Peak is stunning. We got a little lucky that some of our campsites weren’t full. I would highly recommend this trip itinerary to anyone that is looking to experience the backcountry of Glacier National Park.

Total Stats: 46.9 miles, 8700 feet of elevation gain

Day 1: 7.1 miles, 650 feet of elevation gain

Day 2: 9.3 miles, 2550 feet of elevation gain

Day 3: 5 miles, 1550 feet of elevation gain

Day 4: 6.5 miles, 2550 feet of elevation gain (From campsite to campsite: 4.3 miles, 1350 feet of elevation gain. From Boulder Pass camp to Boulder Peak: 2.3 miles, 1200 feet of elevation gain.)

Day 5: 19 miles, 1400 feet of elevation gain