Glacier National Park 4K (2021): Polebridge, Hiking Trail of the Cedars, Avalanche Lake (short form)

This is the short form, highlight-centric cut, of Part 4 of noBear’s 6-Part Glacier National Park 2021 Series.
On our 4th full day in Glacier we woke up to some pretty crappy weather. The forecast was touch and go, but it looked as though it might clear up later in the day. We had 3 days left in The Park, and two of those days were going to be reserved for 2 of the best bucket-list day hikes in Glacier… if not the entire United States (The Cracker Lake Trail & The Grinnell Glacier Trail). The weather for the next day looked good, and the weather for our last day looked exceptional. So we decided that we’d knock out Cracker Lake on our penultimate day, and save Grinnell Glacier for our final day.
This left us with some choices for this day.
We had just driven the entirety of the Going to the Sun Road the day prior. It’s a long drive. We knew that we really wanted to try to make it to Polebridge, both to check it out… but mostly to get as many of the famous Polebridge Huckleberry Bear Claws as possible. If you know, you know.
The only problem with that plan was, the drive from the East Side of Glacier to the West Side is a hike and a half. Polebridge is a good hour and a half WEST of Apgar, and it was rainy! 2+ hours on the GTTSR, and an hour+ on the unpaved road to Polebridge was a commitment. Basically, if we decided to do this, it would take up most of our day. That said… Huckleberry Bear Claws!
Easy decision.
And it was worth every thought we gave that decision. We had an unbelievable lunch in Polebridge. There was no way that the Bear Claws could’ve ever lived up to the hype that everyone gives them. And yet… they did! Buldo bought a DOZEN!! A dozen is a lot when you imagine that they’re essentially life-sized Grizzly Claws.
After Polebridge it looked as though we might have time to knock off the second part of our plan for that day. We weren’t sure if it was going to be possible, but the Trail of the Cedars and the Avalanche Lake Trail was on the way back to the cabin. It’s not a long trail, and it’s not strenuous, but supposedly Avalanche Lake is a MUST visit in Glacier. And none of us had ever been there, in 2 trips to The Park.
The weather made the decision for us, as it started to clear up. We had brought all of our hiking gear, so we were prepared for that choice should we decide to make it.
Boy, are we glad we did!!
Avalanche Lake is like nothing you’ve ever seen. It’s a massive mountain tucked into a single lake drainage. It’s hidden from everything around it, and it’s beyond majestic! There weren’t that many people there that day, so we had one of Glacier’s premiere locations essentially to ourselves. Also, Buldo brought the packraft. The boys were able to do something most people only dream of… take their own private watercraft out on a pristine alpine lake with no one else out on the water.
The footage has to be seen to be believed.
Finally, at sunset, we hiked back out on the Avalanche Lake Trail/Trail of the Cedars to the Going to the Sun Road. We drove back up to, and over, the Continental Divide in the dark (something that was pretty cool in itself). We got back to the cabin pretty late, made a quick fire, and ate s’mores and stargazed the arm of the Milky Way until after midnight.
We crashed hard with dreams of the Cracker Lake Trail the next day.
As always, thanks for joining us on our adventure. Stay tuned for Chapter 4 and 5 of this series, as they are two of the best videos that we’ve ever put out. Please consider “liking” & “subscribing” if you enjoyed what you saw. It really helps the channel out.
Love Always & Well Wishes for Your Bar(t) Mitzvah,
noBear

[@luissalas1898]

I’ll be there this summer! Great video!

[@darenroth7390]

awesome spot for kayak

[@noBearAdventures]

Thanks Daren!

[@BucyTV]

Beautiful scenery. Love it. Thanks for sharing. New subscriber here.

[@noBearAdventures]

Thanks!! Just checked your channel out. Got yourself a sub for sure. Very nice. Btw, I think this just posted so it’s probably potato level. The other vids are all in 4K if you see anything you like

[@darenroth7390]

nice video