“To us leaf peepers who get excited every year during fall, our visit to Letchworth State Park wasn’t just a coincidence. As we watched the 110-drop waterfall crash into the Genesee River Gorge leaving behind rich mist sprinkles in the air, the lush patches of fall foliage on the Archery Field Overlook, the convenience the park had laid out to everyone we were convinced that we made the right choice.”




Voted as #1 state park in the US and also known as Grand Canyon of the East, I felt that many may not have heard or known of Letchworth State Park, thanks to its big brother Niagara Falls (1.5 hours) in the vicinity. But boy, how wrong I was! The parking lot at the Middle and Upper Falls was almost full by the afternoon and visitors were in thousands.

Everyone who visits the USA, goes once to Niagara Falls without knowing what could have shaped today’s Niagara. It was in the 1800s when Niagara became a mecca for the ordinary, and was a magnet for extraordinary daredevil act where Braveheart's would risk all for that one moment of Glory. Imagine what could have been running though the mind of daredevil woman Annie who crossed the Niagara Falls in a Barrell? We also learnt that Niagara Falls may not be there anymore in 10,000 years. 



While 10,000 years is a long time, today at Jet Boat Niagara 2 miles away from the base of the falls, we were screaming with excitement as our boat spinned 360 degrees in class VI rapids just before the red stone painted by the Coast Guard in a region bordering Canada. Our guide told us; this part is indeed Canada. How many of you knew that the massive power of Niagara Falls and the Niagara river is being utilized as a useful source of Hydroelectric Power? Did you know that the Old Fort Niagara was a fortification used as an active center for Beaver Fur Trade across Maritime waters and was also one of the main entrances of Niagara Falls and anyone entering/leaving will have to pay? Did you know we also had the deadliest battle – battle of Lundy’s Lane (also known as the battle of Niagara Falls) in the region?

“George Bird Grinnell, the father of the Glacier National Park called it the crown of the continent. The crown means jewel, right? And some of these Jewels from the park are – the Moose, the Glacial and Alpine lakes, the Glaciers, the Grizzlies, the Old Forests with Lichens, the Waterfalls etc. There are two Ranger led hikes from Many Glacier to the Grinnell Valley – The Grinnell Glacier Boat Tour and Hike (8.5 hours, strenuous 8 mile) & Grinnell Valley Boat Tour and Hike (4 hours, easy 2.5 mile). The hike to the Grinnell Lake and forward to Grinnell Glacier is a plethora of spectacular scenery of Valleys and Mountains and old forests that makes it all worthwhile. I love treading in the icy cold water of Grinnell Lake.”


                                The view of the Grinnell Lake from Grinnell Glacier Trail

Grinnell Lake Hike - Easy

To shorten the hiking effort, one can also take Boat tours by Glacier Park Boat Company from Many Glacier Hotel that is a 2-lake cruise with a 0.25 mile walk over moderate hills between the Swiftcurrent and Josephine Lakes.

We took the reservation of the boat ($28 – 8:30 am, 9:00am, 11:00, 1:00,2:00,3:00,4:30) a day before. The ranger led valley boat tour and hike requires you to take tickets.

                                View of Swiftcurrent Lake from Many Glacier Hotel


                                                   0.25 mile hike between the lakes 




You can also start hiking from the Many Glacier hotel itself, however since cruises are more convenient plus those are active bear habitat we chose not to add onto extra on our hike. But there are many people who were seen hiking from the Many Glacier hotel.

Also, keep in mind that the last boat is at 5:15 especially if you plan to hike further onto the trail to Grinnell Glacier post the lake. We luckily could catch the last cruise, but we could have had been easily late should the trail was open till the Grinnell Glacier Overlook.

“Saint Mary Lake is the second-largest lake in Glacier National Park. The Wildlife conservations would say that GNP is a wildlife park. The Geologists would say it is a Geology Park. But it is neither a Wildlife park nor a Geology park, Glacier National Park in Montana is mainly a water park. Without water, this park would not be what it is today. Today we were hiking to the St. Mary’s Falls, where when on reaching there, we paused for a moment closing our eyes, and assimilating and finding meaning in all the sounds that we heard. I have had never felt a waterfall like that before with my eyes closed. It sounded like a thunderstorm sound with heavy downpour of rain with sounds of water gushing in like how water gushes in floods everywhere. It was intense”



St. Mary Lake is located on the east side of Glacier National Park. It was a walk away from the Rising Sun Campground. We took the 3.5-hour ranger led guided hike “Boat Tour and Hike to St. Mary Falls". We cruised St. Mary Lake and heard stories about how Glacial forces sculpted the landscape. We also did the optional 3-mile hike to St. Mary Fall. You have to get into a boat by Glacier Park Boat Company from the boat dock at Rising Sun (10:00,12:00,2:00,4:00,6:30).

Other Posts I really liked on St. Mary Falls:
HikinginGlacier

My Previous Posts on Glacier National Park:
Iceberg Lake Trail
Logan Pass and Hidden Lake Trail
Glacier National Park First Come First Serve Camping
A week in Glacier National Park: 20 Tips to get you started!

“Just as I was staring at the handful of clouds above that created beautiful time lapse over floating icebergs on an aquamarine lake, I felt the deep air of fresh crisp air and nostalgia combined. Iceberg Lake trail is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful & pleasant hikes in the park and as our ranger said, no two days are the same here. Few folks were so excited that they jumped into the icy cold water right away! We however thoroughly enjoyed the soundscape and the smell-scape and the visual retreat the trail to Iceberg lake awakened in us”.



Date Visited: 4th July 2018

The whole hike is astoundingly stunning – I may run out of words to describe how pristine I felt there. The hike takes you through plenty of Spring Flowers and Shrubs and Bear Grass in early July, through Wild Thimbleberry shrubs, through Wildfire areas, through views of Mountain Goats on the cliffs, through Colorful rocks, through several trickles beneath your feet, through Pink Snow due to growth of Pink Algae in the Snow that smells like Watermelon, through several views of Valleys and Mountains, through insights on Snowfields and receding Glaciers, through vegetation that needs no trampling on, through waterfalls. If any hike has a final and an all-embracing motive it surely would be to hike here with an intent to soak on all the senses (visual and the smell and the feel of it) and let wild be!

“We loved that there were two flags – US & Canadian at the Logan Pass. Logan Pass is the highest point at Going to the Sun road and sits on the continental divide. This is the most popular area in the park where several hikes start including Hidden Lake trail (begins behind the Visitor Center) and Highline Trail (Runs across the road from the Visitor Center). 

Tip1: Always check the current condition in the park. Due to plenty of wildlife, some campsites could be closed for soft tents. Also, some trails could be closed.  You can find current condition here.




                      

Previous Posts on Glacier National Park
25 Tips to drive the iconic Going to the Sun Road
Glacier National Park | First Come First Serve Camping
A week in Glacier National Park | 20 Tips to get you started

Glacier National Park is known as the Crown of the continent and rightly so, because driving on Going to the Sun road is like transition of camera frames - each frame more beautiful than the other. Whether its watching the mountain goats graze or whether its hiking to several glacial lakes and glaciers or whether its admiring the uncountable waterfalls and trickles that pass you by or whether it’s your car getting an Alpine shower at the weeping wall or whether it’s a snowfield or whether its lush bright green hills or whether its hikes by friendly NPS rangers or whether its Grizzlies grazing next to your campground. It’s rare to find a combination so perfect that even our week’s stay felt less. It’s rare for us to feel that way but there was still so much to do and see! It is wilderness in its truest sense.


 

You would be traversing through humongous landscape where you’d realize how miniscule we as human beings are in there. Cars look like toys as we drive on the only road that cuts through the panorama of valleys and peaks.

It’s close proximity to St. Mary’s boat harbor and the Going to the sun road made us choose Rising Sun on Day 2 till the end of our vacation. We had initially reserved for two days and then kept extending it for rest of the days. Had we not discovered Rising Sun, we would have had totally missed our experience. Rising Sun is a gem of a campground. It is clean, the campsites are huge and they have clean toilets too.



                                                              Bear Box to store food.

                                             Parking with the campsite was convenient. 

"One of the greatest dilemmas many times we face is where to charge our devices in the campsites. Charge phones in your running vehicle. Charge cameras either at the visitor center (if its near they can do it for you) or at the charging points located in the washroom. "

Should you wish to take a shower, head to the gift center and ask for tokens. They have tokens for $3 and at the back of gift center is the shower. Bring your own toiletries and towels to the shower. You also will get firewood at the gift center.




"There is tap water in the campground for drinking purposes. There is also utensil cleaning room adjacent to toilets incase if you wish to wash your utensils..

 The gift center also stocks a few prepackaged food and grocery however, I would suggest going to St. Mary’s village for more options on food.

One of the best part about staying here was Bears (both Grizzly and Black) would flock around the nearby meadows and every evening at around 7-7:30ish we would see them inside those meadows. We even heard stories from our neighbors on how one of the Bears from the nearby meadow came to the campground and was shooed away by the rangers on one of the days we had gone hiking.




“ Bear activity is common in the area. The popular Many Glacier campground was closed for soft tents during our visit due to some Bear activity even though that was our first preference of stay. We have Bear Box in each campsite and that’s where we are supposed to keep our food.”.

During night, look up into the sky from the campsite. Crystal clear sky makes it an eternal viewing gaze far into the twinkles. Star Gazing is recognized at the park and at the Logan pass, they also have Star Gazing parties.

Another campground that we have in the area is the St. Mary campground. Should you not get in Rising Sun you can try your luck there. I don’t think that other week would be as packed as that week when we went was, so it might not be a problem getting into one.

The significant campgrounds like Rising Sun, St. Mary or Many Glacier gets filled up by 7:00-8:00 am on an average busy weekend while the campgrounds such as on the West Glacier Side or Two Medicine may have occupancy till the afternoon however I found that the drive to Two Medicine was a little too much for going back and forth to the Going to the Sun road.

One of the best ways to enjoy your stay In Glacier National Park would be to split your stays between campgrounds. Many Glacier is where many of the significant trails (Grinnel and Iceberg) starts. Rising Sun is near to St. Mary’s and Logan Pass whereas Apgar is near to Mc. Donald Lake. The distances between Many Campground to Rising Sun is significant at 50 minutes and it’s best to stay at varied locations than wasting time going back and forth on mountain roads.

“During Summers when we were there, the day light would stay as long as 10:30pm. So a day could be long and you could pack in more in a day. However, if it looks dark and feels that its going to get dark, its best to return back as thats when most wildlife is active and Glacier National Park is wild at its best! We even spotted Fox on the road walking in pride. Bears were common in the area too!”

“We felt for the most part of the night at the Little River Trail that nature is having its own airport runway lights moment with the fireflies. On and Off they went along the trail and inside the bushes, carrying the synchronous blinks flashing in unison. Male fireflies are typically in flight while searching for females and males time their flashes to attract females which is interesting. It was magical and profound for us!"

Synchronous Fireflies are a phenomenon - a rare species in the world known to synchronize their flashing light patterns. They are found in The Great Smoky Mountains National Park at the Little River Trail. We were fortunate to be staying at Elkmont Campground as the Little River Trail starts from the entrance of the campground on the right.”.



So many of you might already know, that Synchronous fireflies (Photinus carolinus) are the only species in America where individual fireflies can synchronize their flashing light patterns. Every year to limit the number of people watching this phenomenon at its peak, the National Park Service runs a lottery for a day for a viewing period of 1-2 weeks. This year that window was from May 30th - June 6th.

“A drive along the blue ridge parkway can be best summed up as a bundle of soft mist floating, rolling lush hills, scenic vista points and tunnels after tunnels. Known for its ideal sunrises and sunsets, is the Waterrock Knob, the Parkway's highest visitor center. Just beyond the southernmost end of the Blue Ridge Parkway in the states of North Carolina and Tennessee is the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. “ We drove from the Smokies to the Blue Ridge Parkway, a transition so seamless, that one may think perhaps they all are the same."

                          We loved the fog and the smoke on our drive! It was like poetry.

The route that we took was: Sugarlands Visitor Center -> Smokemont Campground -> Clingsman Dome -> Oconaluftee Visitor Center -> Newfound Gap -> Waterrock Knob Visitor Center.

                                        View from Newfound Gap on a clear weather!

Even though the route from Sugarlands Visitor Center to Waterrock Knob visitor center is 1 hour 20 minutes straight on Google maps, it takes almost 3/4 of a day to cover this part to - fro Sugarlands. Since there are many vista points for us to enjoy and driving is generally slow on the mountain roads, the estimated time is always more than the time taken.

Where should you stay? | Smokemont Campground

        What would be Smokies without the Smoke? At Bradley Fork River, Smokemont Campground

The best way to enjoy both Smokies and Blue Ridge Parkway in one day would be to stay on the southernmost campground of the Smokies - i.e Smokemont Campground. We did not stay at this campground, although we did enjoy taking a quick detour in the campground. We also liked how the river adjacent to the campground - Bradley Fork River, had smoke emanating from it. We also found out that in comparison with Cades Cove and Elkmont Campground, this had more vacancies.

                                                      Smokies can be dramatic at times.

Clingmans Dome | A half a mile hike to the Observation Tower

                               From Bottom to Top - The Wind multiplies multiple folds

At the end of twisting roads and roads covered in smoke we found ourselves at the parking lot of Clingmans Dome, which could have a great overlook if it was a clear day.

At 6643 feet, Clingmans Dome is the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. The trailhead is pretty steep paved road, with benches on the trails to rest. I loved watching the snails on the log heads along the trails - I found them in brown but another visitor found them in Green.


    Meanwhile, a snail rests on the resting log along the trail. I wonder if he has camouflaged himself?

There is restroom near the parking lot and a small visitor center for information at the start of trailhead. As soon as we start climbing up the Observation tower even though the elevation does not seem to be much from the bottom, the wind multiplies itself multiple fold. My hubby enjoyed his airy misty windy encounter at the tower and so did I. We had to literally hold our feet to stop ourselves from flying - yes it was that windy. On a clear day, we could have seen 360 degrees panoramic views of the smokies. But sadly, Clingsman Dome was also zoned out in thick white smoke during our travels.


Newfound Gap | Mountain pass of North Carolina, Tennessee

One way to get a good idea on where we are geographically located, is by standing at Newfound Gap (a mountain pass) that is located on the border of North Carolina and Tennessee (Everyone gets a selfie here). Twice I have been there, and every time it has smoked out making the mountains and the valley disappear into a thick white smoke. I am not complaining because rains and fog seem to be usual in this area. The two times I have been taken this road, it has always rained or drizzled, especially as we come closer to Newfound Gap possibly due to elevation.

Tip: When in this area, carry an umbrella & drive slow.





Waterrock Knob Visitor Center

Waterrock Knob Visitor Center has the parkway's highest Visitor Center. It is a very small visitor center that has small store on one side and a ranger who can help you with information and maps. There is also a restroom near to the Visitor Center. There is also a short and steep hiking trail to the lookout at 0.5 miles.

Tip: Please do carry drinking water with you!

As soon as we reached at the top, the surrounding mountains were covered in fog. I recently read a blog and google reviews on Waterrock Knob, that there is a plane crash site if you hike further from the lookout towards Browning Knob (2.5 miles roundtrip from Visitor Center). Since we did not know and the weather wasn't as nice, we couldn't go there. But if you wish to do it, here's a blog that tells us that in detail. I was surprised to hear that there are close to 54 plane crash sites in the Smokies.










Oconaluftee Visitor Center

The Mountain Farm Museum and Oconaluftee Visitor Center are located at the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park if you are driving from Cherokee, North Carolina. For us, it was an exit. We did stop at the center and walked by the river. However, since we were getting late, we skipped the Farm Museum.