We crossed the border from South Dakota into Montana late at night. I’ve been in the habit of taking photos of each state’s welcome sign as we pass it, but my eyes were droppy and we’d been on this one stretch of road for too long, so I missed it.

We pulled into our middle-of-nowhere Airbnb, decorated with more Montana paraphernalia than one person could ever need, bear spray hanging on a hook by the door. I collapsed into bed, excited that we were finally so close to somewhere I’d been waiting for for months: Glacier National Park, mere miles from the Canadian border.

When morning came, it was snowing. Just the week before, the temperatures in Denver had crawled into the 90s so I wasn’t prepared for the sudden snow storm. I layered almost all the clothing I have with me and headed into the park.

The first thing I noticed was, of course, the snow capped Rocky Mountains in the distance.

The color of the landscape was incredible, yellow and orange and red starting to creep into the greenery. The colors were mixed with scented evergreens and once we got far enough up, more snow!

We drove on the appropriately named Going To The Sun Road. Unfortunately, with the recent wildfires in Montana and the snowy weather, some parts of the road were closed. But honestly, I’m not sure we’d have gotten that far anyway, because every few feet, there’d be a pull-off with a path leading somewhere really, really spectacular.

Since the park is glacier fed, the water is freezing cold, but crystal clear. The park has 762 lakes, so rest assured you’re never that far from the water!

I mean, look how clear!

Once the day warmed up a little, we grabbed our skateboards and took advantage of being virtually the only people there (if you want some privacy, I’d suggest getting an early start on a weekday, and even better if that weekday is in the shoulder season).

I’m hoping these photos will convince you to visit Glacier National Park. We really just scratched the surface, there’s so much more to be seen. Midsummer, you can drive the entire length of Going To The Sun Road from West to East Glacier and it’s worth the drive. There are over 700 miles of hiking trails, 762 lakes, over 200 named waterfalls, a plethora of wildlife sightings, the majestic Rocky Mountains, and of course, glaciers!

This trip only served to solidify my love for the big sky country of Montana.