Glacier National Park

[Dakota 400]

She Who Must Be Obeyed and I had a lovely trip to Glacier on the train in 2014.

Very nice. We are looking forward to our trip there in a couple of months.
"The next day we drove GTTSH and I was out of my element." ... like to hear more about this...we are also renting a car and I'm planning on making the drive!

While I'm all in favor of renting a car for exploring at Glacier, from what I've heard of the Going-to-the-Sun road I'd highly recommend that you look into booking the Red Bus circle tour. That way you can give your full attention to the scenery and let the driver watch the road.

It has been many years since enjoying the scenery on the GTTSH, but I am glad that I was not driving. Just as I was when I visited Hana on a tour in Hawaii.

 

[Skyline]

I rode SEA-ESM to stay at the Izaak Walton Inn in mid-May 2017 (great place to stay if you are an avid railfan and/or an avid hiker BTW). They offer Budget Rent-A-Car at their check-in. When I arrived, they had two 2016 vehicles available--a van and an SUV. Both were seriously dirty and the "needs servicing" lights came on in both. However, I had no mechanical issues with the SUV I chose, and having a vehicle allowed me to better explore the area for three days and reach remote hiking trailheads. A bit pricey, I thought, compared to other car rentals I've had with returns to the same origination point. But the alternative would have been worse--no car, or getting to Whitefish somehow to rent a car, then back to Essex afterward.

 

[calwatch]

Did this trip last year as well with my mom. I booked with Avis through Costco Travel and the cost was only slightly higher than most major cities. The pick up for the vehicle is, as noted, across the street from the train station. We got a Ford Fiesta which was good enough for what we needed to do, and went up graded dirt roads fine. We stayed both at the Many Glacier Hotel and at the Swiftcurrent Lodge, both for two nights. Food around the park is expensive so we ended up driving to Browning to stock up. We also took advantage of the shuttles inside the park but those can get congested, especially on the east end as there is less frequency. The west end shuttles have larger vehicles and seem to do better.