I'm heading to Glacier mid-summer any suggestions on hikes, camp sites, and gear I should bring?
Yeah, I can probably talk your ear off about the place. It really is the Crown of the Continent.
Are you looking to day hike or backpack? Want to climb peaks or stay on trail?
The weather is fickle. July could be sunny and hot, or rainy and cold. Last year I had someone go into the early stages of hypothermia on a backcountry trip, in July. Its usually chilly at night, but the days are warm enough to hike shirtless.
If you want to day hike, the best base camp would be at the Many Glacier Campground in the Many Glacier Valley. Second best spot is the Two Medicine Campground. Both places fill up fast, but offer several A+ hikes. The best campground period is Bowman Lake, but its a few hours from nowhere down a few long dirt roads.
If you want to look at some of my pictures, I can email you some links. Basically, here are a few things to look at:
Piegan pass and Siyeh pass can make a great loop from the GTTS road.
Dawson Pitamakin Loop out of Two Medicine is definitely one of the top hikes in the park, and relatively short.
Two Medicine Pass is one of my favorite passes, also out of Two Medicine.
The Belly River is very popular, and the most common long backpack loop in the park. Combined with Stoney Indian Pass, Fifty Mountain, Swiftcurrent Pass, and either the ptarmagin Tunnel or Poia Lake/Red Gap Pass, this is probably one of the best hikes in America. There are several different variations of this as well.
Gunsight/Lake Ellen Wilson/Sperry Glacier is another great trip that works great with the main road and shuttles.
The North Fork-Kintla Lake, Boulder Pass, Brown Pass, and either Bowman Lake or for a longer tirp out towards Waterton Lake is awesome.
Quartz Lake is a great beach backcountry camp and also a loop.
I can go on and on, just let me know more of what your looking for. And as for gear, just be prepared for all sorts of weather. Gloves and gaitors are the 2 things I always seem to have that every one else wishes they had brought.
