Glacier National Park – Into Canada

Elizabeth Lake to Chief Mountain Trailhead

10 miles

I shifted all night on my Therm-a-rest mattress because my legs were aching. They demanded a break after crossing all the high mountain passes.

Sage and I woke up – how could it be different – to the sound of rain. We packed up slowly, stopped for a proper breakfast in the food prep area and hit the trail at 8:45 am. It was a pleasant hike towards Chief Mountain, mostly downhill with a finishing climb on the last two miles. We hiked along the scenic Belly River and although I had a hard time keeping up with Sage’s pace I managed to stop here a d there for a photo. About halfway we hiked past the Belly River Ranger Station and I thought how cool it would be to work out here as a Ranger…

After a short lunch break we raced down and up the last four miles and finally arrived at the Chief Mountain trailhead. It’s directly at the Canadian border. We walked over to the American border agent and I asked about the process of hiking back into the states. He told me that Goat Haunt services are not available (weirdly they cannot find anyone who manages the water in the area although it sounds like a great job to me…) and that leaves me with an app to register back into the USA. But there’s nearly no reception in the area I will hike through. Weird. However, I would figure things out.

Following Sage I left the US and crossed into Canada. The nice woman on the Canadian side stamped my passport and now I am in Canada for the first time in my life! I had always thought I would cross over on the PCT.. well… but it’s nice in the Waterton Glacier Peace Park as well. I always wanted to come here once!

On the Canadian side I had cell service and we sat down to answer some messages. I also called the shuttle service Sage had already pre-booked and got a seat on the shuttle. Later it turned out we were the first hikers of the season for the shuttle lady. Next we booked our accommodation. It’s townday! Exciting!!

We hung around at the border parking area for another hour until the shuttle picked us up. We checked in at our motel and right now as I am writing these lines I am sitting in the lobby of the fancy Bayshore Inn wearing my underwear and a rain jacket. It’s the only place in town with public laundry. After all our laundry is done it’s time to relax and we’re off to find some Italian food!