We visited Glacier National Park in July this year. Waterfalls of snow melt were washing down green hillsides onto the road, and clouds danced over the towering mountains, still clinging to their last layers of frozen ice.
We didn’t plan to take a baby, barely 3 months old, on her first camping trip in one of America’s most iconic national parks. Actually, I’ve been learning that with a baby, there are a lot of things we can’t plan for. Instead of making plans, I’ve been setting goals.
Before our trip, I set a few main goals:
- Sleep outside
- Go on a family hike
- Spend time at a lake
If we accomplished anything else on top of these three goals, it was a bonus. Having this frame of mind helped us enjoy the trip while managing the schedule of a baby still essentially in the newborn phase.
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Our campsite was a welcome and unexpected surprise
I happened to get our camping permit to Glacier National Park by chance. One afternoon in the earliest days of my baby’s newbornhood, I happened to check the campsites still available over the summer. I expected to see a bunch of “Reserved” labels, and as I clicked through different campgrounds this is what I saw.
Then I noticed something that had to be a glitch. There was a campsite available on July 4th. The most sought-after day to camp all year. The hardest day to make a reservation.
I tried to add it to my cart, but the system told me it wasn’t available. This meant someone else was actively considering the site.
I texted my husband.
“If I can get it, what should I do?”
“Obviously book it.”
Our baby was only a few weeks old. Would she be ready for her first night in the woods in only a few months? Would I be ready to take her out then?
I waited 15 minutes, tried the site again, and got sent to the cart to check out.
“I got it!” I texted my husband.
Getting ready for the camping trip
I then began furiously researching how to keep babies warm while hiking and while sleeping outside at night. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there isn’t a lot of material on this. A lot of people are nervous to take babies outside (and I was told by a relative that “If she was my baby, I wouldn’t do it”). But this is my baby. And I go outside. A lot. So we had to find a way to make this work safely for our family.
I bought the gear she needed. (Here’s my list of recommended layers for baby.) The 4th of July came, we packed the car, and it was time for us to go camping.
We live near enough to Glacier National Park that we could leave in the morning and arrive in the early afternoon. I was pleasantly surprised when we didn’t have to pay to get in, as we were visiting on one of the park’s free days (you can find the list of free days here). The woman at the entrance gate smiled and waved us through, and my husband turned to me.
“Now where to?”
I pulled out the map. I hadn’t really thought of that.
We were making it up as we go
We chose to spend some time driving around the park. Baby had just eaten, and was taking a nap, so we had another hour or so before she would be waking up again. None of us had ever driven the Going to the Sun Road, so we decided to try that out.
The views were spectacular. Vibrant, green vegetation in the valleys. Snow still topping the surrounding peaks, highlighting the edge of where the earth touches the sky. Water poured over the road on its way to the river and lakes below.
We saw deer and stopped often along the road to gawk and feed the baby. This park really is one of the crowning jewels of our continent.
Eventually, baby was done spending time in the car seat and we decided it was time to go set up camp.
Camping is an amazing experience for parents and babies
I have an old 3 person tent that I bought years ago (on sale for $30!) and still love to this day. We set this up, and Mr. Mountains went on a mission to get us some firewood. Baby had some tummy time on nature’s floor (with a protective tarp and blanket, of course).
We all walked from our site to Lake McDonald so my husband could swim (I’m not a huge fan of cold water). Baby and I sat on the beach to watch.
No one can travel all the way to Glacier National Park without at least putting their toes in the water, so I waded in and we helped baby (much to her disapproval) dip her feet in the water as well.
To keep our first camping trip easy, I packed a variety of freeze dried meals for us to eat. My favorite is the Veggie Korma.
Around 7 pm, baby fell asleep and I put her in the basket we brought as her bed. This was the best part of my whole trip. It was the easiest she’d gone to sleep since she was born, and she slept so much better that night outside. I think it was the fresh air.
After I put baby down, we made s’mores (and nearly finished a bag of marshmallows – oops). The stars came out and we enjoyed each other’s company, watching the crackle of the fire. The distant boom of fireworks echoed, and I was glad we hadn’t needed baby headphones to protect her ears from a full firework show.
The reality of sleeping with an infant while camping
I slept well for most of the night. Or, better than I had been sleeping at home. Which is saying a lot considering I used my closed cell foam pad and my husband had my preferred blow-up pad. Babies can’t sleep on air mattresses, so I wanted to be safe in case we ended up cuddling or feeding in my sleeping bag.
Around 2, or maybe 3 in the morning, baby woke up for another feed. That was fine and normal, but she stayed awake for a while just cooing and making happy baby sounds. All I could imagine was a bear (there are a lot in Glacier National Park) keying into the helpless baby sounds, deciding an easy snack was nearby, and paying us a visit.
So I took the baby and we sat in the car for about an hour until the sun rose and I saw people moving around the campground.
Then, we went back to the tent and I went back to sleep for a few more hours.
It’s ok to do what your gut tells you. We might have been fine if I hadn’t waited up through the rest of the night. But I felt better going back to the car for a bit, and that’s ok, too. I’m not an advocate for doing anything with your babies that makes you uncomfortable.
Making sure we got that hike in
The next morning, we used instant oatmeal packets to make breakfast. I love that all you have to do is add boiling water and stir.
My last goal for the trip was to get a little hike in. We chose part of the Lake McDonald Trail near our campground. After packing up the tent, we drove to the trailhead and met three other babies in carriers, all starting their day with a hike, too.
We walked in on the trail for a little over half a mile. We saw so many berry bushes, and even spooked a deer through the brush.
A little trail led us down to the lake, which perfectly mirrored the mountains surrounding it. I spotted the soft, pink petals of some wild roses. We ate a trail mix snack and turned around to go back home.
A quick stop on our way home
We stopped in Kalispel on the way home to snag a quick lunch – burritos at Mother Chorizo’s. They were large, hot, and very welcome after a few meals of “just add boiling water.”
There were not enough picnic tables for the number of groups eating, so we were joined by some travelers from the Midwest who were touring around Montana and Glacier National Park. They asked if the “Weeping Wall” was still weeping – it was.
I hadn’t realized that the water pouring down the road was something special only a few people get to see. It was a good reminder to slow down and appreciate the whole world with wonder.
After our lunch, we joined the line of holiday weekend traffic on their way back home.
Some final thoughts on the camping trip
You might wonder if I would take a newborn to Glacier National Park again, or if I would change our lax itinerary. I can confidently say I would gladly go again, night-time hours in the car and all.
This first camping trip with baby was one of our first real ‘returns’ to what life looked like pre-baby, and somehow it was even easier to have her along and outside than it was for us to stay at home.
Our ‘unscheduled’ trip allowed us to make decisions on the fly that worked best for baby, so we weren’t rushing from place to place and we were not disappointed that we had missed anything.
It was helpful for us to have our defined goals: my husband wanted to swim, I wanted a short hike. These goals helped us make those quick, last-minute decisions and gave us a lot of flexibility to really enjoy our time relaxing in the park.
Have you taken an infant camping? Or wanted to? Share your experience in the comments below!
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