Western Adventure #29: Many Glacier

Day 29–8/31/2024

We had to get up very early this morning to meet up with the Crafts. They are picking us up to go to Many Glacier on the east side of Glacier National Park to go on a boat tour. We had to meet them at 4:30 to get there in time for an 8:30 boat trip with a check-in time of 8:00 am. It's a long way from West Glacier to Many Glacier. We made it to the rendezvous point in West Glacier. But we had to wait another 15 minutes before they arrived because they were running late.

We made it to Many Glacier. The road in is horrible! Very bumpy and gravel. We got parked and couldn’t figure out how to get down to the hotel (which is very beautiful, btw). So Vince and I just walked back down the road the way we came in. Probably not the safest way, but it was the only way we could see. After we got down there, we saw the stairs down from the parking lot. 🤷🏻‍♀️ 

We had to wait around for a while for the ticket office to open because we got there at about 7:00 am. So Vince got coffee, and we looked around the gift shop. The hotel is very rustic and pretty. It also has the Swiss chalet look. The lobby is bigger than Lake McDonald Lodge. It is a multi-level lobby with beautiful staircases to traverse between floors. The gift shop is downstairs. We saw the t-shirt we wanted. Unfortunately, it was $70! 😱

                                                      Inside Many Glacier Hotel

This is Swiftcurrent Lake which Many Glacier Hotel is on. These pictures were taken early in the morning. The lake was so still, and the sun was hitting the mountain enough to make them glow.

After everyone arrived, and we got our tickets at the ticket office, we boarded the boat and headed out on Swiftcurrent Lake. A few minutes later, we had to get off the boat, and walk to the next lake to get on the next boat that would take us to the other side of Lake Josephine. This captain told the story of how they got this boat onto the lake. There were some young men who had to drag it about 100 feet/day! Here are some pictures of Lake Josephine.

When we docked and got off, we headed out on a hike to Grinnell Lake. it was a very beautiful walk with a suspension bridge,

a waterfall,

a noisy creek,

and a crystal-clear glacial lake.

Here are a few pictures of our trail.

We enjoyed taking pictures of the mountains surrounding the lake. On the other side of Grinnel Lake is Grinnel Glacier. We could've hiked to that glacier, but we would probably still be there. So we just enjoyed the lake. 🤣

We hiked back to the suspension bridge and ate lunch. Laurie and Vince also had some fun with the suspension bridge. 

 

Then the Buskirks and we hiked to the Hidden Falls while the rest hopped to it back to the boat. 

By the time we got back to the boat, it was going to take an hour and 45 minutes to wait for the boat. We decided instead to hike back to the hotel. It would take us the same amount of time as waiting for the boat. Here are some things we saw along the way.

                                                            Salamander Glacier

                                                 Ron doing what Ron does best.

Many Glacier Hotel

We got to see a black bear when we got almost to the hotel. If you want to see that picture, you can look at Ron Buskirk's Facebook page. He got a really good picture of the bear. Poor baby. He just wanted his mommy from whom he got separated because there were so many people on the trail. 

We hit the road back to Apgar for us and Bear Grass for the Buskirks. We rode with them back to our Jeep because the Crafts had to go on back to their camper. They have 2 dogs and a cat and can’t be gone terribly long from their pets.

We rode bikes in Apgar Village when we got back, but I was sore from yesterday’s ride. So we didn’t ride long. Plus it was crowded, and it was making me nervous. Instead, we rode to Eddy’s and ate dinner. We split a hamburger. It was really yummy. We also got huckleberry cobbler. Very good!

We were too tired for the ranger talk tonight. So we called it a night. Tomorrow we return to Bear Grass.