Day 14 - (08/01) Glacier National Park ... Day 2

Note: we're playing catch up from time in Canada. This is being posted on 08/11.

This was the day to move 2 miles to the St. Mary Campground within the park. Though we’ll have no services, the $11.50 daily rate for seniors is quite a value.

Breakfast and move

We had breakfast at Johnson’s Café. The plan was to have one of their highly recommended cinnamon rolls and coffee. We ended up with their family style breakfast (eggs, bacon, home fried potatoes, French toast) … and a highly recommended cinnamon roll! Another plan shot.

Johnson's Cafe

Moving time

Our GNP campsite

We were able to check-in early and got a beautiful, open site.

We seem to be checking in at the right park.

Nice view out the front door, huh?

Campsite ... there were other campers, honest.

Many Glaciers National Park

We headed north to Many Glaciers National Park and quite an adventure. First, we came upon a “bear jamb” on the entrance road. It occurs when traffic stops to see a bear (we shouldn't have joined in). This small grizzly was eating behind brush on a hillside.

Grizzly

We passed Sherburne Lake on the way into the park.

Sherburn Lake

Wildflower field

Wildflowers up close

These red busses are replicas of park touring cars from the 1930s. They are built by Ford and are propane powered. The drivers are called “jammers” because of the way they shifted gears in the old days. We saw lots of them throughout the parks.

We drove to the Swift Current Trailhead and took the 2.6 mile hike around the lake. A number of the connecting trails were closed due to grizzly activity.

Bear Warning

We walked ... some didn't

Tour boat - Many Glaciers Hotel in background

This is the easy way to get from the hotel to the head of the lake.

A storm moved in quickly. We stopped at the Many Glaciers Hotel to look around and wait for the storm to pass.

The storm is coming

The weather changed so quickly Carol didn’t know if it was sunny or raining.

The storm came

We hiked back to the car in a fine drizzle, drove home to get warm and had a dinner of leftovers.

Then we went to the visitor center for an evening ranger lecture on edible, poisonous and medicinal plants. A nice after dinner touch don't you think?

We ended the day by playing one game of Bananagram by camp light (we have no electricity here). Carol won.

FYI
Experts estimate the glaciers will be gone from Glacier National Park within 10 years.

St. Mary Lake is 9.9 miles long and 289 ft. deep.

Map Tracks
Start: St. Mary, Montana
North on US-89 to Babb, Montana
West on Montana 464 to Many Glaciers National Park entrance
Many Glaciers National Park to US-89
South on US-89 to St. Mary, Montana
End: 46 miles @ St. Mary, Montana