Day 4 in Glacier

Today we are going to another part of the park that is only accessible by car from the east side of the park. This is where you supposedly can see more of the bears.

It is now Saturday and the increase in people from Thursday to Friday was dramatic, so I am going to believe that today will be really crowded. It will most likely be especially packed because it’s coming so close in time to the last day of the season up here.
The lodge we are going tonight actually is closing this weekend and we got the last night. I don’t really comprehend why it closes so early because the days have been really warm and there’s no rain or moisture so far.
But, this is my first time here so I really don’t know and I don't have anyone asking me my opinion.

The great little hole in the wall restaurant that we hit last night is closing on the 20th. The nice little people that run the joint will be disbursing back to their regular lives and all the tourists will be back to their worlds as well.

Back in the real world, I will be missing some quality college football games today. :)

But, this trip is way, way worth it.

Unlike the casual football fans, I love college football way more than the No Fun League that they call the NFL.
There’s just way more excitement in college football as well as basketball, but that is a different story and for another time. Now, my heart is in Glacier National Park.

The sun is up on the east side of the park, time to head to the mountains and see our grizzly bears. It will be a huge disappointment if we don’t see at least one.
However, I will say that my day was made yesterday upon seeing the mountain goats.

We took a boat ride on a lake called Swift Current from the lodge at Many Glacier. The lodge sits right on the shore of Swift Current Lake and has spectacular views.
When we come back we need to stay at this place. It was built in 1914-15 and is supposed to look like a Swiss Chalet.
It’s got some character about it. All I know from first hand knowledge is the food in the lounge is excellent as well as the views of the lake and surrounding mountains.
The boat tour, or ride, goes from the main lodge to the other side of the lake. The tourists get off there and walk .2 of a mile to another boat on Lake Josephine.

Lake Josephine is a bit of a nicer, cleaner lake than Swift Current and a little higher in elevation. It is also much deeper.
From there, they take you to the other end of the lake where there are several trail heads.
The trail we hiked was to Lake Grinnell.
Lake Grinnell is another glacier fed lake with, of course, ice cold waters. The waters are so very clear that it is almost amazing.

On the top end of this lake there is a spectacular little water fall plunging quite the distance down the cliffs. Like most of the waterfalls here it is a little weaker than it had been in the late spring and early summer.

At this spot on the side of this beautiful lake, we were able to see big horn sheep.

I would highly recommend this to anyone that asks about what to do at the park.

We have met many interesting characters along the way. Probably the most interesting folks on this segment of our trip were a couple from the Netherlands and another couple from Wisconsin. All these folks are so nice and having a blast and will share anything with you including their binoculars.

I am not coming back again without binoculars.

But, back to people. You always meet people from all over the world in these national parks. I always intend to keep in touch with the ones we talk to for long periods but I never follow up.
When whale watching a couple of years ago, we met these very interesting older people from New York that had seen the world. They had a wealth of information and I meant to keep in touch but I didn’t.
You meet Europeans, Asians, and other Americans that are all out here in the wilderness, or wherever you may be with the same interests as you.
They want to see a whale, or a grizzly or whatever else you are searching for and you have that common interest.

As we hiked back to our location to catch the boat, we saw our first Grizzly bear. It was across the lake and fairly far off, but we could all see it as clear as day.
On the way back on the boat, we spotted another just strolling along above us.
That was possibly the highlight of the trip so far. We hoped to see others later today, but we did not.
We hiked a couple of miles in the morning and about 4 in the afternoon.

Did I mention that I was out of shape?

Hiking is a lot like life. You just keep putting one foot in front of the other and no matter how tired you become you just keep going and going and you finally arrive at your destination, or your goal. Hikers get out our little trail maps and plan out our days and take off.
In life, we just keep going day after day and hopefully get where we need to go but it's not always planned out.
Hiking has boundaries, generally, in that you have a clear cut destination and you do whatever it takes to get there.
If only we were so clear with our lives and set attainable goals. In hiking, you don’t set out to walk 500 miles in a day, so why do we put upon our selves unattainable goals in our lives?
Why don’t we set daily goals like hiking? We can all reach and accomplish certain things in a day’s time. Yet, we often wonder around aimlessly.
I am the most guilty of poor time management and most everyone else sets daily, weekly and yearly goals.

We are staying on this day at Swift Current Lodge. They are rustic rooms that aren’t great but comfortable enough.
No TV, and I missed my entire day of college football. I have no idea who won which games or if any upsets occurred. But, the funny thing is, when the day was done and all the games were played, I somehow didn’t fall over and die because I missed it all.

But, from Swift Current Lodge, there are other trail heads. We took off so bravely on a hike to see some waterfalls and we hoped more grizzly’s.

Did I just mention that I am out of shape?

No grizzlies, but the hike was nice even if it was so very tiring. There was yet another lake and a waterfall called Red Rock Falls. It was yet another excellent waterfall.
There were several young girls swimming and yelling. We pulled off our shoes and stuck our feet in and found out what the screaming was about. The water was ice cold. I wanted to soak my sore foot in it for a while and it did actually make me feel better for a short time.

But, of course, typically of me I slipped on the wet rocks and busted my butt. It only hurt a little bit and was more embarrassing than anything.

This hike really wore us out, but the beauty along the way was inspiring. We didn’t see any wildlife and especially any grizzly bears, but it was a great hike.
It wore us out completely.

Tomorrow we go back out of the high country, circle around and go back to Logan Pass again. Then, we head for McDonald Lodge where we will stay our last night in the park.
We are having a blast, but we are exhausted.

It’s too bad I wasn’t here back when I was in shape.

Years ago, when my old Pappy was alive, we went to Big Bend National Park. I made him hike the South Rim Loop with me, ok, so he wanted to hike the Loop.
That trail is over 13 miles and a lot of it is really steep, with a climb of over 3000 feet in elevation. We did that easily enough. The next day, we hiked some more and I left my dad and my mom and went on another hike. I could have hiked as many miles as I wanted in a day back then.

I think of Christopher Stone who is about to complete the Appalachian Trail in a few weeks. I admire him greatly for that.
I am sure I could walk myself back into shape, but right now it is difficult.

I learned some about plants today and was able to find some wild berries and eat some as I went. We ate some wild huckleberries and some thimbleberries. I noticed the thimble berries a couple of days ago but I didn’t know what they were. They were very tasty and can understand why bears like them.

There aren’t many huge trees in Glacier, but there are some fairly good sized Firs and Spruces. I learned to tell the difference between them today.
There are also a lot of Lodgepole Pines and some Aspens.

The mountains here are rough and rugged and the trees are rare on some of them. They are extremely steep mostly. They are part of the Rocky Mountain chain, but much different in character than the Rockies in Colorado.
There are 26 glaciers here, but there were a lot more 150 years ago which was way before global warming. I hope the glaciers are still around for my grandchildren to see when they are my age and if there is still a planet earth in those days.

This is a very interesting and fascinating park. The mountains are superb as well as all the lakes and the vegetation. However, what sets it apart from many parks is the wildlife.
Yellowstone is the best for wildlife viewing, but Glacier is very good with a grizzly population of about 330, they estimate. Grizzly’s are the main attraction.
I think there are some 600 black bears, but nobody really makes a big fuss over them.
Mountain goats are numerous as are bighorn sheep. We only saw a couple of the sheep, but they come down to the lower elevations when the weather gets colder.
It seems most people we ran into came to see the grizzly’s.

The sky is still a beautiful blue. Not a cloud in the sky. There hasn’t been very many clouds since we have been here and I wonder how much it rains here.
The guy that drove the boat said it was the nicest day of the summer and I can only go off of what I have been told.
It was 38 degrees this morning and 75 this afternoon. Kind of warm on our afternoon hike but very pleasant overall. In the morning, you think you are going to freeze, but by mid morning it has warmed up nicely.
The only exception was the first day we went to Logan’s Pass. It was pretty cold there because of the wind that first day. We hiked on the second day and it was warm and pleasant.

I am drinking a cold beer as I type. Nothing like cold beer in the big sky country.
This beer is called Trout Slayer and it is brewed right here in Missoula, Montana.

I have had an Alaskan ale, a Kokanee beer that is brewed in nearby Canada, and a Blackfoot Indian beer. I have enjoyed them all.
Nothing quite like hiking all day and eating some dinner and then drinking an ice cold beer.
The only thing more I could ask is to know my football scores.
But, I will find those out soon enough.

There is no phone service out here and no internet. I am sure I will have hundreds of junk emails to delete when I get back to civilization.
But, overall, I find that I can do without if necessary. It’s kind of a nice break from the real world. And, what is the real world?
Your real world is what you make it to be.

We have eaten very well here at every place we have stopped. The park service food has been a most pleasant surprise. It is kind of pricey but very, very good.
Hopefully, we have hiked off any excess pounds, but we certainly have eaten well.
Outside the park has been good as well. These guys are all seasonal people and come in for the summer. They are all leaving in a week or two and it’s surprising the quality we have experienced.
I’ve always said it’s hard to mess up a hamburger, but MacDonald’s would argue that. We’ve had several cheeseburgers and buffalo burgers that were out of this world good.
If you are ever in the area, you probably need to eat at the Belton Chalet which is in West Glacier. Excellent eating.

What a day.