My Birthday Trip to Glacier

I decided I was NOT going to be painting the house on my birthday, and decided it was time to take another trip into Glacier Park. And I was lucky enough to talk my friends, Jack and Jane, into going with me. I wanted to go back to the place I think is the most beautiful in the park -- Many Glacier.

As with most things in Glacier National Park, they seem to be named for their surroundings, and Many Glacier was named for the large number of glaciers that could be seen from that area. Around 1850, there were about 150 glaciers in the park, and today there are just 25. They believe that in only 10 years, they will all be gone.

(Me standing in front of our boat on Josephine Lake with Mt. Gould behind me. )

George Bird Grinnell pushed for the idea of a national park, and is considered to be the "father" of Glacier National Park. In 1910, President Taft signed the bill passed by Congress to establish Glacier National Park. So you will find many points of interest named for George Grinnell -- Grinnell Glacier, Grinnell Lake, Grinnell Point (you get the idea). and even some of the indigenous mountain rocks have his name. The great thing is that all of these landmarks are in the Many Glacier area.

There is also the Many Glacier Lodge (the largest lodge in the park) which was built by the Great Northern Railroad which was providing service to Montana and the park. The Lodge was started around 1910, and was opened on July 4, 1914. It's a marvelous structure sitting on the shore of Swiftcurrent Lake.

While there are many things you can do in this area, today we are taking the boat tour of Swiftcurrent Lake and Josephine Lake and from there, the hike to Grinnell Lake and Glacier. You catch the first boat (built around 1960) from the lodge which goes to the end of Swiftcurrent Lake, then take less than a half mile walk to the Josephine Lake and the next wooden boat, built in the 1940's.

(View of Swiftcurrent Mountain from the "Chief Two Eyes")



These lakes were carved by the huge glaciers that carved out this entire area. Swiftcurrent is only about 20 feet deep, then Josephine is about 80 feet deep, and Grinnell is up to 200 feet deep in spots. The closer the lake was to the heart of the glaciers, the larger the depth.

(Part of the trail is now on a board walk -- the river that runs through this area actually changed course and was now running on the trail. So you are actually walking over the river.)

Grinnell Glacier is one of the most photographed glaciers in the park. In 1850 (which was known as the "little ice age"), this glacier was 710 acres and included the glacier known today as the "Salamander Glacier". By 1993, Grinnell was only 220 acres and the Salamander was separate at 57 acres. So folks.....if you have never seen a glacier, you need to get to the park -- quickly.

So enough history.....it was a great day even if a little rainy. We had a nice hike with about 25 other people and found some good company and great conversation. Upon reaching the lake, I just found a log and sat down to take in the whole scene. It is incredibly peaceful, and I really could have sat there for hours just enjoying the nature and the peacefulness of the surroundings.

(It wasn't a great day for picture taking, but here is a shot of Grinnell Glacier -- you can barely see it any more -- which is on Mt. Gould. The waterfalls are there year round. )


Of course, once you get to the lake, you must take the walk back. And there are only so many boats -- the last one leaving Josephine Lake at 5:15. Miss that one and it's called "taking the 4 mile hike back to Many Glacier Lodge" -- and we really didn't want to do that. Jack and Jane just missed the "extra" boat they sent for the large group, so we waited.

(This picture is called "waiting for the boat". I think Jack wanted to be the first to board. But look at the clarity and color of the lake -- beautiful.)

The whole trip on the boats and on the hike we were looking for wildlife, hoping to see a bear. This is the time of year they are trying to put on as much weight as possible for the hibernation.

We didn't seen any bears on our hike, but as we were leaving the park, there were a lot of cars pulled over and people with the largest telescopes and lenses I've seen. Naturally......they had spotted a grizzly bear and her cub. They were eating berries, and without a binoculars, you really couldn't get a good look. Even then, they would walk behind a bush and disappear until someone spotted them again. Too far away for me to get a picture, but it was exciting to see them.

Now Jane had a great idea -- "Why doesn't someone go in there and chase them out here?" I'm sure she was kidding, but it was very funny at the time. I told her this was probably not a good idea, especially since there was a park ranger standing just down from us. She thought he should be the one to do the chasing -- isn't he trained for this sort of thing?

So it was fun, and we finished the day with a fabulous meal at the Great Northern Railway Restaurant in the East Glacier Lodge. Huge piece of prime rib complete with blackberry pie for my birthday treat.