TUESDAY,
JULY 1:
What a beautiful, enjoyable day!! We got an early start (at least early for
us!) and arrived at Many Glacier around
9:30. Beautiful views all the way in!
Since it was predicted to be a warm, sunny day, we
thought it’d be nice to hike the 2.6 mile loop around Swiftcurrent Lake that we
did a few days ago when it was densely overcast & cool. Our boat tour wasn’t until 2:00, so would
have plenty of time to enjoy that trail.
We’re glad we did – the temperature felt perfect, and the mountain views
were gorgeous. We just took our time,
stopping to take pictures, enjoy a vista, etc.
Got back to the Hotel around 12:30, so went to the nicest dining room for a nice lunch. We just ordered sandwiches (roast beef for me, a Swiss brat for Bill), but they were prepared very well and very tasty. The best part of dining here, though, was the view! We use VISA, not MasterCard – but still priceless!
Then we
walked out to the dock for our scenic boat trip. The boat was full – holds 49 passengers. Lots of young families with children, but
also many old duffers like us. A naturalist was on board. Though not a Ranger (the naturalists are
employed by the private company which operates the boats on all of Glacier’s
lakes), Margaret was superb. Young,
enthusiastic, bright, open, friendly, very knowledgeable. Her degree is in Geography, with some
sub-specialty in Ecology. She’s been
doing this at Glacier for the past 3 summers, and of course loves it. She’s thinking that she’d like to take a
course in boat building and see if she could earn a stable living doing that.
She
had a couple of hair-raising stories of very personal encounters with bears. Just over a week ago, she had just left some
other boat employees and was hiking back.
She was thinking about the conversation she & her fellow employees
had just had, focused on that. Was
cresting a hill and slipped and started tumbling. She of course reached out to break her fall,
and her hand landed about 6 inches away
from a baby cub. GULP!!!!!!!!!!!!! She then described how she made her exit (her
bear spray was in her backpack & useless).
When she felt relatively safe and felt that she could make it, she ran
as fast as she could to the boat dock, screaming hysterically when she arrived.
Anyone want to try & top that
adrenalin rush???
We
started out in Swiftcurrent Lake, which is the focal point around the Many
Glacier Area. Margaret pointed out the
many distinct mountain formations surrounding the lake – ones we’ve felt
familiarity with for many days now. Nice
to know their names & geologic distinctives.
After a
while, we arrived at the end of Swiftcurrent and disembarked to hike a very
short trail section so we could embark on another boat at Lake Josephine (the 2
lakes aren’t connected). We’d actually seen
this section of the trail both times when we did the Swiftcurrent Loop.
In fact, this morning when we were hiking the Loop trail, we looked
across the lake at one point and observed a boat docked and people appearing to
be getting off. We wondered what exactly
the deal was, and now we know! So we
continued up Lake Josephine, with lots more beautiful scenery out our window.
At the other end of Lake Josephine, we again
disembarked, and those of us who wanted to took a 2-mile hike to Lake Grinnell
joined Margaret, who gave us a running historical, geological, & ecological
narrative as we hiked. Since the
majority of the group were younger, the pace of the hike was pretty brisk. I could keep up fairly well, but it took a
toll on Bill. After the better part of a
mile, we paused after crossing over on a cable bridge, and Margaret offered an
optional .2 mile uphill to a waterfall for those who wanted to do that. We declined and caught our breath.
And then the destination itself was beautiful. Gorgeous turquoise glacial melt water in a stunning setting. Everyone just relaxed for a good while, took pictures, etc.
We could go back pretty much at our own
pace.
The last boat leaves the dock at Lake Josephine at
5:15, so as long as we were back by then, it was good. The boat arrived, but was 2/3 full of
passengers who had come up for the scenic ride, and were turning right
around. So the boat could only
accommodate 13 new passengers. A couple of families were first in line, and
then they had room for just 1 singleton.
I urged Bill to go, as his legs were really complaining. I reminded him
that he could rest his legs in the hotel while he waited for me. So he did, and I waited 15 minutes to catch
the next boat. Visited with a dear
elderly couple from Long Island. She had
had some trouble on the way to Lake
Grinnell walking over the modest boardwalk bridges over the swift river – a
version of my fear of heights, I think.
So I told her to take my hand tight, and led her across. Bill did likewise on another little
bridge. Turned out that her husband had
been principal for many years of a high school in Nassau County, NY. Extremely affluent area. (None of the staff lived there!) He said that what would seem like a cushion
job was actually full of pressure – because parents had very high expectations
for their kids.
The rest
did Bill good, and we walked up to the parking lot to drive home. Spotted a mama Black bear and 2 cubs on our
way out.
Still
warm when we got to the RV at around 7:00.
Probably reached 80 or so today.
But once the sun goes down, downright chilly! Ate a quick meal of spaghetti & garlic
bread, and then Bill went to the laundry room to do some of his laundry, and
worked on sorting pictures while down there.
I stayed home and finished my Eggers book. Extraordinary novel. Could well leave one depressed & heavy,
given the weary, indifferent world Eggers portrays that we live in. But I read it as one man’s moments of grace,
courage, truth, striving, even as his life was diminishing. Thanks, sister Lynn, for turning me on to it! Bill
didn’t return home til after 12:00 –he had to wait for a machine.
.
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