WEDNESDAY,
JULY 2:
Another
gorgeous day!! Skies were absolutely
clear for most of the day. We drove the
kayaks up to Swiftcurrent Lake. We
debated a little about going to another lake in the Park, just for variety’s
sake. But we knew that Swiftcurrent had
easy access & parking – plus, we could enjoy ourselves at that great
restaurant for lunch. J And
Bill checked with a Ranger down here, and she said that St. Mary’s Lake wasn’t
all that interesting, and Two Meadows Lake was 45 minutes south. So off again to our now familiar and
dear-to-us Many Glacier.
An
absolutely gorgeous drive in – probably
the best yet.
Were in the water by 11:30. The water was just perfect. Still, calm, clear. Air temp was perfect as well – felt just
right in short sleeves. Just thoroughly
enjoyed ourselves leisurely paddling around.
Swiftcurrent & Lake Josephine are actually
connected, but by a very narrow section which goes under one of the bridges. Paddling into Josephine from Swiftcurrent,
the current is against you, and there are lots of big boulders – hence, white
water. Bill scoped it out thoroughly to
see if there were any way he thought we could navigate our way through. While fairly shallow and no chance of
drowning, it still wouldn’t be a pleasant experience if we dumped. So we decided the adventure wasn’t worth
it. So did a number of other paddlers –
we watched them go down as far as they could before the current pushed them
back.
After about 2 hours, we paddled over to the Many
Glacier Hotel for lunch. Docked our
boats right in front. Felt very
cosmopolitan & European! Ate by the
window again. I knew I wanted to get one
of their Huckleberry Margaritas – their signature drink. Yummy!
Bill for a couple of Moose Drool
lagers. Honestly – that was the name! He got the cold roast beef sandwich I’d gotten
yesterday, and I got a Farmer’s salad topped with seared trout. Was a wonderful meal, and we were fully
relaxed, watching paddlers out the window.
By the end of the meal, I realized that my body was feeling VERY heavy,
and when Bill asked me to help figure out the tip, I couldn’t do it. They sure didn’t skimp on the alcohol in the
drink!
Our plan
was to paddle the short distance back to the boat put-in place. But I was in no condition to drive! So we went out on the deck for a while.. But with the warmth of the sun and the
effects of the alcohol, and a late night last night, I was zonked. After a while, Bill shook me awake and said
that he was going to paddle by himself across and bring back the truck. I tried
to protest that I wanted to kayak back too! But only feebly, and to no avail.
He soon
was back, and loaded my kayak as I watched from above (by now, awake &
sober).
This was probably our last day here in the Many
Glacier area. Tomorrow, even if they
don’t have the Going-to-the-Sun road all the way open, which we’re doubting now
(and therefore no shuttle busses running), we’ll most likely make the drive to
the St. Mary’s trailhead ourselves – that much of the road is open. We’ve heard that it’s an ugly road right now
– they’ve laid gravel in parts where it’s not paved, and then wet it down to keep the dust from flying. But that only creates mud. They’ve had a terrible time with the Sun road
this year. Had most of it plowed several
weeks ago, and were almost ready to open it when they received that deluge of
rain and 14 more inches of WET snow that we heard about a couple of weeks ago.. Caused several avalanches. So in many places, they had to literally
start over.
Got home
around 5:00. Unloaded the truck, and
then Bill promptly fell asleep in the easy chair. He stayed asleep til I woke him & asked
if he still wanted to drive in to the St.
Mary’s Visitor Center, where some Blackfeet dancers were performing at
7:00. I still felt a little worn out
from the sun, and decided that I’d use the time to try to get another Blog
entry posted. He said that it was OK,
but nothing great.
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