Day 15 – Many Glacier

We crossed back into the USA about an hour ago so will try to get caught up on posting.

Here we go...day 15.

We woke up this morning to a beautiful (although chilly) Montana sunrise.

Today we’re going into a part of Glacier called “Many Glacier”.  It’s the northern most entrance to the USA part of the park.  Glacier National Park extends into Alberta.

Off we go

The first stop is the Apikuni Falls.  It’s just inside the park entrance and a short 1 mile hike.

Looks harmless enough as we begin our ascent.

There’s always a view in every direction.

With every step the vista expands.

By the way, Kathy’s bundled up this morning.  There’s definitely a wind chill.  Notice the salmon color gloves…she’s making a fashion statement.  Just not sure what is says.

We keep hiking UP…

…and UP…

…until we arrive to see Apikuni Falls.

That’s it????

Here’s an un-zoomed photo to get the actual perspective on what we just climbed 600 feet to see.

There has to be more so Kathy forges ahead.

Another couple hundred yards around the rocks and boulders and we are there.

Yup…that’s it alright.  The view back down the mountain is actually a little more impressive.

Back at road level, it’s time to move on.

We drove to the end of vehicle access at the Swiftcurrent Lodge.

We find the beginning of the Swiftcurrent Trial which will lead us to the Redrock Falls.

Again, the views are spectacular.  There is a stiff SW wind again today so some of the “clouds” are smoke from the fires.  We can smell it again today.  Not real strong, kind of like the guy at the end of the street has a fire in the fireplace.

Then we came across this guy.

I’m sure it’s a grouse.  I’m not sure if it’s the same bird we see in Michigan.  He seemed almost as interested in me as I was in him.

Our trail takes us to the shore of Swiftcurrent Lake.

The trail meanders along the lake for another half mile.

Until we arrive at the Redrock Falls.

Nothing spectacular, but worth the walk.  This trail was basically level by Glacier standards.

OK, been there.  Time to head back.  There’s always a view that looks worth saving on the return trip that was at your back on the way in.

This one stunned us.

First, it seems like a ton of work to haul an infant up and down these mountains.  Second, why would you do that since it does nothing for the child.  Third, how in the devil did you get that stroller even that far before you abandoned it?  Steps, rocks, roots, mud…

We then moved down to the Many Glacier Lodge.

There was a waterfall near the lodge that we noticed on the way in.

That was just a few steps off the road and a bonus find for us today.

That completed our activities in Many Glacier and we had a little time left, so we went back to St Mary and boarded the national park shuttle to Sunrift Gorge and a short hike to the Baring Falls that we missed a couple days ago.

I tried to capture some of the stones in the water.  They were very colorful.

Throw in a wild flower and the scene is complete.

A final look and we’re done.

This is the same area we were in a couple days ago that had burned in 2015.  The view through the trees is nice.

We pass a couple more water runs as we climb the hill back to the shuttle stop.

We learned there were only three shuttles running today so it might be a bit of a wait.

Fortunately, it was only a few minutes and we actually boarded on the same bus that we arrived on.  It takes them about two hours to do the whole loop from St Mary to Logan Pass and return. 

These are a couple shots from the shuttle on the way back to the visitor center. 

It’s amazing how abruptly the topography changes from prairie to mountains.  In those photos above, to the right is the ruggedness of Glacier and to the left, the Montana prairie.  It goes from one to the other in less than 10 miles.

It was a busy day.  Tomorrow we’re planning on half a day at an area called “Two Medicine”.