My Very Favorite Part of Glacier NP

The Many Glacier section of the park is definitely my very favorite. Driving in along Lake Sherburne is just a beautiful preview.

The Many Glacier Hotel is 98 years old, and you can see why it was at one time known as "The Gem of the West." Looks like Switzerland to me!

Where else can you get a view from the balcony like this?

I'm going to go on a double boat ride here - no, not these boats...

They say these mountain walls are so thin from being carved by glaciers that you can see the sun shine through holes at sunset.

And we're off! Another naturalist's commentary - she was really good.

We're approaching the dock on Swiftcurrent Lake, in the lower right corner here.

After a short walk, we get on the second boat on Lake Josephine.

This boat brings us closer and closer to the wilderness.

We can now see Salamander Glacier.

And some waterfalls.

And - WHOA - some BEARS!

The boat drops us off at the far end of Lake Josephine. I chose to do the not-strenuous 1-mile hike to Grinnell Lake.

On the way there's a "Load Limit - One Hiker at a Time" bridge.

The trail continues down the creek.

Uh-oh -- I hope that's not what I think it is...

Ah... There it is - Grinnell Lake.

On the way back I did a little detour to Hidden Falls.

And then back to the boat dock to wait for our boat.

You can also hike up to Grinnell Glacier from the boat dock. I did that in 2010 - post here.

By the way, if this photo looks familiar to any Escapee members, it's because it was on page 20 in their latest magazine.