Glacier National Park: Amazing Views in Many Glacier

Many Glacier

With the Swiftcurrent Pass Trail behind us, we navigated our way past the Swiftcurrent Motor Inn and continued along route 3 to Many Glacier Hotel.  We got a tip from a ranger to catch a small nature trail near the Grinnell Glacier trailhead.  This trail hugged Swiftcurrent Lake and provided our first views of this historic hotel that we would be calling home for the next two nights.  

Spurred on by the hopes of Huckleberry Ice Cream, we pushed through the final half mile and arrived sweaty and smelly into the Swiss Chalet themed lobby.

After check-in, it was the basement convenience store to which we headed first, only to find that the Ice Cream machine was broken, just like Ashley's spirits.  All was not lost, however, as this provided an opportunity to enjoy some local beers from our balcony overlooking the lake and mountains and reflect on our hike down from the Chalet, which is easily in our top 3 favorite hikes of all time.

Situated on Swiftcurrent Lake, Many Glacier Hotel provides views into two of the popular valleys in the Park. While sitting on one of the many porches, guests can scan the surrounding slopes for grazing grizzly bears. 

Hungry from our long hike, we enjoyed cheese fondue at the Swiss Lounge. The fondue and beer almost made up for the lack of Huckleberry soft serve. Afterwards, we enjoyed dinner in the main restaurant - the Ptarmigan dining room with floor to ceiling windows. We ended the evening by attending a ranger-led lecture in the hotel on the wildlife of Glacier National Park. 

Iceberg Lake

We awoke to clear blue skies and enjoyed the view of Swiftcurrent Lake from the balcony of our room. The postcard perfect weather amped us up for today's hike to Iceberg Lake.

After breakfast, we headed to the designated meeting spot for our guided hike to Iceberg Lake. Months before this trip, Ashley made reservations with Glacier Guides for this hike as an anniversary gift to Nate.   Jill, our guide for the day with a bubbly personality, energetically led us on the nearly ten-mile round trip hike and pointed out various wildflowers along the way. While the Iceberg Lake hike would have been manageable on our own, it was nice to have a local perspective on the flora, fauna, and geological features we'd see along the way. 

Although the first mile of the trail provides a challenging 500 foot elevation change, it eventually levels out with a more gradual incline. About two miles in, we stopped for a snack break at Ptarmigan Falls. Beware of the aggressive chipmunks! They will literally steal things out of your backpacks. 

Eventually the trail left the forest (complete with grizzly clawed trees) and opened up into views of the surrounding valleys. 

As we approached the trail's namesake lake, the trail was suddenly snow covered. Since the mountain peaks cast shadows on the trail, the temperature quickly dropped and we pulled out our fleece as we caught our first glimpse of Iceberg Lake.

Our group found some perfect rocks to enjoy our picnic lunch - included in our Glacier Guides tour! As we enjoyed our sandwiches, Jill (our guide) pointed out the surrounding features - even some mountain goats way up on the ridge and some ski tracks where a crazy person thrill seeker apparently created his own run in an avalanche chute. Speaking of avalanches, Jill was interrupted by a thunder-like sound. As we all turned our heads across the lake, we caught a calving of one of the snowfields that feeds the lake.

When you think of a summertime lake experience, you probably don't picture icebergs. It certainly wasn't our typical post July 4th experience. 

The scene made us feel like we were in Alaska or some other northern tundra rather than the lower 48. When zooming in on the icebergs, one would not guess we were in Montana.  The still turquoise waters allowed for perfect reflections of the larger icebergs.

Before leaving, Jill showed off her camera skills by acting as photographer for all of us and perfectly capturing the moment.

Our hike back to the trailhead was rather uneventful (i.e. no bear attacks). If you're planning a visit to Glacier National Park (which you should), we highly recommend checking out the various hiking options that Glacier Guides has to offer - from short day hikes like the one we took to multi-night backpacking adventures.

In the evening, we drove back towards Logan's Pass in hopes of catching the sunset. A large summer storm rolled through providing dramatic lighting amidst the clouds.

Due to the storm, some drivers chose to pull over as the rain provided a bit of a hairy ascent in the twists and turns of Going-to-the-Sun road. However, as Floridians, we weren't in the least phased by a little summer shower, and kept climbing. Our persistence paid off as we were rewarded with an impressive sunset in the Rockies.

Seeing the cloud formations below us, we truly understood the naming of this road. Perhaps we had actually gone to the sun.

Tomorrow we'd cross the border and explore Canada's sister park, Waterton Lakes.