2007/07/02
Close Encounters of the Bear Kind
Not far from the St. Mary entrance to the park is the Many Glacier entrance. You guessed it --- this is the area with the greatest concentration of glaciers. There isn't a lot of roads in the section of the park but there are some great hikes. The first hike we decided to do was a mile and a half hike to Redrock Falls. Along the way we met an older couple, she was sitting on a rock and he came running up the road in a bit of a panic as he had just seen a grizzly bear on the path. Sure enough not twenty feet down the path was the grizzly --- luckily he stopped of into the woods and started beating at some trees making a real racket so we were able to get past him. On the way back from the falls we took a side trip (300 feet) to a small lake where we saw a moose swimming.
The second hike of the day was suppose to be the 2.3 loop hike around Swiftcurrent Lake. As we are wont to do to took a side trail and walked to the end of Lake Josephine and then continued to Grinnel Lake. By the time we were done we had walked around two lakes and had walked to a third covering about 8 miles. A lot of people hike to Grinnel Lake but they take two boats to cross the lakes!
This is one way to bring all of your toys with you. The people with this truck are camped at the same campground as us --- they have a fifth wheel trailer and a motor bike as well as the truck.
Beargrass
This isn't a very good picture but it shows that we did see a grizzly. As he was less than 10 feet away from us, Ed really didn't want to get any closer to try to get a better shot.
Looking down over Redrock Falls.
A young male moose just reached the other side of the lake.
Looking across Lake Josephine from the boat dock.
Another kind of wild flower.
Waterfalls from the Grinnell Glacier seen from Grinnell Lake
Hidden Falls. The couple we met during the bear encounter told us that they had visited the park more then 30 years ago and family photos showed a wonderful waterfalls call Hidden Falls. There were a lot of trees down and lying in the water so I don't think the falls is a spectacular as he remembered.
Looking across Swiftcurrent Lake at Many Glacier Lodge another one of the grand lodges in the park. This lodge was built to look like a lodge in the Swiss Alps.
The fireplace in the lobby of the Many Glacier Lodge.
The second hike of the day was suppose to be the 2.3 loop hike around Swiftcurrent Lake. As we are wont to do to took a side trail and walked to the end of Lake Josephine and then continued to Grinnel Lake. By the time we were done we had walked around two lakes and had walked to a third covering about 8 miles. A lot of people hike to Grinnel Lake but they take two boats to cross the lakes!
This is one way to bring all of your toys with you. The people with this truck are camped at the same campground as us --- they have a fifth wheel trailer and a motor bike as well as the truck.
Beargrass
This isn't a very good picture but it shows that we did see a grizzly. As he was less than 10 feet away from us, Ed really didn't want to get any closer to try to get a better shot.
Looking down over Redrock Falls.
A young male moose just reached the other side of the lake.
Looking across Lake Josephine from the boat dock.
Another kind of wild flower.
Waterfalls from the Grinnell Glacier seen from Grinnell Lake
Hidden Falls. The couple we met during the bear encounter told us that they had visited the park more then 30 years ago and family photos showed a wonderful waterfalls call Hidden Falls. There were a lot of trees down and lying in the water so I don't think the falls is a spectacular as he remembered.
Looking across Swiftcurrent Lake at Many Glacier Lodge another one of the grand lodges in the park. This lodge was built to look like a lodge in the Swiss Alps.
The fireplace in the lobby of the Many Glacier Lodge.
