Unfortunately, we only had one day to spend in Many Glacier. This is a spectacular part of the park. It isn't on the Going-to-the-Sun Highway - you have to exit the park at St Mary's, and drive north a short distance on Highway 89 and then re-enter the park at the Many Glacier entrance. The road takes you into the Swiftcurrent Valley (which is the accurate name for the region - Many Glacier really is only the name for the lodge there. The book says all the glaciers in the park are expected disappear by 2030, so Many Glacier isn't a name that will be in use for much longer.)
We pulled off at several viewpoints along Lake Sherbourne, just to admire the mountains. Eventually we made our way to the Many Glacier Lodge. We thought about hiking to Grinnell Glacier, but the area was closed due to bear sightings. The first two miles of the trail to Cracker Lake are supposed to full of muck because a horseback tour uses the same route. We'd heard great things about two area hikes: Iceberg Lake and Ptarmigan Tunnel but didn't think we'd do both. That would be 14.6 miles but of interest was the fact that both hikes share the same trail for the first 2.8 miles. We figured we'd decide whether to do one or both when we reached the split. Well, I guess we were feeling pretty ambitious at the split because we decided to do both.
Click here to see a large panorama photo of Lake Sherburne at the entrance to Many Glacier area
Click on any thumbnail to open photo in new window. My favorite photos have blue frames.
