Many Glacier area of Glacier National Park 2008

View of Many Glacier Hotel at Swiftcurrent Lake, Glacier National Park
Many Glacier Hotel, Many Glacier Area, Glacier National Park

Swiftcurrent Lake with mountains in background

Our first day in the park involved a trip across the park on the Going to the Sun Highway for a boat ride on Swiftcurrent Lake in the Many Glacier area of the park. The trip across the park is breathtaking and would have taken a whole day if we had not needed to be at Swiftcurrent Lake to catch the last boat ride of the season.

Many Glacier Hotel

When you get to Swiftcurrent Lake, you see the Many Glacier Hotel on the shore of the lake with the mountains in the background. Quite a sight. The Great Northern Railroad built this historic hotel in 1915. We hope to stay there on our next trip to Glacier.

The view from the hotel of the Swiftcurrent Lake and the mountains (Grinnell Point and Mt. Henkel) is spectacular. It's easy to see why this is a special place.

Boat Ride Swiftcurrent Lake

Boat on Swiftcurrent Lake

View of interior of boat showing tour guide

The boat ride on Swiftcurrent Lake took us on a tour of the lake. The tour guide provided a good history of the park and the area. It was interesting to learn about the role the Great Northern Railroad played in establishing the park.

During the tour we saw a flock of Redhead ducks. We found them interesting because some Redhead ducks winter in North Carolina. Redhead ducks View from the boat on Swiftcurrent Lake

The boat trip provides good views of the mountains and the lodge. We took lots of pictures and the video camera was almost full time. Editing the video down to a acceptable length was a major chore.

The boat takes you to the end of Swiftcurrent Lake where you can transfer to another boat for a tour of Lake Josephine.

Moose at Swiftcurrent Lake

Moose in Swiftcurrent Lake

On the return from Lake Grinnell and Lake Josephine, we saw a moose in the water. We got in the min van and drove over to the other side of the lake to get a better view. (We've been to Yellowstone and several New England states where they claim to have moose and hadn't seen one, so we weren't about to pass up this chance.)

While we were taking photos of the moose, several people told us that there were a couple of grizzly bears on the mountains that could be seen from the motel parking lot. So we drove up the road and pulled into the parking lot. Several people had setup spotting scopes and were kind enough to allow the rest of us to use them to look at the bears. Turned out to be a mama and her cub. We enjoyed watching them for awhile and then decided it was time to head back to Whitefish.

Sunset over Lake Sherburne in Many Glacier Area Sunset with moon Sunset and mountains

The sunset over Lake Sherburne (a lake just outside the park) was pretty. For some reason we decided to drive back to Whitefish on the road outside the park (the reasons sounded good at the time). We were treated to more great sunset views and a sunset with the moon in the background. The road goes through open range and we encountered lots of cattle on the drive. I think this would be a great drive in the daytime. It goes over high passes and should provide great views of the mountains looking into the park. And should be a great scenic drive. But the road was a pain to drive in the dark.