Saint Mary, Montana
Not far north of Saint Mary, Montana, is the area of the national park called Many Glacier. The road is horrible - pot hole islands surrounded by torn up asphalt - but has lovely wildflowers and basalt cliffs on both sides. The Flathead River offers glimpses of ice blue water among the pines, and roaring falls over rugged rock faces.
The road ends just above the Many Glaciers Lodge, tucked beautifully on Swiftcurrent Lake. It is a setting out of fairy tales.
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| Built by the Great Northern Railroad, the Many Glaciers Lodge celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2015. |
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| I could lose myself in this view. |
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| The highest glacier at the top left is Gem Glacier, the small pocket in the center is Grinnell Glacier, and the large shelf of white is Salamander Glacier. Half the glaciers in the park have lost up to 85% of their volume in under 50 years. |
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| There is so much more water on Weeping Wall today. |
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| Multiple cascades cross under the road. |
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| Near the area where the mountain goat were earlier, this herd of Big Horn Sheep are soaking up the sun on our way back. This time I make a quick stop in the road :-) |
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| A touch of blue along the cliff. |
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| This road really is impressive. |
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| Layers |
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| Goat Island on St Mary Lake. |
I'm so glad we stayed on the quieter east side of the park. It is slow-paced and serene, with incredible views in all directions. Tomorrow we begin our journey "across the top" of the midwest.
It seems that Lake McDonald gets most of the publicity, easy access and great views. but Lake Mary is on my list! WOW!
ReplyDeleteYou'll love it! And the east side of Going to the Sun has much more to see than the east.
DeleteWe loved Many Glacier Jodee...spent the whole two weeks there except for a trip to Two Medicine. I’m not one to correct, but it’s the east side, not the west. We never even saw the west side or drove the Going to the s
ReplyDeleteSun roadas it was having lots of construction that made for a very long drive. Anyhow, Lake Mary is spectacular!
Thanks Gay! I made the correction :-) We will spend longer here next time for sure.
DeleteWe did Glacier a couple years ago and can hardly wait to do it again. Your photos are amazing.
ReplyDeleteThanks!! I definitely recommend staying on the east side when you return.
DeleteWith the ankle break, we never made it to the east side. Your pictures are glorious. What beauty rough roads and all. Wouldn't you have loved to have stayed in the Lodge in 1915. So sad about the glaciers. They are truly a mere shadow of themselves.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, staying in 1915 would have been quite the adventure!! The comparison pics of the glaciers tell a sad, sad story.
DeleteSafe travels Jodee and Bill!
ReplyDeleteThanks Janna. I hope all is well at your place
DeleteSuch a special place!
ReplyDeleteIt's funny you were happy you stayed on the quieter east side...while we were happy we stayed on the quieter west side!!! Our only experience of the east side was the day we drove the Going to the Sun Road over to Estes Park...which was a mad house. So Estes Park is our vision of the crazy east side...
The only Estes Park I know is in Colorado so we must have missed it here. I'm glad we both had good and quiet experiences in this beautiful place!!
DeleteLooks like the road is worth it. All those flowers and views are amazing. I better get there before all the glaciers melt.
ReplyDeleteThey say they could be gone in a couple decades so you have a little time :-) You should still get there soon :-))))
DeleteSo glad you enjoyed the east side of the park. There are usually bears around the hotel. One winter I followed the blog of a couple who were the caretakers at Many Glacier Hotel for the winter. It is really eerie alone in the winter. They had to walk around the empty hotel to check it out. Gave me the chills. And there was so much wildlife around them all winter. Not my cup of tea. So cool you saw mountain goat and big horns!!
ReplyDeleteI remember that post - it did sound so eerie! Glacier doesn't offer the opportunities for wildlife sightings that Yellowstone does but it was fun to catch a quick glimpse of the goats and sheep.
DeleteThe east side is where we're planning to spend most of our time when we visit Glacier (fingers crossed, this September!!) so I'm happy to know you enjoyed it the most. We're with you and Bill—we like the less traveled places best. :-) Your photos are absolutely stunning. I'm wishing we were going to be there for the wildflowers, but I know the lakes and mountains will still be there! Thanks for your beautiful posts.
ReplyDeleteSeptember should be beautiful. Hopefully there will be some early fall color to enjoy.
DeleteOh, my....that scenery is beautiful, Jodee!
ReplyDeleteWe were blown away!
DeleteBeautiful pictures! Reminds me of my trip I took with my Grandfather when I was a teenager. We have an ancestral Indian Reservation way up near the Yukon. ❤️
ReplyDeleteAll of the area is reservation or national park so it's still wonderfully wild!
DeleteFour years ago my husband and I made a cross-country trip via car and Glacier was one of our stops. It was mid-June, and Going to the Sun road wasn't open to cars yet as they were still plowing it, so I didn't get to see it. But it was partially open for bicyclists, and my husband was able to ride his bike with those beautiful views with no traffic, so I'm calling it a win!
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