The day started and ended in rain, buckets of rain, but in between downpours, we had sunny skies--that's how our day hiking along McDonald Creek, followed by rafting the Middle Fork of the Flathead, went.

As we left Great Falls at 5:25 a.m., the cloudy skies turned to rain from Conrad on, making us think the weather prediction of occasional showers might be wrong. However, when we crossed Marias Pass, all was well. The clouds were high in the sky, which was perfect for our hike along McDonald Creek.

We arrived in West Glacier at 8:30 and met with Madelon and Jackie from Eureka, the only two of our expected four who met us. Perhaps, the cloudy weather scared them away. 

Our hike was a bit humid but otherwise uneventful weather-wise.  The creek was high, producing big rushing water over the cascades, including McDonald Falls and Sacred Dancing Waters, where we ate a hurried lunch. A few of the gals went a quarter mile more bushwhacking up the trail to view yet more cascades.  The clouds covered the tops of the mountains, but the hike was still gorgeous.  

We saw a few flowers: some fading trilium, pussy toes, alumroot, penstemon, woods forget-me-nots, anica, foam flowers, yellow violet, Canada violet, bunchberry (dogwood), meadow rue, fairy bells, strawberries.

For animals, we saw a bald eagle, golden eye ducks, a few harlequin, squirrels, and goats.

We also saw tent caterpillars. We had a debate on whether they were tent caterpillars or web worms. We looked up the difference and tent caterpillars come out in the spring and build woven tents in the fork of a branch, while fall web worms come out in the fall and build more loose webs on the ends of branches. Click this link for more information

At the end of the hike, we said goodbye to Jackie and Madelon and headed for the second part of the fun: whitewater rafting with Glacier Raft. Our guides Peter and James did a good job of handling us “older women” and didn’t get too mad at us when we couldn’t paddle in sync or told them corny teacher jokes.

We had several gals who had never been whitewater rafting before. Was Kuntz ever disappointed when she discovered that the guides weren’t the only ones with paddles: that yes, she had to help! Others wanted to sit IN the raft, not on the outer edges.

 In the end, we all made it through Bone Crusher, Jaws, Eye of the Needle, Washboard and all of the seven named rapids on the river. And only the front few got wet until the weather took a turn for the worse about three-quarters of the way through, when rain came down.  But just as we ended our float, the sun poked its head out for the first time that day to make our barbecue perfect.

James and Peter started us out with lemonade, water, a veggie tray and chips and salsa, followed by the main course of steak, chicken and veggie burgers along with bean and pasta salads. But the finale was just what women want: cheesecake with strawberries on top.

The one glitch at the take-out spot was no bathrooms: the gals had to try to find a place, but it was difficult with traffic and houses on one side and the “guy” guides near the water on the other preparing dinner. Some have tales to tell and we think James and Peter might too.   We felt certain they were laughing after we left about our potty adventures.

But the guides also had a glitch in their day: They may be cautious if they take a bunch of school teachers out again.  When one guide tried to explain the history of the area, some of the gals knew more than he did. Mary, in particular, corrected him on the name origin of Marias Pass: She knew that Captain Meriwether Lewis named it in honor of Miss Maria Wood, cousin of Captain Clark.  

As we said goodbye to Glacier Raft and piled into the cars, we still had one last treat of the day: Goats at the goat lick area, but we also had a car mishap: Mary got a flat tire just out of Valier and the rain started coming down in buckets at the same time. It reminded some of another Glacier trip with car troubles in pouring rain.

But Mary was our hero; she got out and changed the tire. She was almost done when a gentleman stopped and helped lift the tire back into the trunk.  However, the ordeal didn’t end there as the “donut” tire was practically flat too, so we limped into Conrad to find air.   Unfortunately the air compressors at the two gas stations weren’t working, but Mary used her own compressor that she had in her car to fill it up enough to get back to Great Falls, although slowly, with Kuntz’s car following behind just in case.  After many a giggle on the way home due to over-tiredness, we arrived in Great Falls just before 11 p.m.

It truly was Mary's day:  She drove, she changed a tire, she used her electric generator to pump a tire, she knew the history of the name "Marias Pass" better than the Glacier guide, and she kept her sense of humor!

Side note: it was also a day of turnarounds:  Katie missed the trailhead cue, so had both cars turn around and then turnaround again as we were going in the right direction to begin with. Then driving home, we saw the goats, so turned around to go look at them and then back again to face homeward. Then Kuntz missed the Valier turn off, so we turned around again!

Another side note: Story about the woman who survived going over McDonald Falls.

We have three Jessicas, three Marys, three Kathys, but we have never had more than one Bonnie on a hike until this one.  Two Bonnies from Great Falls, joined one from Kalispell for our hike to three lakes: Swiftcurrent, Josephine and Grinnell lakes in the Many Glacier Valley. Eleven GiG gals hit the road at 6 a.m., meeting up with two from the Kalispell-based Glacier Gals group at the Essex station. 

We then traveled together to the picnic area just beyond the Many Glacier Hotel to start our hike at 9:30 a.m. All along the trail, we saw sign of moose: droppings and tracks.  We also so wolf and bear scat.  All around lake Josephine on the flanks of Grinnell Point, we saw dozens and dozens of sheep and goats. The sheep were all rams, lying down and some grazing. On this side of the lake, we saw our first wildflowers as well: hosts of glacier lilies and spring beauties with Indian Paintbrush and fern-leaved wild parsley just stating to come out.  A sprinkling of yellow violets added to the color.
We stopped for lunch/snack at 11 a.m at the Oastler boat dock shelter, enjoying the views of lake Jospehine and watching more sheep and goats on the side of the mountains.

After lunch we headed back up the trail to tackle the last mile to Grinnell Lake.

At the Cataract creek crossing, we headed up first to the Hidden Falls overlook, which didn't disappoint. Right now, the snow melt is cascading the falls and  filing creeks with crystal-clear water.

The stream crossing, though not too difficult, was, of course, very cold. Chrissie hurt her foot a bit and Cathy almost fell, but the current wasn't too bad if you had poles to help.  A few gals didn't bring water shoes or sandals so they had to hike in wet books from then on.  A few hiked the third of a mile in sandals/Keens to avoid taking off the boots once more for the return trip.  The last part into the lake was snow covered, but the beach was bare.

The lake was a jewel, nestled below the bowl formed by Mount Gould, Angel Wing and the backside of the Garden Wall. We had another break for snacks and pictures before deciding we had better head on out. It was so tempting just to sit down and relax all day, enjoying the views and sounds of nature. We didn't see any wildlife on the mountains here, though.

For the return trip, we took the south east trail around the other side of Lake Josephine. This side has much downfall across the trail, so we got our exercise going over, under and around all of the trees. We hoped we didn't get ticks in the process, but no one reported any on this trip. 

But we did face another menace: the dreaded spruce grouse, protecting its nest, which we didn't see. However, the grouse ran after us and then flew in a tree. While we were looking at his beauty and taking pictures, he flew down to the trail and started attacking our ankles by pecking and flapping his wings, so we skedaddled on down the trail so as not to upset him too much. We were amazed at how a bird would take on a group of 13 humans, who could have easily stomped on him at any time. All along the trail, we saw much moose droppings so we kept hoping one would show him or herself in the swampy areas near the foot of the lake, but no luck yet.

This trail swings around the end of the lake and crosses Cataract Creek again, but this time we had a bridge, so no need to get our feet wet. Not long after we crossed, we spied a moose by the Swiftcurrent boat dock, which we would have to hike around. He was a young bull just regrowing his horns.  We kept a close eye on him as we approached, but while we were out of eye sight, he slipped away somewhere. We made lots of noise as we came around the dock, nonetheless.

As we neared the end of our hike, most of the gals were glad to see the benches along the side of the trail, indicating we were almost back to the cars. Some wished to drop down onto a bench to enjoy the view but wondered if they would be able to get back up.


We reached the cars at just after 3 p.m. and we decided not to try for Serrano's and instead head to Dupuyer for dinner at Buffalo Joe's and some shopping at the Cache.We said goodbye to our new friends from Kalispell, Bonnie and Holly, who may have met up with the other Kalispell bunch at Serrano's  We arrived back in Great Falls at 8:30 after a very full day.

On a side note, besides one man who raced out ahead of us at the beginning of the trail, we didn't see another soul. Having Glacier to yourselves is pretty precious.

Who went: Bonnie J, Bonnie W, Bonnie S, Holly, Sue, Chrissie, Cathy, Kathy M, Deb, Doris, Jo Ann, Jenn, Katie