Oh My, Bears, Moose, Foxes Highlight Day in Many Glacier
 Even though the day started out rainy, it didn't end that way. Our drive from Great Falls (6 a.m.) had us in showers for about one hour, but by the time we hit the trail at 9:30, the sun had come out.On our drive in, we spied a bear just off the road. He was quite small and probably a black bear but it was hard to see through the tall bushes to get a good look. Our hike to Bullhead Lake was a day to die for: gorgeous views on the way in and all along, cool weather and threatening clouds but no rain and not too much wind. We also didn't see that many hikers on the trail. Those we did see told us to watch for two small bears as well as moose. We did see their tracks but we never did see any as we were hiking. We visited Fishercap Lake, Red Rocks Lake, Red Rock Falls (Katie, Mary and Karen scrambled up the rocks to look down on the cascades), Bullhead lake and finally Wilbur Falls. We ended our hike around 2:30 pm and headed to the Many Glacier Hotel/Lodge to look around and have a late lunch/early dinner. On the way, we saw another bear, this time a grizzly rototilling a side hill above the turn to the lodge. He was huge, with a large hump and golden face and back. At the lodge, we wanted to see the new double helix staircase that was rebuilt after having been taken out to accommodate a gift store upstairs (gifts and a coffee/snack shop are now downstairs, taking up part of the old auditorium space).It is gorgeous and almost identical to the original, the only thing is the railings are closer together to meet code (no kids can slip through or get their heads caught). We did a bit of shopping and then headed out to the deck to enjoy the view, at which time we spotted a moose across Swiftcurrent Lake. After watching her eat some willows, we went into the Iinterlaken Lounge to eat. Interestingly, a wedding party was there as well, bride in her gown and all. As we walked around the lodge, we noticed that the side-by-side of glaciers comparing what they looked like in the early to mid 20th Century to the 1990s that adorned the hallway leading from the lobby to the dining room were missing.No one at the desk knew what happened to them, so Katie filled out a form requesting information, leaving her email. Before the end of the day, she received a message that said the pictures were a fire hazard as people stopped in the hallway, that they were being stored and would be brought back next year but would be placed in the lobby area. After a delightful lunch, we headed home (seeing two foxes along the way, one trotting right next to the road), but not before stopping in Valier for ice cream and a stretch break in Browning. We arrived home by 8 p.m. One calamity on trail: Denise fell on ball-bearing type rocks, but she wasn't injured too badly; just a bit of a bruise on her elbow. Who went: Gail, Mary S, Denise, Linda, Karen, Katie |
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