25.6.-01.07.2007: Glacier NP We had hail and rain for most of the day on Monday, so we stayed where we were and had a day off. It was sunny again on Tuesday so we drove further east and stopped at Goat Lick overlook to see the mountain goats who like the minerals in the rocks. We stopped at Two Medicine which is part of the National Park and did a 10 mile walk around the lake. On the way we stopped at Twin Falls which is a double waterfall that is split by an island. We wore our new hiking boots for the first time. Kirsten's were no problem but Helen got a few blisters!! We did another waterfall walk along the Running Eagle Nature Trail. It is a double waterfall with the main body of water coming through a split in the rocks and the overflow coming over the top of the rocks. So it looks like there are two waterfalls, one behind the other. We took the very scenic road (Highway 49) up to St Mary's and went to the visitor centre just before they closed at 9pm. On Wednesday we got up in the dark at 5am and drove into the Park for the sunrise above Upper St Mary Lake. We carried on along Going to the Sun road and found a better spot for sunrise, but it was too late by then! We did a short walk to Sun Point and Sun Rift Gorge and drove up the road to where it was blocked at Jackson Glacier overlook. Then it was time for a nap! We got up later and did a 7 mile hike to St Mary and Virginia waterfalls. This is a very popular trail and the car park was full. It was a good job we had decided to drive to the car park early this morning and take a nap there! Kirsten was checking the map on the trail and didn't hear a couple approaching us. When the woman started to speak to her, Kirsten screamed and jumped a mile!!! Well it is bear country and the woman had a low voice! That's Kirsten's excuse anyway! They only wanted to tell us that we had to take the path to the overlook at Virginia Falls which was well worth the short hike up. Then we walked along the lake to Baring Falls. We drove back down the road and stopped at Sun Motor Inn where we could have a shower for $1-28 and then we drove to a photo point to wait for a sunset that didn't materialize! On Thursday we drove up to Many Glacier and did a 9 mile hike around Josephine and Swift Current Lakes up to Grinnell Lake and chatted to Ed and Jill from Alabama on the way. Grinnell Lake is quite beautiful and is surrounded by high mountains and the remains of glaciers. The Glaciers here have been receding since 1860 according to the information we have and the park is already called No Glacier National Park! At the Ranger Station we were told that Going to the Sun road would be opening on Sunday 1st July. Our visas for the US run out on the 2nd July so we decided to wait for the road to open and then go over the border into Canada on the last day of our visas. We don't normally leave it until the last day of our visas to cross the border but we won't be coming back to Glacier when the road is likely to be open. So it's now or never! On Friday we did an 8 mile hike up to Bullhead Lake via Red Rock Falls and saw a moose taking a rest on the lake shore. There was a crowd taking photos but it didn't seem to disturb him! Later, we waited for yet another sunset that didn't materialize and drove off just as a huge storm front with gusting winds and rain descended upon us. We did two ranger led walks/talks on Saturday. The first was a short stroll looking at wild flowers and we managed to find out a few names for our website instead of just writing "Red flower" or Yellow flower!" We also found out that Bear grass is a misnomer. It is not a grass and bears don't like it! The second was a tour of Many Glacier Hotel which was built in 1915, five years after the Park was designated as a National Park. It was built by the Great Northern Railway who was trying to promote the new park and is in the style of a Swiss Chalet. It was a very good talk. On Sunday the road was still not open so we went up to Gunfight Pass and did a short 3 mile hike down to the river. We had intended to go further but the bridge over the river had been swept away during the floods last year and the new bridge was not yet completed. We had the option of walking along a tree that spanned the river but it didn't look safe enough for us. On the way back up the steep hill we encountered a deer on the path that was not afraid of us at all and got really close to us. There were rangers where the road was blocked so we went for an update and found out that the road from the west side up to Logan Pass had opened this morning at 11am. The next update would be at 5pm. So we had a cuppa and waited. By 5-30pm it wasn't looking good a no one could say if the road would open today or not. So we drove back down to a campground where we dumped, filled up with water and went for a shower. At 7-50pm we found out that the road had been opened 50 minutes earlier, so we hopped back into Winnie and drove all the way up to Logan Pass. We stopped at the temporary bridge that had been erected over the part of the road that had been swept away and saw the extent of the damage caused by three days of heavy rain on top of all the snow. At Logan Pass, there is a tradition that everyone goes skiing and snowboarding there on the first day that the road is opened. Unfortunately there wasn't much snow around so the "pistes" were very short. At least we could walk in some of the snow - or rather fall over in it! We drove down to the Weeping Wall where the road had been blocked and then turned around and drove back. We saw a cute little snow hare on the way with its large white paws. The superb views also made it worth our while to wait for the road to open.