Memories of Many Glacier

© 2011 Lydia Hinshaw

Mount Gould reflects in Josephine Lake, Glacier NP

   Moose calf crosses trail

 MANY GLACIER VALLEY, MT -- We just spent three nights camped in the Many Glacier Campground, just yards from where I spent the summer of 2005 working in the restaurant at Swiftcurrent Motor Inn.
 The place was as beautiful as I remembered, and then some.  After our visit here, I wonder why I ever wanted to go to Yellowstone.
 Two people I worked with in 2005 are back at the restaurant for their seventh summer now.  I got to visit with both and it was fun to catch up on some of our mutual acquaintances from way back then.
 Like everywhere else in the Rockies, Glacier National Park got way more snow than normal, and many hiking trails are still closed as is the famous Going to the Sun Road through the park.  In 2005, Going to the Sun opened about the time I arrived, on May 23.  This year, the Park Service isn't even yet projecting a date when it be open.
 Although most of my favorite hiking trails were still closed due to snow, we were able to do a couple of short hikes, including one past Josephine Lake (top photo.)  Tuesday, on a trail near Swiftcurrent Lake, we encountered a moose cow and her calf.  Mama moose paid no attention to half a dozen tourists standing quietly and watching, but it was clear we made the little guy nervous.
  Wednesday we took the long way around, skirting the south border of the park to reach the Flathead Valley and the Kalispell Walmart.  We were nearly out of provisions, and without jobs, we need to avoid restaurants.