This morning we entered Glacier National Park from the west and rode the Going-to-the-Sun road all the way east. This road bissects the park horizontally and is a well-known route for tourists and especially motorcyclists thanks to the scenic views, curves and climbs.
At Logan Pass I ventured out on a hike that took me up a mountain and partially through a snowy field. 
I had heard you could walk out onto a glacier at this pass but that was not the case. In talking with a ranger, I learned they haven’t had glaciers there for over 70 years. I also found that to be a glacier, the ice must be over 10years old, over 100 feet deep, cover a certain acreage and be alive – i.e. it can actually move! Thanks to global warming, we saw NO glaciers at the park today except for a very tiny tip of one the ranger pointed out high on a mountain top.
We had our daily picnic at Sun Point and after lunch I took off for a hike in the woods on one of the trails. Even though Burl’s foot is improving, he’s not yet up to hiking but thankfully allowed me time to hike today. I took off on a trailhead from our picnic area and was almost immediately rewarded with a view of Lake St. Mary that was spectacular.
Going along the trail I came to Babbler Falls and wanted to just sit and veg all afternoon listening to the gentle sound of the water. Somehow I didn’t think my motorcycle chauffeur would appreciate me being AWOL that long!
After we exited at St. Mary we went north and went to Many Glacier Park that was recommended to us by the owner of the restaurant where we ate last evening. Not sure what he thought was so great but the highlights for us were eating huckleberry ice cream and talking to a recent MSU grad who was working there for the summer! No glaciers – and lots of gravel on the road.
Tonight we’re in Cut Bank, MT where we were excited to be able to find a room a couple of days ago – turns out the Blackfeet Nation is having their annual tribal meeting this weekend so there were few rooms available. The place where we’re staying is quite nice and the price is excellent – but their Internet service is erratic. Photos from today will have to wait until we have a more stable connection.
On to Canada tomorrow!
