We woke up this morning and drove up to the Many Glacier entrance near the small town of Babb. So small, if you blink, you miss it. We drove into the park along Lake Sherburne.
We pulled into the Many Glacier Lodge and made breakfast, then walked around inside the hotel to admire its history, woodwork, construction and fireplace, then went in the gift shop for a few minutes.
After we finished there, we headed to the Iceberg Lake trail head. One of the rangers we spoke to said it was one of the most scenic hikes, as well worth our time and effort. We parked the truck, packed our lunch and gathered all of our gear. I had my handy dandy camera backpack loaded down and ready to go with tripod attached. However, I have to admit that even with the bare minimum in the pack, it’s pretty heavy; and the strain on your neck and shoulders starts to reach its max around hour six. About 30 minutes into the hike, we crossed paths with a woman walking back to the parking lot. She warned us there was a grizzly and 3 cubs ahead on the trail, but that there were two rangers up there keeping an a watchful eye on them. We walked on, with caution. Sure enough, about 100 yards up the trail we came to a large group of hikers waiting patiently. The rangers had hikers stopped on both ends of the trail for at least 45 minutes before the bears were at a comfortable distance away from the trail and we were allowed to continue on. Andrew was able to see one of the cubs walking on the trail. The only bad part about this was the fact that now the trail was packed. There were at least 20 hikers walking single file line down the trail like a bunch of elementary school children. Then, when hikers from the opposite direction would pass, we would all have to stand off to the side and wait. I enjoy hiking for the seclusion, ability to clear your head and to take in all the beautiful views around you. This wasn’t possible when you’re listening to five conversations on either side of you. Eventually the pack broke up and we were able to relax a bit more. The views were amazing and I wish these photographs did more justice to the scenery we were able to witness.
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| Scenery on the hike |
The trail was slightly less than 10 miles and gained about 1,200 feet. It took about 6 hours to walk the entire trail including stops and delays. On the way back down, Andrew’s old knee injury flared up. His pace slowed significantly and I could see the pain in his face each time he took a step for over 3 miles. By hour 5 of the hike, my camera backpack had taken a serious toll on my neck and shoulders and my feet had seen better days. However, through all this pain and suffering, if you can call it that, the hike and lake were totally worth it and I would do it all over again.
We got back to the car and drove outside of the park. It was time for dinner and we were both in need of showers since we had walked over 20 miles in the last two days. We stopped at a KOA nearby to see what their prices were. Turns out, it was $34 a night for a tent spot. Considering all the amenities that are available to you, it’s really not a bad price, but the funds just won’t allow for it. We knew we could find another way to freshen up. We found an empty gravel lot on the side of the road, so we pulled in to make dinner and get a game plan. We decided it was probably easiest to stay at the hotel again tonight simply for convenience of it being so close to the park entrance and having a restroom.
We pulled into the same spot we slept the night before and headed to the restrooms behind the gift shop. We both took soap and a washcloth and did a little scrub down at the sink. I decided to put all my pride in my back pocket for a few minutes and ended up washing my hair in the sink as well. Don’t judge me here…you would probably do it too. Or maybe you’re not as cheap as me and you would have gladly paid the $34 for a camping spot with showers. But, I’m on limited funds right now and it was either go to bed filthy or give myself a little scrub down in a public restroom. Ahhh…the joys of living out of a car! “It’s all part of the adventure,” as my mom would say. After our ‘bathing’ session, we climbed in the back of the truck and fell asleep.
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