Kitty

We are wife and husband hikers from Europe. Our plan is to fly to Calgary and only reservations we have for the end of this August are for the Many Glaciers Lodge (3 nights) and Prince of Wales (4 nights). <BR>We do not have our plane tickets so we are flexible to where we will fly to. Any suggestions? <BR>After these two places we will have one more week but no specific plans where to go. Any ideas where to stay and hike?<BR>Some time ago we visited the west part of the Glacier Park and another time we visited Jasper area so we don't want to return there on this trip. <BR>Where would you suggest we go after hiking in Many Glacier Lodge area and then in the Prince of Wales area?<BR>Any personal suggestions for great hikes?<BR>Thanks<BR>

Bob Brown

I responded on the American section of this board, too. Thought I would toss in two more tidbits here.<BR>The two best hikes around Many Glacier, in my opinion, are the Grinnell Glacier and Iceberg Lake. But there are others in the area that are well worth considering.

traveller

Watch out for the bears at Many Glacier, there are lots of them. Check in with the Ranger before hiking or with your hotel desk. They keep pretty close watch on this. From Calgary to Many Glacier will take a few hours. You can exit Calgary to Highway 22X and then from 22X to Hwy 22 to Hwy 3. From there to Pincher Creek and on to Waterton and the border. Or you can travel directly out of Calgary on the main highway to Fort Macleod, Lethbridge, Cardston and to the border. This is probably faster but not as scenic. 22 runs along the foothills of the Rockies through the Longview area and beautiful ranching country. If you wanted to skip that driving, you could take a commuter out of Calgary to Lethbridge and head out from there. It is about a 20 minute flight.<BR><BR>I assume you mean the Prince of Wales in Waterton? If so, I wonder if this is the place for you? The PofW is indeed lovely to look at from the outside but it is my understanding that the rooms are quite small and haven't been renovated in a long time. I looked at the rates and found them very high. Additionally, it is about 1/2 km from the edge of town rather than in town. It depends on what you are looking for. I suggest that you also look at Waterton Lakes Lodge before you definately commit. It also is expensive but is new, right in the heart of town and really has lovely rooms. I did stay in a deluxe room as I was working for the owners and it was free to me but I would take it over the Prince of Wales. Waterton is so small that being in the centre of town is not a detraction. The Lodge is very near the lovely waterfalls.<BR><BR>When in Waterton, there are so many hikes that you can't count them. One of the nicest although long is from Cameron Lake to Waterton Townsite. You can hike up Bear's Hump. Be sure to take the lake cruise when you are there. Waterton, as I said, is very small and everyone will be able to help you with suggestions. Most of the hotel help are students who are active hikers so be sure and ask them what they recommend.<BR><BR>Do have fun.

traveller

I was assuming you were flying into Calgary in my above post. You could also fly into Kalispell, Montana and drive over the Logan Pass to Many Glacier.

Bob Brown

It is possible to fly into Kalispell. I know from having done it that Delta has connections from Salt Lake City.<BR>But the problem my son and I have found is that rental car prices in Kalispell are quite high. When I last priced rental cars, and the year I rented one, I had a restriction of 100 miles a day without paying extra per mile.<BR>I finally went to Rent a Wreck, and rented a fairly new Chevrolet, but it had a similar restriction. There is not much competition out there and the rental agencies are all franchises rather than company owned.<BR> You say you visited Jasper previously.<BR>How about Lake Louise and Yoho National Parks closer to Banff National Park??<BR>Yoho has several long, nice hikes.<BR>

maria

i am late replying but since you will not be travelling til august, i thought i might make a few suggestions. we were out in calgary, lake louise and waterton/glacier in may. i would highly recommend staying in waterton and driving over to glacier. we stayed at the kilmorey lodge and it was terrific. i could not say enough about it. even if you stay at POW i strongly encourage you to have dinner at the kilmorey. the service and food is outstanding. we flew to calgary and despite the snow!, got down to waterton in about 31/2 hours. there is a road between waterton and glacier that is open only in summer that will get you into glacier in about 45 minutes. If you need more info, just email. have a great time.

traveller

Good suggestion about the Kilmorey. I had forgotten about them. They do have an excellent dining room and a lovely and friendly atmosphere. All non-smoking except for one small area of the lounge (that may have even changed since I was last there).