which GNP boat ride?
 

We will be staying at Many Glacier Hotel for the 1st three nights of our GNP trip last week of June then 4 more days just outside the west side of park. We will probably only have time for 1 boat ride---maybe 2. Which would be the most scenic?

Many Glacier imho

The boat ride out of Many Glacier takes you over Swiftcurrent Lake and Lake Josephine with a short walk between the two lakes. If you wanted to take the short ranger-led hike to Grinnell Lake, you could get off the boat, take a picnic lunch to Grinnell Lake (only a 3 mile round trip mostly flat hike) and then re-board the boat later for a really nice day.

http://www.hikinginglacier.com/grinnell-lake.htm

You'll be there pretty early so I'm not sure about which hikes will be possible.

The 8:30 boat ride at Many Glacier is really intended as the start of either the Grinnell Glacier or the Lake hike.

While you can hike using a later boat ride it won't be ranger-led. Not that this is important.

Yes I think we'll try the ranger led hike and the boat ride at 8:30-----are these the boats rides through Glacier NP boat company? or is it just a boat shuttle?

Glacier NP boat ride AND shuttle to Grinnell Glacier hike and Lake

It's through Glacier NP Boat. But, I'm pretty sure a park ranger meets the boat and does the hike. Probably a ranger is on each boat as well. I'm not totally sure.

Ranger is one one boat ride a day

I'm not sure about the other rides but the 8:30 boat ride has the ranger on it who will lead the hike.

I was there in early August and the ranger wasn't allowed to go past the snack area on the Grinnell Glacier hike. There was a dangerous sloped snowfield ahead. There was a warning sign at the snack area.

We saw a couple of hikers ahead near the overhead waterfall who tried to go on but they stopped there because of the danger.

I heard that the snow field was blasted a couple of days later and the trail was then opened all the way.

The company is Glacier Park Boat Co.
405-257-2426

The two most popular hikes in Many Glacier are Grinnell Glacier and Iceberg Lake.

If you take the Grinnell Glacier shuttle, this hike is somewhat shorter but more strenuous as it's steeper and has many earth and rock stairs on the way up.

Iceberg Lake only has a bit of a steep climb very early on in the hike.

The scenery on both is spectacular.

On the way back from Iceberg Lake we suddenly noticed a grizzly bear walking parallel to us about 10 yards above us. We took some quick pictures and stop to let it go on. Instead he came down onto our trail and walked in front of us for a few yards.

He then stopped in a very small stream that crossed the trail, turned towards us to pose and sat down in the little stream splashing himself to cool down in the mid-eighties temperature. He stayed there for about 20 minutes posing. Eventually he got up and ran up into the hill.

Once in a lifetime!!!!

I was only in Glacier for 3 1/2 days and going back again in early August to redo what I did and see more.

did you feel threatened by the grizzly so close to you? i think that would scare me---although i REALLY want to see bears---but so close!

It was in the middle of the afternoon and though we were in the front of the group, there were a fair number of people right behind us. We (stupidly) didn't feel threatened.

However, one evening we hiked past Fishercap Lake (a wildlife Mecca) to Redrock Falls and on the return at about 7PM, in the woods and all alone, in dim lighting my daughter saw a grizzly about 10-15 yards from us through the trees. It was just standing there looking at us. My daughter took one quick photo (too dark) as I was pulling up the bear spray. I did not get a photo. I was busy pulling up the spray.

We slithered away and veered over to Fishercap Lake. We didn't move too quickly but we didn't dawdle either. That time I was concerned as we were alone, in the woods and it was getting dim.

We also saw a couple of grizzlies up a hill on the Many Glacier road at the junction with the Many Glacier Inn road. A few times there. Probably the same bear.

And also as we got off the boat coming back from the Grinnell Glacier hike.

You can see some of these on my web site at:
www.travelwalks.com

There are grizzlies on the Glacier trip and black bears on the Yellowstone, Banff and Yosemite trips.

My closest was a black bear in Banff.

I had a brown or black bear go across the path right behind me in Banff. My husband looked back to see me and saw that bear not at all far from me, but also not paying any attention.

Oh my! I just looked at your pictures of GNP--can't believe how close you were to that bear!
Also went through some of the others. You have gone on so much great trips! I've always wanted to go to Bryce and Zion and your pictures confirmed that!

Glad you enjoyed the pictures and maybe they'll convince you to go.

By the way, not at black bears are black. They can look very much like grizzles in color. I saw a cinnamon colored black bear in Yosemite.

The claws of a grizzly are much bigger (hopefully that's not how you'd tell). Also, grizzlies have that big shoulder muscle hump. And a black bear's face goes more straight down to the nose where a grizzly has the middle of the line pushed down a little.