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Grand N.W. National Park Tour Part II - Back in the U.S.A!

By Jim Meyer

Well after 2 glorious days in Waterton Lakes Peace Park, it was time to go check out the U.S. half of the Peace Park, Glacier NP. In 1932, Waterton Lakes National Park (Alberta, Canada) was combined with Glacier National Park (Montana) to form the world's first International Peace Park. And in 1995, Waterton-Glacier was designated a World Heritage Site. It was all that I thought it would be, too, and a picture of Eileen and I toasting our arrival at the window table of the Prince of Wales Hotel is on the front cover of our photo album of the trip!

O.K., one more Border crossing and we'll be back in the U.S. and Glacier NP! This time no problems! We got a weather report indicating a front was on the way and that we had 2 more good weather days before the rain or snow would appear. We wanted to see the "Many Glacier" area of the park which was a couple of hours from the timeshare so we decided to camp since we were real close driving from Waterton. One problem, we only had 2 small tents, but since Eileen wasn't thrilled with sleeping with the Bear Spray, she got to camp in the car. This was highlighted by the sight of a Black Bear Sow swimming across Lake Sherburne, chasing her cub, just before we got into "Many Glacier" area and it's known for its abundance of wildlife also.

After setting up the tents, we did a short hike by the Lake in front of the "Many Glacier" Hotel. We had an abundance of Yellow-rumped Warblers (Audubon), Cedars and a lone L. Yellowlegs. But, a couple that we met there said they saw Bohemian Waxwings so we spent an hour trying to find one, to no avail! Their was alot going on at the Hotel with a Hootenanny and a Ranger talk. We choose the Hootenanny which consisted of Park workers who displayed their musical talents which was very entertaining. After a nice dinner in the Hotel lounge, overlooking the 7600' Grinnel Point, we headed to the campsite for a good nite's sleep before another hike day.

I had two hikes on the "Many Glacier" itinerary but we only had one day so we chose the shorter Grinnell Lake hike (7 mile r/t) which was said to be the most scenic. After taking down the tents and rearranging Eileen's quarters, we headed to the trailhead which started from the Hotel parking lot. A Ranger advised us to go out on one side of Lake Josephine and return on the opposite side and I'm sure glad we did.

We soon were on the trail which bordered Swift Current lake for a mile and then led to Lake Josephine. Larry and I had a nice spotting and after some consultation with the bird book and some other birders, who also had seen it, we decided that we had a MacGillivray's Warbler. Allright, a Lifer for Larry! A little further along the trail and we got a beautiful Golden-crowned Kinglet. Allright, a lifer for Eileen! As we got to the end of Lake Josephine, we got a Belted Kingfisher while crossing a bridge and a Stellar Jay flying in the adjacent trees. We soon entered an open and brightly sunlit area which was hopping with birds. We missed a few Flycatcher species but we must have seen 25 Red and White-breasted Nuthatches and several Clark's Nutcrackers.

After getting our birdwatching fix, we moved on and Eileen and I got a quick glimpse of a Pine Marten running on top of a fallen tree. We soon got to the beautiful Glacier fed emerald Grinnell Lake. The Lake occupies a natural amphitheater at the foot of the 1000 foot Grinnell Falls, bringing meltwater from the Grinnell Glacier which is high above. Yea, we found our lunch spot!

Well, unfortunatedly, it was time to pack up and head back. We met some folks that had done the hike to Grinnell Glacier and they told us that they had a Grizzly encounter on the trail. We took the Ranger's advice and hiked back on the opposite side of the Lake. It was much more open and the views were better. We picked up a group of Common Mergansers in the stream between the two lakes, along with more Cedars and Flycatchers. But the big spotting was another Cow Moose feeding in the water on our side of the lake! What a beautiful wildlife scene! Not bad, three days of hiking and two Moose!

Upon arriving back at the Hotel, we noticed a large crowd gathered at the back of the Hotel and looking up across the road. Upon closer inspection, we picked up a Black Bear feeding about 50 yards above the main road. After a quick snack, we departed the Many Glacier Hotel and while driving by Lake Sherburne, we ran into a group of cars on the side of the road. This is what is known as a "Bear Jam" in Glacier NP. And sure enough, their were two Grizs walking along the lake shore-a Sow and a cub that was as big as Mom! That was enough excitement for one day so we retraced our route back through Glacier and got to our Timeshare in Columbia Falls about 12 miles from the Apgar entrance into the Park. Wow, what an introduction to the Glacier-Waterton International Peace Park, as we poured another glass of Red wine and watched a video of our first four days.