We were a little more relaxed going to Many Glacier. It did require a driving pass to get in, but I had acquired ours back in March. This was another reason we stayed on the east side of the park. Many Glacier entrance is north of the east entrance at St May, so staying on the west would have been even more driving.
On the way to the park entrance at Many Glacier, the road was horrible. We began to wonder if it would be that way throughout this part of the park and if we should reconsider.
However, once we got to the entrance station, it was very nice paved road throughout this part of the park. We had been advised by our motel host to take the Swiftcurrent Trail, so we did. The trailhead is at Lake Sherburne. Our host was Ryan Sherburne. So I had to ask the obvious question.
Turns out his great-grandfather, Joseph homesteaded in this area in 1896. In 1919, they built a dam (Lake Sherburne is actually a reservoir) and he was compensated and displaced. Ryan’s grandfather, Fred Sherburne built Sherburne’s Mountain Pine Motel that opened with 10 units in July 1947. Over the years, they have added more units, grandson Ryan has taken it over and he has a particular affinity for electric vehicles. He has five 240 volt plugs and offers free charging to guests and low-cost charging to non-guests.
It’s a little rustic, but very comfortable beds. And Ryan was a wealth of information. He suggested going back to Logan Pass in the afternoon and that parking would be less of an issue. We logged that for our next and final day in Glacier.
On the Swiftcurrent Trail, we saw moose (not our first) and had a nice hike to Redrock Falls. There were reports of a mama bear and a couple of cubs near the trail. And, depending on who you talked to, it was either that or a mama, papa and three cubs. The story got embellished as it went along.
We hiked in to the falls and then back out. Saw no bears.
We made it back to the trailhead around lunch time so we had lunch at Nell’s Swiftcurrent and had low expectations. Usually in a National Park, the food is at best, average. You are a captive audience, so it doesn’t have to be that good. Just passable. However, Brenda got a Grilled Cheese and I got a Bacon Burger. I usually take pictures of our food to review on Yelp, but I didn’t here.
I should have. Both were VERY good.
The next day, our last in Glacier, we decided to try Logan Pass in the afternoon and see if we could find that elusive parking space.