Saint Mary Lake and Many Glacier hike

The lakes at Glacier NP are so beautiful.  We decided to see one of them closer-up, with a ride on a boat.  We also opted for the optional mid-tour hike up to a waterfall.  Highly recommend both activities!

Waiting in line to board our boat at Saint Mary Lake:

Morning sunshine:

All aboard!

Ranger Eric, who got stuck in construction traffic and had to hustle to join us.  If we had known he was still behind us (and that they would hold the boat for him), we wouldn't have been in such a hurry to get there  :)

Beautiful mountains and glaciers!  We loved the different views from the lake.

Bob working on similar (but I'm sure better) pictures:

Chillin' at the front of the boat:

After disembarking at the other end of the lake we did a quick walk up to Baring Falls:

Then we started a lovely hike up a trail, complete with views back down to the lake (and views of whatever Bob is looking at - oh wait, that might be me...):

Saint Mary Falls - so beautiful!  Totally worth the hike.  Talk about clear water, not to mention the interesting shape of the falls and the rocks around it:

Yay for Saint Mary Falls!

Goldfish run...

We hiked back to the boat and enjoyed our cruise back to where we started.  Lovely boat ride and hike, an excellent morning adventure.

From there we drove over to Many Glacier - another gorgeous spot.  I'm sure it's even better when it's not quite so cloudy.  The view from the parking lot is pretty awesome:

Giant stove inside the beautiful lodge:

John and I took the opportunity to hike from Many Glacier back over to the other side of the Divide.  Huge thanks to Kathy and Bob for giving us the chance to do this (and picking us up on the other side), we couldn't have done it otherwise.

It's the CDT again, sweet!

Only a few minutes away from the trailhead we spotted our first (and only, so far) bear!  A group of people came toward us telling us there was a bear on the trail ahead.  We all ventured back around the corner and watched it eating stuff in the woods (no longer on the trail, at least).  Eventually it left and we were able to continue.  I was more concerned about getting the bear spray in hand instead of taking a picture, I'm sure you will forgive me for that  :)

Kathy and Bob saw two bears crossing the road in (or next to) the park, 2 separate times when we weren't with them.  Cumulative bear count for our group to date: 2 on the road, 1 in the woods.

An interesting tree - how does this happen?

One of several pretty little lakes on the way up Swiftcurrent Trail:

Yoga in the park:

The stunning basin we're heading toward:

Bear spray on the ready, just in case.  And also - these bridges can sure spoil a person after all the Colorado creek crossings we have done.

Going to the sun trail:

View back toward Many Glacier, and a shadow selfie:

Amazing glacier and waterfalls and everything:

Big scenery:

Excellent trail up the side of the basin (go John!):

That's just about the right amount of selfie:

Snow in July again - sorry John!

Ginormous cairn at the top of the Divide:

View of the other side, including the Granite Park Chalet.  Walking past the chalet we had "Alps flashbacks", not the first or last time that happened at Glacier.  We could almost be in Europe.  Except for the bears.

Glacier National Park -what an amazing place!