This morning we were a bit tired so we slept in. The room reminds me of a dorm room - two twin beds and a sink in the room itself. It's real quiet at night. Except for the mice that Tiffany heard scuring through the pipes.
We are staying at the Many Glacier Hotel. It is a swiss/alpine style building. It was built in 1915 by Norwigien men who didn't mind the cold weather. All of the wood came from right inside the park, except for the huge timber logs in the lobby. They are from Oregon. Inside the lobby is a great big stone fireplace. The hotel sits right on Swiftcurrent Lake facing southwest.
Once we were awake and ready we walked out on the back porch. The view from there is amazing. There are mountains all around. The largest is Mt. Grinnell - named after some important person in the park's history. After a quick bit to eat we decided to walk along the lake shore.
There is a trail that circles the lake and even though Tiff had her bear spray, we decided not to walk the path to avoid potentially having to use the spray. We did walk a short distance. Tiffany had me reading the trail guide to make noise (they say it scares the bears away). The lake is clear blue and green. The wind out on the lake must be how it got it's name.
We decided to take a boat tour of the lake and then a short hike with a guide. The boat tour of Swiftcurrent Lake took us to another dock, where we hiked to Lake Josephine for another short boat ride to the trail for Grinnell Lake. The hike was short and flat but I was still sore from hiking down The Big Mountain. I enjoyed the many wildflowers that we saw along the path. From the shore of Grinnell Lake you could see a beautiful waterfall. I wish that we could stayed out there for a long time but the boat was on a schedule and we had to hike back.
We ate dinner as soon as we got back to the hotel. The dining hall is very large with great big windows facing the lake. The food was excellent. I had whitefish straight from the streams of Monatana!
Our evening was spent paning the hillside for bears. From the back porch we saw two bears feeding on the huckleberries along the ridge. They were black bears from what we could tell. It was very fun because once you spot one, you have to point it out to everyone standing around you.
Tonight I gazed at the bright blue sky as it faded to a midnight blue, then I sat out looking across the lake and up at the stars. The sky is so big! It's beautiful! I never imagined that there were so many stars. I was reminded once again of how big this world is and how very small I am, yet my Heavenly Father thinks of me! Oh, how I serve a GREAT BIG GOD!
-Sarah