July 6 - St. Mary Lake

Miles, the bus driver/tour guide got us out this morning to get into Glacier National Park.  First to Many Glacier. No one was exactly sure why it had that name. Note it is singular. The view was spectacular.  There really isn't much glacier left, but the mountains and the reflections on the lake were outstanding.  There is an old Alpine lodge, built in the 1920s by the railroads to foster tourism to the area.

We then went to a little boat tour of St. Mary Lake. These lakes are the remnants of glaciers (Duh) that cut through these mountains 50-100,000 years ago. Interestingly, we are at a tri-continental divide. One lake drains west to the Pacific; one south to the Mississippi system to the Gulf; and one east to drain to Hudson Bay.

The mountains showed many layers of sediments, with harder granite based rock between.  We saw the red coloration of the Iron containing rock, and the blue-green of the calcium based rock. There was multi colored lichen as well.. I had to later correct our boat driver when he called lichen " bacteria".  I had to let him know it was actually a symbiotic relationship between fungi and algae. I gave him the name of a reference book, "Entangled Life".

We stopped for a short hike to alittle waterfall.

After lunch of sandwiches, Ann went to art installation of teepees from the Blackfoot tribe who were the native Americans here. I stayed back to read, as I was tired.   Afterwards,  we went to the Visitor center to see amovie about the Blackfoot people, and a whitewashed version of how the railroads civilized the place. 

Back at the hotel, the next disaster struck, as the entire town had a blackout. No lights, no AC, no internet. It was only down for 45 minutes or so, but it screwed up the kitchen who had to restart the entire food process. Plus, their computers were on the fritz,  so they wouldn't even pour a drink. Eventually,  we got some food.

At the end of the meal, in walks Steve, our new tour guide. He had driven 10 hours from Idaho after getting the call from Odyssey's. He had just finished a trip to Greece,  but he stepped up to help. He's experienced, and a long time guide with them. Because of government rules,  he can't go to Canada with us, so we'll get another there. Miles will get us there. And since there's now another Steve, I may now go by Rocky.