Some background:
This is my third trip to Glacier National Park, my second to Waterton Lakes and my first to Banff. It is my wife's first trip to Glacier and Banff. it was our FIRST adventures by Disney tour.
the trip: (jul 13-21 2010)
day 1:
Flight left at 6am, with arrivial in Montana scheduled to 11:45am.
we were greeted and our guide knew who we were(!). it was a very nice greeting. we arrivied on time and our coach was leaving at 2pm, so we had some time to kill. we had lunch, went shopping and walked around a bit.
we arrivied at the hotel after a 2 hour drive through the lewis and clark national forest on the southern part of glacier park. we received a tour of the hotel from the manager and then had a nice bbq dinner outside in front of the hotel on the lawn. prior to this all of the food i had eaten in Montana was pretty bad, but the food at this hotel was good.
Day 2:
on the second day we got up nice and early for our 2 hour trip north to many glacier. this is my favorite part of the park. we arrivied at many glacier hotel and got on the boat for our tour of swiftcurrent lake. you have to see this to believe it. it is that incredible. the boat dropped us off at the far side of the lake, and after a short hike we arrived at another boat for the tour of lake josephine, another beautiful lake. we toured this lake, got dropped back off, hiked back to swiftcurrent and got back on that boat for the trip back to the many glacier hotel.
i had previously stayed at many glacier hotel and it was awesome, so i was wondering why we weren't staying here with Disney. our adventure guides explained that the many glacier hotel only has twin size beds in the rooms, so a family of four would need 2 rooms.
we then had lunch at many glacier hotel. it was good, but it was the longest lunch we had ever had. after lunch we had 10 minutes and i knew of a small waterfall, so we walked there and took some pictures. and rushed back for the group photo. and back onto the bus.
after the 2 hour drive back to the hotel we had the afternoon to ourselves. we enjoyed the grounds of the hotel and had dinner. the one downside to the hotel was that it does not have any trail access. you need to travel to two medicine to do any hiking.
day 3:
the third day we got up nice and early for whitewater river rafting. it was a little cold, but once you get your personal floatation device on, it is not cold at all. [rafting company] was beyond execellent. the ride was good, but the flathead river is not that rough. after the raft adventure, the river guides hopped off the rafts and started cooking lunch for us. it was great.
after the rafting adventure we went on our red bus tour ride on the going to the sun road. now the going to the sun road is one of the most incredible roads you will ever see. at parts there is a 3,000 foot drop on one side of you (down to the valley floor), and 2,000 feet above you to the tip of the mountains. this is another site you need to experience. pictures do not do it justice. our bus driver was great and very knowedgeable. we stopped at several places along the way. an awesome waterfall with such beautiful blue wataer and another stop to look at lake St. Mary and wild goose island. we also stopped at Logan's pass (the continetal divide), but we only had 15 minutes here. there is so much to see and 15 mins was not enough. we had enough time to use the bathroom, see some snow, and take a picture with the logan's pass continental divide sign. then back on the red bus.
we finished the red bus tour up at the going to the sun hotel and got back on our motor coach. we drove back to our hotel and had a great dinner.
day 4 To Canada:
we left bright and early and arrived in waterton lakes park early. the prince of wales hotel and the view is absolutely beautiful. we had lunch at the prince of wales and got a tour of the hotel. the food was good. we did not have enough time here, but it was not Disney's fault. the hotel's resturant was not able to produce the food quickly enough, so that cut into our picture taking time.
then we left for our 3 hour drive to Bannf. they played some movies and some music. we arrived at our hotel, checked out our rooms, and went to dinner. it was a good meal (although the service was a little slow).
Day 5:
breakfast at the hotel. then we walked across the street for a bike ride. we rode along the bow river. the guides were great and all from Australia. we rode to a house that was in the Canada parks department that has an awesome view of Bannf ave, towards the mountain. we all took pictures at this location, and then walked through the gardens. we left again on the bikes and rode back to the bike shop. we were almost last and everyone cheered us on as we rode in.
next was the whyte museum. we got a brief talk and then walked around the museum a bit. they had a grizzly bear exhibit. we then stepped outside for a quick painting lesson and our own piece of thick paper and water colors to paint our masterpieces. we sat on the lawn and tried to paint the mountains in front of us. it was fun. after that we had time to get some lunch.
we went to an Irish pub. the food was good. as we were walking to lunch, there were 2 deer walking up the road. it was a very cool sight to see.
we then met at the hotel for our gondola ride and trip to the hot springs. the drive there was nice with lots of scenery. we arrived at the gondola. it was a fun ride up and we took alot of pictures. once you get up on top of Sulpher mountain, you have a few options. you can stay at the vistor's center and hang out, walk over to the weather station, or walk down to the hot springs. we decided to walk to the weather station. we had 45 mins at the top of the mountain and it took 45 mins to go from the visitor's center to the weather station and back. we thought the walk to the weather station was well worth it, even though we had to rush. the views were incredible and so beautiful. we took the gondola ride back down and made it to the bus with a few minutes to spare.
next was a bus ride over to the hot springs. it took all of 5 minutes. the hot springs were not what i was expecting. it was more of a heated swimming pool, then water bubling out of the ground. it was fun though. we all wore the vintage bathing suits and took some fun pictures. no one else that was there was wearing the old time bathing suits so we all stuck out. it was very crowded. as we were heading back to the bus, we spotted some elk (or caribu, i'm not sure). so that was fun and exciting.
we got back to the hotel for a night on our own. we had dinner at a vegitarian resturant called nouish. it was our first time to a veggie place and we both loved it. we didn't even miss the meat.
day 6:
today we got on the bus to hike sunshine meadows. we took a half hour or so bus ride to the mountain. then we boarded a school bus for the ride to the hike's base camp. this was all set up at a ski resort. being summer there was construction going on, and of course a lot of ski equipment around to spoil the view. the bus ride up was very steep. once to the base camp we got organized into a few groups and each group was assigned a guide. i thought the guides were very good. they explained a lot about the local vegitation and animals. we saw bear digs and ground squirrels. they told us about the flowers too. the hike itself wasn't that hard. the beginning was a bit tough, but it all leveled out soon enough. we got to out goal, rock lake, after a half hour or so. it was nice, but there are nicer hikes in glacier national park that we could have done. bad weather started to move in, so we decided to leave with the first group. when we got back to base camp, we had our lunch. i enjoyed it. i had a ham sandwich, brownie, and a drink. as we were eating, the bad weather moved in and it started to hail. after lunch we waited a few minutes for the school bus to take us back to our main bus.
we traveled back to our hotel to get ready for our next adventure, horse back riding. i had not riden a horse in 21 years. i remember it being a fun experience, well, now that i'm older it was not as much fun. the first horse i got was a little crazy, so they switched me to a new one. all the new one wanted to do was eat. so every minute or so it would stick its head down and grab some grass, so i had to constantly pull hard on the reins and tell it "NO". this got tired really quickly. the scenery was fantastic. the bow river was so blue. but i did not take many pictures because i though the camera sound might freak my horse out. after about 45 minutes or so, we arrived at the campsite for supper. they had roping and horse shoes games for us. i thought the supper was great. i was very pleased with the way that the ranch company handled it. my wife is gluten free and they had a whole spread for her, from gluten free salad dressing, to dessert, and even some gluten free bread. we were both very happy. no other eatery had prepared so well for her needs. one of the ranch guides sat next to us and she told us a little about the ranch. and then we were off again on the horses. we started up a steep incline and one of the guides' horses slipped and fell. luckily no one else had any problems. it was a fun ride, besides having to keep my horse from eating the grass (my wife's horse did the same thing). and the scenery was beautiuful. and after the steep incline, we had a steep decsent. it was muddy and i thought we'd all go down the mountain in a big mudslide, but luckily none of the horses lost their footing.
Day 7:
we got up nice and early to go to Lake Louise. this was one thing i was looking forward to.
we arrived and got off the bus, and wow, what a view. we only had a half hour or so to explore. i did not think this was enough time and i started to feel really rushed. we ran around the lake as fast as we could taking pictures, but we didn't get that far.
back on the bus to moraine lake. moraine lake was even better the lake louise. the color has to be seen to be believed. we first started out with a canoe ride. i had never ridden a canoe, and was a little cautious. there were 4 of us in the canoe and we went about half way into the lake. i took as many pictures as i could, but it was difficult to paddle and take pictures at the same time. so we got back to the dock and there was no one there to take out boat. so we had to attach it to the dock outselves and get out of the boat ourselves, which was a little scary. but we made it. at the edge of the lake is a big pile of rocks from an avalanche that you can hike up. we were about to have lunch, with only a few minutes after lunch for exploring. i had never been to moraine lake before and did no think i would ever return, so i (and another guest) decided to skip lunch and hike the rock pile. it was WELL worth it. once you get above the lake, the color changes to an ever more beautiful color of blue. it was incredible! my favorite part of the trip. i took 500 pictures at moraine lake. we hiked back down and met up with everyone in the dining room. the wait staff saw that i arrived late and brought me lunch! i was very happy. we finished our lunch and since it was only a 10 minute hike to the top of the rock pile, my wife and i had time to do it. so my wife got to see this beautiful view of the lake too.
well back on the bus to go back to the hotel once again. lots of nice scenery along the way. the ride was about an hour or so. this was our last night so we had out farewell dinner. good food, and lots of fun people.
one word about the weather. it was perfect. we did get a little hail, but we were eating lunch at the time. and we all thought it was Disney magic that made the weather so perfect. on our last full day, it was COLD and foggy at the hotel, but by the time we got to lake Louise, the weather was perfect once again. amazing!
one thing that surprised me was that i thought our adventure guides were going to be local experts. they both did a GREAT job, but were newbies. one lady had done this trip once before and it was the other lady's first time. so i knew way more then they did about glacier. i was hoping for a lot more local info as we traveled on the bus.
we met lots of great people on this trip and had a fantastic time!
This is my third trip to Glacier National Park, my second to Waterton Lakes and my first to Banff. It is my wife's first trip to Glacier and Banff. it was our FIRST adventures by Disney tour.
the trip: (jul 13-21 2010)
day 1:
Flight left at 6am, with arrivial in Montana scheduled to 11:45am.
we were greeted and our guide knew who we were(!). it was a very nice greeting. we arrivied on time and our coach was leaving at 2pm, so we had some time to kill. we had lunch, went shopping and walked around a bit.
we arrivied at the hotel after a 2 hour drive through the lewis and clark national forest on the southern part of glacier park. we received a tour of the hotel from the manager and then had a nice bbq dinner outside in front of the hotel on the lawn. prior to this all of the food i had eaten in Montana was pretty bad, but the food at this hotel was good.
Day 2:
on the second day we got up nice and early for our 2 hour trip north to many glacier. this is my favorite part of the park. we arrivied at many glacier hotel and got on the boat for our tour of swiftcurrent lake. you have to see this to believe it. it is that incredible. the boat dropped us off at the far side of the lake, and after a short hike we arrived at another boat for the tour of lake josephine, another beautiful lake. we toured this lake, got dropped back off, hiked back to swiftcurrent and got back on that boat for the trip back to the many glacier hotel.
i had previously stayed at many glacier hotel and it was awesome, so i was wondering why we weren't staying here with Disney. our adventure guides explained that the many glacier hotel only has twin size beds in the rooms, so a family of four would need 2 rooms.
we then had lunch at many glacier hotel. it was good, but it was the longest lunch we had ever had. after lunch we had 10 minutes and i knew of a small waterfall, so we walked there and took some pictures. and rushed back for the group photo. and back onto the bus.
after the 2 hour drive back to the hotel we had the afternoon to ourselves. we enjoyed the grounds of the hotel and had dinner. the one downside to the hotel was that it does not have any trail access. you need to travel to two medicine to do any hiking.
day 3:
the third day we got up nice and early for whitewater river rafting. it was a little cold, but once you get your personal floatation device on, it is not cold at all. [rafting company] was beyond execellent. the ride was good, but the flathead river is not that rough. after the raft adventure, the river guides hopped off the rafts and started cooking lunch for us. it was great.
after the rafting adventure we went on our red bus tour ride on the going to the sun road. now the going to the sun road is one of the most incredible roads you will ever see. at parts there is a 3,000 foot drop on one side of you (down to the valley floor), and 2,000 feet above you to the tip of the mountains. this is another site you need to experience. pictures do not do it justice. our bus driver was great and very knowedgeable. we stopped at several places along the way. an awesome waterfall with such beautiful blue wataer and another stop to look at lake St. Mary and wild goose island. we also stopped at Logan's pass (the continetal divide), but we only had 15 minutes here. there is so much to see and 15 mins was not enough. we had enough time to use the bathroom, see some snow, and take a picture with the logan's pass continental divide sign. then back on the red bus.
we finished the red bus tour up at the going to the sun hotel and got back on our motor coach. we drove back to our hotel and had a great dinner.
day 4 To Canada:
we left bright and early and arrived in waterton lakes park early. the prince of wales hotel and the view is absolutely beautiful. we had lunch at the prince of wales and got a tour of the hotel. the food was good. we did not have enough time here, but it was not Disney's fault. the hotel's resturant was not able to produce the food quickly enough, so that cut into our picture taking time.
then we left for our 3 hour drive to Bannf. they played some movies and some music. we arrived at our hotel, checked out our rooms, and went to dinner. it was a good meal (although the service was a little slow).
Day 5:
breakfast at the hotel. then we walked across the street for a bike ride. we rode along the bow river. the guides were great and all from Australia. we rode to a house that was in the Canada parks department that has an awesome view of Bannf ave, towards the mountain. we all took pictures at this location, and then walked through the gardens. we left again on the bikes and rode back to the bike shop. we were almost last and everyone cheered us on as we rode in.
next was the whyte museum. we got a brief talk and then walked around the museum a bit. they had a grizzly bear exhibit. we then stepped outside for a quick painting lesson and our own piece of thick paper and water colors to paint our masterpieces. we sat on the lawn and tried to paint the mountains in front of us. it was fun. after that we had time to get some lunch.
we went to an Irish pub. the food was good. as we were walking to lunch, there were 2 deer walking up the road. it was a very cool sight to see.
we then met at the hotel for our gondola ride and trip to the hot springs. the drive there was nice with lots of scenery. we arrived at the gondola. it was a fun ride up and we took alot of pictures. once you get up on top of Sulpher mountain, you have a few options. you can stay at the vistor's center and hang out, walk over to the weather station, or walk down to the hot springs. we decided to walk to the weather station. we had 45 mins at the top of the mountain and it took 45 mins to go from the visitor's center to the weather station and back. we thought the walk to the weather station was well worth it, even though we had to rush. the views were incredible and so beautiful. we took the gondola ride back down and made it to the bus with a few minutes to spare.
next was a bus ride over to the hot springs. it took all of 5 minutes. the hot springs were not what i was expecting. it was more of a heated swimming pool, then water bubling out of the ground. it was fun though. we all wore the vintage bathing suits and took some fun pictures. no one else that was there was wearing the old time bathing suits so we all stuck out. it was very crowded. as we were heading back to the bus, we spotted some elk (or caribu, i'm not sure). so that was fun and exciting.
we got back to the hotel for a night on our own. we had dinner at a vegitarian resturant called nouish. it was our first time to a veggie place and we both loved it. we didn't even miss the meat.
day 6:
today we got on the bus to hike sunshine meadows. we took a half hour or so bus ride to the mountain. then we boarded a school bus for the ride to the hike's base camp. this was all set up at a ski resort. being summer there was construction going on, and of course a lot of ski equipment around to spoil the view. the bus ride up was very steep. once to the base camp we got organized into a few groups and each group was assigned a guide. i thought the guides were very good. they explained a lot about the local vegitation and animals. we saw bear digs and ground squirrels. they told us about the flowers too. the hike itself wasn't that hard. the beginning was a bit tough, but it all leveled out soon enough. we got to out goal, rock lake, after a half hour or so. it was nice, but there are nicer hikes in glacier national park that we could have done. bad weather started to move in, so we decided to leave with the first group. when we got back to base camp, we had our lunch. i enjoyed it. i had a ham sandwich, brownie, and a drink. as we were eating, the bad weather moved in and it started to hail. after lunch we waited a few minutes for the school bus to take us back to our main bus.
we traveled back to our hotel to get ready for our next adventure, horse back riding. i had not riden a horse in 21 years. i remember it being a fun experience, well, now that i'm older it was not as much fun. the first horse i got was a little crazy, so they switched me to a new one. all the new one wanted to do was eat. so every minute or so it would stick its head down and grab some grass, so i had to constantly pull hard on the reins and tell it "NO". this got tired really quickly. the scenery was fantastic. the bow river was so blue. but i did not take many pictures because i though the camera sound might freak my horse out. after about 45 minutes or so, we arrived at the campsite for supper. they had roping and horse shoes games for us. i thought the supper was great. i was very pleased with the way that the ranch company handled it. my wife is gluten free and they had a whole spread for her, from gluten free salad dressing, to dessert, and even some gluten free bread. we were both very happy. no other eatery had prepared so well for her needs. one of the ranch guides sat next to us and she told us a little about the ranch. and then we were off again on the horses. we started up a steep incline and one of the guides' horses slipped and fell. luckily no one else had any problems. it was a fun ride, besides having to keep my horse from eating the grass (my wife's horse did the same thing). and the scenery was beautiuful. and after the steep incline, we had a steep decsent. it was muddy and i thought we'd all go down the mountain in a big mudslide, but luckily none of the horses lost their footing.
Day 7:
we got up nice and early to go to Lake Louise. this was one thing i was looking forward to.
we arrived and got off the bus, and wow, what a view. we only had a half hour or so to explore. i did not think this was enough time and i started to feel really rushed. we ran around the lake as fast as we could taking pictures, but we didn't get that far.
back on the bus to moraine lake. moraine lake was even better the lake louise. the color has to be seen to be believed. we first started out with a canoe ride. i had never ridden a canoe, and was a little cautious. there were 4 of us in the canoe and we went about half way into the lake. i took as many pictures as i could, but it was difficult to paddle and take pictures at the same time. so we got back to the dock and there was no one there to take out boat. so we had to attach it to the dock outselves and get out of the boat ourselves, which was a little scary. but we made it. at the edge of the lake is a big pile of rocks from an avalanche that you can hike up. we were about to have lunch, with only a few minutes after lunch for exploring. i had never been to moraine lake before and did no think i would ever return, so i (and another guest) decided to skip lunch and hike the rock pile. it was WELL worth it. once you get above the lake, the color changes to an ever more beautiful color of blue. it was incredible! my favorite part of the trip. i took 500 pictures at moraine lake. we hiked back down and met up with everyone in the dining room. the wait staff saw that i arrived late and brought me lunch! i was very happy. we finished our lunch and since it was only a 10 minute hike to the top of the rock pile, my wife and i had time to do it. so my wife got to see this beautiful view of the lake too.
well back on the bus to go back to the hotel once again. lots of nice scenery along the way. the ride was about an hour or so. this was our last night so we had out farewell dinner. good food, and lots of fun people.
one word about the weather. it was perfect. we did get a little hail, but we were eating lunch at the time. and we all thought it was Disney magic that made the weather so perfect. on our last full day, it was COLD and foggy at the hotel, but by the time we got to lake Louise, the weather was perfect once again. amazing!
one thing that surprised me was that i thought our adventure guides were going to be local experts. they both did a GREAT job, but were newbies. one lady had done this trip once before and it was the other lady's first time. so i knew way more then they did about glacier. i was hoping for a lot more local info as we traveled on the bus.
we met lots of great people on this trip and had a fantastic time!
What is your count up to now? Still looking forward to seeing those photos!
We are glad we left some time.
