West Glacier Motel

Day5 Friday, August 3, In West Glacier Miles: 61 Summary: -Fires/Smoke shifts - Skies are blue again -Algae that Changed Our World - Avalanche Lake Hike -The Magic of Big Trees -This really isn't Disney World ... -Planning for more fun .. boat ...

Thursday, October 9th - Drove up Going to the Sun road & hiked the Hidden Lake trail in snow & ice.  Then hiked Apgar Lookout trail.  Motel - Glacier Highlands resort in West ...

... of our motel room. Tried a different place for breakfast, the local golf club.  Priced reasonably but the West Glacier Café was better - young, friendly faces from across the nation and fresher food. Going to the Sun Road - ...

... spectacular country to drive through. We did encounter the Red Bus fleet which runs open top tours during the summer months throughout Glacier National Park. Built by the White Motor Company in the 30's they have had a serious makeover and now motor along ...

... have chosen those desserts for them without them needing to order! The following morning we had breakfast at the motel then drove an hour back to Franz Joseph Glacier but the weather was even worse over there so the helihike was off. We could have done ...

... two-storey detached house) spontaneously collapsed and landed in a river. There was an hour walk prior to getting onto the glacier, which involved going through hot rain forest.  This meant that the change in temperature was magnified - as if going ...

... Sea.  It was nice to finally see open ocean! We were unsure what to expect when we booked a night at the "Sunset Motel" in Fox Glacier, as it sounds like a seedy place if it was in North America, but we were more than pleasantly surprised when we ...

... a bit difficult of a task (it was late, already raining and we were hungry). We booked the last room in East Glacier at a little motel - super retro, but providing the basic necessity of reliable shelter (our tent is not all-night rainproof!). It was a ...

... and again our enjoyment was enhanced by having the place to ourselves.   Our next destination was the Franz Josef glacier, which is apparently a little larger than the Fox.  However shortly after we began the drive from the Fox Glacier, the ...

... my way back along the footpath I marvelled at how the sea is not 25km away, and here amongst a native rainforest there is a glacier! How unique! I also pondered how relatively sad it is that all this lovely forest is only home to birds and some fish in ...

... made for pretty interesting driving. The rain had stopped by the time we reached the town of 'Franz Josef Glacier', where we stopped at a motel. Distance driven     297   ...

... We are hoping to see more further South which we will probably bore you with later in the blog...... Our main stop on the West Coast was at Fox Glacier. There are a few in NZ but Fox and Franz Josef are the well known ones because they are bigger. OK a ...

... at Thunder Creek Falls and some more piccies. Eventually the gorge flattened out and in front of us we had a view of the Hooker Glacier. We were surprised to see mist and dust being blown up from the river bed by the wind funnelling down the valley. We ...

... rate of about 1 metre a day since 1985. Previously it was in retreat. You can walk to the terminal of the glacier. So we did ! Arrived and checked into a motel after a bit of searching as there was a lot of no room at the inn talk but we settled for ...

Fox Glacier It absolutely poured down on the way to Fox Glacier, which is not surprising as it is on the West coast of the island, which is very sub tropical. We certainly hadn't seen rain like it since leaving England and it was a complete contrast to ...

We spent today in Glacier National Park. The West Entrance is about 30 miles from Kalispell and our first stop was at the Visitor Center there. It was hardly worth the stop as all they have is an information desk and a small book section. From there we ...

... road & hiked the Hidden Lake trail in snow & ice.  Then hiked Apgar Lookout trail.  Motel - Glacier Highlands resort in West Glacier.   Friday, October 10th - Drove to Two Medicine, too icy to hike, then to St. Mary Visitor ...

... who forced our retreat to the car!  Headed on north and had just enough petrol to make it to Fox Glacier, where we found a motel for the night, before heading out for some dinner - loads of lovely sea food :0) hopefully walking the glacier ...

I left the Rising Sun Motor Inn in Glacier National Park early the previous morning to drive to Helena – Montana's state capital.  Helena is an overnight stop on my way further south to West Yellowstone, which is a tourist town directly ...

... , but starting and stopping as different sections of snow shifted and melted in the hot sun. We saw two more glaciers. The Tasman glacier which is the longest in NZ and is pretty ugly at its terminal face, unlike the spectacular Franz Josef. It looks more ...