Many Glacier Hotel, Glacier National Park—July 7, 2024

Last night we stayed in Glacier Lodge, a rustic lodge at the east entrance of Glacier National Park that was built in 1913 by the Great Northern Railroad. Huge Douglas fir timbers were brought to East Glacier by train from the Pacific Northwest to construct the lobby. There is a railroad station across the road that is part of the original railroad that has been going through East Glacier since the late 1800’s. They still have excursions on the passenger trains that are part of the Empire Builder itinerary, which goes from Washington state to Chicago.

Tonight we are at the Many Glacier Hotel, which was built in 1914 on the shores of Swiftcurrent Lake. The hotel has a Swiss Alpine theme, which was part of an effort by Louis W. Hill, president of the Great Northern Railway, to establish Glacier National Park as a destination resort and to promote the area as the “American Alps” In fact, back in the early 1900’s Glacier was touted as America’s Switzerland, so all of the lodges in the park have the Alpine/Chalet theme. It could be a bit kitschy, but it’s built on such a grand scale that it works.

One thing to remember if you decide to stay in a national park lodge is although the lobbies are quite stunning, the rooms are quite basic and spartan. Very small rooms, minimal furniture, bare wood floors, and tiny bathrooms with showers even smaller than Vanna’s. The sheets are muslin and the towels are basic white terry cloth. There is no air-conditioning or television, and limited cell and Wi-Fi service. You have to be here for the charm and history, because these are not five star hotels. At times the sink is out in the room as below.

As I walk around these lodges built at the turn of the century I keep getting the feeling that I’m in the Overlook Hotel on the set of the movie, “The Shining.” Long wide hallways, cavernous rooms, heavy dark furniture, huge stone fireplaces, ornate carpets, curved staircases and giant iron light fixtures that burn dim lightbulbs. Sometimes I expect to see dead people in the empty lounges dressed in 20’s period costumes drinking and laughing. (If you haven’t seen the movie, disregard the last paragraph because it won’t make much sense.)

One thing we have noticed is how many huckleberry items are on the menus at all of the restaurants—huckleberry ice cream, huckleberry bread pudding, huckleberry martinis, huckleberry pancakes—the list goes on and on. Huckleberries are big in Montana and Wyoming because they grow on bushes at elevations above 5,000 feet. They are wild and cannot be commercially grown. If you don’t know what a huckleberry is, they look a lot like blueberries but are usually redder, smaller and a bit more tart. I looked up the saying “I’m your huckleberry” and it seems to have come from the American west in the 1880’s and means, “I’m your man,” or “I’m the one for the job.” It’s probably a lot more complicated than that, but that’s a rabbit hole I won’t go down right now.

There’s a 2.6 mile trail that goes around the lake that we walked today and the views are quite stunning. People kayak and canoe on the lake, plus there is a passenger excursion that cruises around the shore at regular intervals.

Irritation of the day: This afternoon some guy left his (could have been a woman, but I doubt it) car parked in the Porte Cache that is for check-ins only for a long time—far longer than it took to check in. The alarm system was apparently super touchy, so every time someone even got close to the the car, it honked for 30 seconds. This happened at least 10 times, thus breaking the serenity of a lazy sunny afternoon in one of the most gorgeous spots ever. What a putz. Or putzette if that fits.