It was a short drive down the road from where we’d been hiking on the Johns Loop Trail over to the Lake McDonald Lodge. The parking lot was kind of full and we had to park a little far away but since we hadn’t hiked very long earlier in the day it was all good.
we stopped in the lodge and there were plenty of people there milling about.. The boat we rode on was called the DeSmet, and was built in 1930. For lots of interesting history about the different boats in Glacier, click here.
It was an hour-long boat ride and we sat inside becuase it was kind of chilly on the water. But while Kevin relaxed and enjoyed the scenery, i had to run up and outside to the top to see everything. A few other people were up there, but most were enjoying the warmth inside.
We turned around here, after we’d gone about halfway down the 10-mile lake. right there with the trees sticking up is the spot where we’d sat in the drizzle eating our lunch when we hiked along the Lake McDonald path on Monday. and where an eagle was perched above us, on the lookout!
After the boat ride we stopped in the lodge for a little bit. we wandered through the gift shop but nothing caught our eye.
i love these old lampshades in the lobby.
At least a little fire was burning, but it was challenging to get a photo with no person in it.
Here’s a quick video of the lodge, plus a short video of a dog who had jumped in the water and was excitedly chasing a stick. We watched as the dog kept chasing more and more sticks, and at first i felt bad for the dog because the owner kept throwing the sticks, but then I saw the dog being led up the steps back towards the lodge. It was clearly an old dog with lots of arthritis because it had to very slowly and carefully make his way up. So i’m sure that all the chasing in the water was a blast for the good dog.
Also in the video i talk about the spot on Lake McDonald where we’d hiked to on monday.
last night on the west side of glacier!
ok then,
g.h.