21st July 2016 - East Glacier Village MT - Kms to date 6,253

Kms to day 186

With our problems with the VFR yesterday behind us, we set off in high spirits to Many Glacier at the north end of the park. We were going to attempt the trail to Grinnell Glacier which was the benchmark 8 miles and 1500ft that the Yellowstone people had set for our trail walking there. We took the windy way just for fun. US drivers always pull over to let bikes past on twisty double lined roads, a trait that I find endearing. The road into Many was the worst so far on our trip with unmarked gravel sections and potholes everywhere. We parked behind the Many Glacier hotel; one of those classic high ceilinged timber beamed US park lodges. It was being extensively refurbished to bring it back to its former glory.
True to form we had arrived at the wrong car park for our trail head, but there seemed to be a connecting track so we tried that. The trail was through the forest and there were warning signs about Grizzly Bears!

Bear warnings -we only had a phone playing music

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We met a couple coming back and they said there was a bear on the trail to Grinnell Lake. Many walkers were carrying bear spray to ward off an attack. I decided to play music on my phone to warn bears of our approach.  Morag and I came upon a Grizzly in 2007 in the same location.  We didn't see any bears and crossed a river to start heading up to the glacier. 

Grinnell River flowing into Josephine Lake.

It was a long steep climb and after an hour we stopped for a snack at a waterfall that poured down on the track. A group coming back down told us that the finish of the climb was very steep and difficult, so as we reckoned we had walked up at least 1,200 ft and 4 miles that was good enough and we turned round and headed for home.

The girl in the pink shirt was screaming blue murder until her mother came and dragged her across.

We had lunch at the Many Glacier Hotel in the Ptarmigan Dining room, very posh and we felt we had proved ourselves.

Many Glacier Hotel.

We left to ride back to East Glacier but at a place called St Marys my bike packed up as the charging system had failed. A local called Don offered to help and we took the battery out to charge it and then try and get back to our hotel 31 miles away. Don was a psychologist who grew up in St Marys and managed the Cafe over summer as a break from his normal job.

Don and the stricken VFR.

With a refreshed battery, but no charging system, I rode as fast as I dared back to East Glacier dodging cows on the way. I just made it to the motel when the battery was empty.
Judy at the reception rang around and found a chap called Charlie who had a battery charger and I also used his multi-meter to check the charging system but it was dead. I suspected the rectifier had broken down as Honda V4's are notorious for this fault and I  have it on my own bikes. We would have to find one nearby and go and fit it. We had a few beers but the feeling was subdued as this could mean the end of our motorcycle trip.