Our itinerary prescribed that we abandon Going-To-The-Sun Road in order to see some other areas of the park. Also, we needed laundry done, and a shower. Accordingly, we spend a night in a cabin on Rt. 2 and took care of these necessities - as well as getting an intimate look at a snowshoe hare.
Also along Rt. 2 is Goat Lick, situated in a corner of the park that Rt. 2 slices through. Goat Lick is the site of mineral springs. There is a parking lot and a short, hundred-foot walk to a wooden overlook platform that is large enough to accomodate about three people. The goat lick is rather distant from the overlook, and if you want a good look at a goat, we recommend bringing a spotting scope or powerful binoculars (such as 15x50 or 18x50 Canon IS binoculars). We got much better views of goats around the Logan Pass Visitor's Center and on our hikes, but if you are goat-deprived after trying these options, Goat Lick might not be a bad alternative.
From our sojourn along Rt 2. we were off to the Many Glacier area of the park. The Many Glacier region is the most beautiful part of the park, with the most spectacular alpine scenery. The Many Glacier Hotel sits at the end of Swiftcurrent Lake and faces over the lake to the mountains in the direction of Grinnell Glacier and Iceberg Cirque. Along the north shore of the lake the road continues for a ways to the Many Glacier Campground and Swiftcurrent Motor Inn. The adjacent restaurant is one of the better places to eat but, although the menu was identical, the execution was not quite as good as at Russel's Trail's End near McDonald Lodge.
The concessioner at the Many Glacier Hotel rents canoes on Swiftcurrent Lake. You don't have to stay in the hotel to rent a canoe, and doing so might be worthwhile for birders, or canoe enthusiasts. Being very much the latter and much less the former (rather than single birds out, I like watching all wildlife), we rented one for a couple hours, noting that the normal rules of navigation are reversed (canoes have to yield to the concessioner's much more profitable motor yacht that ferries people across the lake for hikes). While we were out we got rather close to a flock of fifty or so Common Merganser, and not close at all to a Barrow's Goldeneye which was diving periodically.
Iceberg Lake Trail is a nice dayhike from the trailhead adjacent to Swiftcurrent Motor Inn to Iceberg Cirque. The total distance one-way is about six miles, and the uphill grade is steady until the last 3/4 of a mile or so. The trail tops out around Iceberg Cirque before descending to the larger, and usually iceberg-filled Iceberg Lake. The trail is on the southern exposure of the glacial valley, and climbs in and out of treeline, mostly out, so if it is a sunny day you will get the full force of it during most of the hike. In the early and mid seasons you will cross several ice-cold streams that you can wet your hat in to help keep yourself cool, but don't drink this water - take some with you instead. By the time you reach Iceberg Cirque the ground may be completely covered with snow, and the trail only distinguishable by the orange markers (and possibly by the footprints of others). This is one of the most scenic hikes I've ever been on, and I highly recommend it. On the return from Iceberg, we saw a grizzly bear foraging about two hundred yards away, down in the meadow around Iceberg Creek. Nevertheless, the trail is thick with bear scat.
You can also have a look at a panorama of this area
The trailhead to Iceberg Lake is located just to the left of the building. The destination is reached by walking across the most distant visible snowfields at the head of the valley to the left.
On the day of our hike to Iceberg Lake, the Fox Creek fire on the Blackfeet reservation grew significantly. During the day it produced a pyrocumulus cloud, which I didn't have the presence of mind to photograph. Later that night, when we returned to our lodging at St. Mary, we noticed - with a certain amount of concern - that small outlying fires had reached a position only a few hundred yards from us. Thick and homogeneous-looking smoke was covering the sky, and the glow from the main body of the fire, which was apparently crowning, bathed everything in an eerie pink light.
Several people have written to ask about how the Grinnell Glacier Trail was. We didn't take it - it was closed due to a dangerous snow bridge at the time. Most of the rangers we talked to described it as a fairly strenuous all-day hike, but worth the effort.
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