Kiwis and Fairy Bread

16 June 2026

The only activity we had booked for this trip was a Red Bus Tour. A fleet of 33 buses built in the 1930s (and refurbished several times since then) takes up to 18 passengers on various routes around Glacier National Park. Back in February, I called Xanterra (the company that runs the hospitality divisions of many U.S. national parks) where a very helpful woman encouraged me to book both our cabins and this particular tour. She said it was a wonderful way to experience the park. She was absolutely right.

It was a chilly morning with rains and gale force winds predicted. We four bundled up, filled our packs and were outside The Swiftcurrent Motor Inn for our 9am pick up. At 9:15 there was no bus. The staff at reception thought that was unusual, so kindly contacted the driver. At 9:30 he finally arrived with apologies. Rich our driver and guide, is required to wait 15 minutes at each stop for all booked passengers. At Many Glaciers Hotel a family turned out to be no-shows. Not a problem. We were just relieved to be on our way.

The bus was surprisingly comfortable. In addition to the driver and front passenger seat, there are four long seats that each hold four people. Classic roll-down windows and individual doors are on each side of each seat. The ceiling is a frame with a removable canvas cover. Thick wool blankets serve to keep passengers warm. Most surprisingly for an open vehicle, there were no seat belts. Still, it was all so charmingly retro.

As we drove out of the park we found ourselves back on that terrible gravel road. Rich told us that for decades this stretch of road has defied paving. Even engineers cannot discover why each time asphalt is laid, it crumbles. The nearest they can figure is that the land in this one section of mountain moves and shifts.

Stopping at the St. Mary’s KOA Campground to pick up more passengers, Rich rolled up the canvas ceiling of the bus to give it an open top. At scenic points we would all be able to stand up and “Prairie Dog”, as he called it.

The thirteen of us on the trip were from all over the country (two were even from Brielle, two towns north of Bay Head) Together we made a companionable bunch.

Snuggled in our bench, covered in blankets Mike, Ben, Cary and I were very cozy. The wind picked up and clouds came in. Rich somehow managed to drive on winding roads in gale force winds, talking all the while and picking up photos to show us. He’d pull over now and then for us to “prairie dog” for a view or a pic, or get out and walk to a waterfall, or for a short hike to a peninsula on St. Mary Lake, or to see The Jackson Glacier just a few miles off.

Driving along I couldn’t help wishing that Rich would stop talking for a bit. The scenery was stunning! High cliffs of crumbling red stone, rushing blue lakes and waterfalls, fast moving clouds, waving trees, and all those snowy peaks. I wanted to silently take in the powerful spirituality of the place.

But Rich had much to convey to us. The geology and history of the land, and an endless stream of anecdotes. Both he and the park rangers have a great respect for the Blackfeet people. The plains were where they lived, what is now Glacier National Park was part of their territory. The U.S. government treated them terribly. Encouraging people to hunt the bison to near extinction which in turn nearly wiped out The Blackfeet, whose lives intricately dependent upon those animals. Then Business men swindled them out of the glacial land to mine for valuable minerals (they didn’t find any). Then the Feds bought the land (at a bargain price) from the starving Blackfeet to open it up to tourists in the newly conceived national park system.

As I mentioned when we were in Yosemite this time last year, I really appreciate our national park system. However, I sincerely wish they could have been established in cooperation with the American indigenous people, not at the expense of them.

It was nice to hear the staff call several mountains by their native names. There are some Blackfeet rangers who give talks and walks. My only regret the entire trip is that I was not able to attend one of them.

A good portion of our route took us on the famous Going to the Sun Road. This feat of structural engineering winds across the park from east to west. But we could only go so far. Much of it was closed due to an avalanche and a rock slide.

But that was OK. There was plenty to see and Mike captured so much of in his photographs.

Out of the park, a half hour drive took us to The Glacier Park Lodge. Ben, Cary and the rest of the tour had lunch in the restaurant, but Mike and I had, as usual, packed a picnic. We found a table on the porch that was out of the wind and enjoyed our lunch and another great view.

This hotel, like several in the park, was made to look like an alpine chalet. The idea was that since these mountains looked like The Alps, the European style would make American tourists want to come here instead to say, Switzerland. The North Western Railroad built a depot (at which Amtrak still stops) and the hotel followed. Using the trunks of ancient Douglass fur trees, Swiss carpenters worked through the frigid winter of 1913, plus another full year to construct this charming building. It reminded us a bit of The Ahwanee in Yosemite, but not as posh and also not as run down. Those trunks holding up the lobby still have all their bark. The fire place roars. On the balconies there are writing desks, a teepee to play in, a bank of phone booths, and a nice shop. Everything is dusted and clean. Someone is really taking care of this place.

Back in the bus we drove to the Two Medicine area to see another glacier, and then to a roadside bakery where we had coffee, fantastic huckleberry pastry and watched some cute doggies.

By 4pm it was starting to rain, so Rich put the canvas top back on for the return trip. I swear he repeated some stories, but I can’t fault his enthusiasm for this place. At the KOA campground we said good bye to the nice ladies who sat behind us the whole trip. The rest got off at Many Glaciers. On the mile trip around the lake to Swiftcurrent a moose was grazing on the side of the road! With sincere thanks, we said good bye to Rich and headed back up the road to see that moose. I found I was too tired to keep up their pace, so left Cary, Mike and Ben to it. They wisely stayed at the twenty five meter recommended distance which was, they said, incredible! A park ranger was there too, directing traffic and talking about the moose.

Our leisurely evening had us dining at Nell’s, the Swiftcurrent cafe, on sandwiches and macaroni and cheese. Then books, writing and looking at mountain grizzly bears through a ranger’s telescope. Cary attended his nightly talk, which happen to be about bears. As a Somerset County Park ranger, he appreciated the ranger’s knowledge. Ben chilled out in his cabin. In the memoir I am reading, Three Cups of Tea the climber-turned philanthropist just moved to, of all places, Bozeman Montana! I had to wonder, would I run into him downtown?

With visions of all we had seen today, Mike and I snuggled under the blankets in our tiny cabin and slept well. We’d need to because tomorrow, planned to go on our first real hike of the trip.

It was a glorious day.