This boardwalk trail leads through an unusual bit of old-growth red cedar and hemlock forest, sheltered from fire for 500 years by the moist valley. The Sun Road offers only a slice of the alpine terrain of the park, but a magnificent slice it is. Rangers used to spend a considerable amount of time in the summer picking up side-view mirrors and propane tanks that had been scraped off en passant. East Glacier is worth it just to see the old Glacier Park Lodge. Many Glacier Lodge, my next overnight stop, is another creaky leftover from the grand days of antediluvian tourism.
Pipes run through the room, and every noise is faithfully transmitted through the thin walls.
The very pleasant surprise was the trail horse operation at Many Glacier. Most park horse concessions are the worst of the worst, the brusqueness of the help matched only by the sorry state of the horses and the ignorance of the clientele. The Prince of Wales lobby is the most tasteful of the old lodges, with no tacky additions. A short drive up Red Rock Canyon is worth it to see glacial moraines, weird snaking humps of hills. The nature trail at the road's end, however, reflects the difference in mentality between Canadian and U.S. parks.