So I took my CX-9 on a trip...

[181962]

Yep, the "bus", aka Ice Explorers, are still there but they've been upgraded and repainted. These custom built 55,000lbs beasts are powered by a Mercedes engine putting out (depending on model) over 300hp and around 1000ft-lbs torque.

However, the glaciers themselves are receding and it's possible that within our lifetime they will be gone. So if anyone wants to see them, now's the time (or, well, 2023 I guess, they don't run tours in the winter).

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Yup. It looks dirtier than I remember it from 16 years ago--perhaps thinner exposing more rock and gravel. In Glacier National Park not too far to the south, 10 of the 35 named glaciers are no more.

By the way, when I was there 16 years ago in September I was surprised how slushy it was with rivulets and cones to warn of holes. Climate change notwithstanding, I should have reckoned it is still in summer melt mode this time of year. The moral of the story: I wouldn't be wearing sandals that day.