Glacier

The drive into Many Glacier area is a 11 mile driver over a rock road and it is rough!  Dundee handled the road as we went slow.  The park rangers were not at the station so nobody paid a park entrance fee today at Many Glacier entrance.  The Many Glacier entrance only services the Many Glacier area and does not connect to other parts of the park.  If you want to go to other areas then you have to drive the 11 miles back to the main road and then into St. Mary entrance but know that in June the 13th Logan Pass is still closed so you can only see St. Mary, Rising Sun and Siyeh Bend from this entrance.  If you want to go to Apgar entrance (West entrance) you can see up to Going-to-the-Sun Road but no further as Logan Pass is closed.  If you come in the West entrance you also will need to have a pass that you can get a Recreation.gov for a couple of dollars.  The park is connected with a Canadian park to the North but with the border closed you can’t go up there and explore.  Many Glacier area has a hotel on Swiftcurrent lake, a Travel lodge and then the campground for people to stay.  It seems many people come just for the day of hiking in the area and then back to someplace else to sleep.  I did see a school bus again here in Glacier that I saw at Teddy Roosevelt’s place and had to go say hello to them, more in “people along the way.”  Day two was a hike to Grinnell Glacier where a had a ram jam, see notes on the trail.  On my third day in the park I got to see a bull moose in the AM starting my hike and then while at my campsite a female and her calf was in the campground and went right through my site.  That is pretty good seeing wildlife in the park in my opinion.  I also missed a grizzly bear and her cub on the trail by a few minutes and I am OK with that right now.  The campground had some excitement on day two with a momma moose and her calf came into the campground.  They realized they did not want to be here so they decided to make their way out of the campground.  I was lucky in that they exited the campground by going through my site and were less than five yards from me.  Day 5 started with me doing the good deed for the day by helping a camper get their car jump started.  I was not sure how it was to be done in the van as I never did it before but came away with a victory!  I decided to empty the trash and as I was walking to the trash can the shoe lady told me “I don’t think the moose will let you go much further” and I was like a moose.  When I looked I saw a moose and her calf not ore than 5 yards from the trash can and bathroom.  They ate for a bit and then decided to rest in the grass by the campground.  I was excite that Lucy, a little girl at the campground, finally saw a moose as she got up after the moose had bed down.  She was able to see the moose and her calf.  The rangers decided that Lucy could help them keep people away and she did a great job in making sure nobody go within 25 yards of the moose and her calf.  The rangers even made her a junior ranger something that made her smile from ear to ear.  It was thought that the calf was less than 1 week old since it was small and its legs were a bit unsteady.  Things like this today make me enjoy my time on the road even more as nature has a wonderful way of putting life into prospective.

You can see a video on my YouTube channel Here is a video I took in the campground of a mom moose and her calf Note: By clicking you will open a new tab in your browser.

Many Glacier Campground – the check in for the campground was with a park ranger and that is something new for this trip it is usually a host doing the checkin if no money is involved.  The rangers were very nice and were very pleasant.  The campground has very small spots and the rest rooms are very dated but functional.  The campground is connected to the motor lodge via a couple of walk paths between the campground and the parking for the motor lodge.  At the motor lodge there is also a general store and restaurant.  My spot is right on the path and I can see the lot through the brush in my campsite.  The traffic from the campground to the parking area is great as people are hitting the store or a few of the various trailheads you can get from the parking lot.  I don’t see the camp hosts much in the campground but the rangers are always patrolling and engaging with the campers.  Day three in the evening after my hike to Cracker Lake, I waited for a trailer to pull into their spot for about 20 minutes.  The time allowed me to chat with some other campers but after 20 minutes there was enough space to pass the trailer.  One of the Rangers came and wanted to see what was happening and as it turned out he helped the guy park his trailer for over 1.5 hours more!  Note:  Don’t bring large trailers into National Parks as they are not really set up for them in campgrounds.  If it is over 20 feet and has slide outs make sure your site can handle the equipment.  Also make sure you can park it and even not use the slide outs.  The ranger said that most likely the moose who come into he campground do so to prevent the bear from eating their young.  Today’s moose was very calm and even bed down in the grass of the campground preventing a few campers from breaking down their site, have to stay 25 yard away.  The moose and her calf are about 3 yards from their tents.  One of the ladies told me that the moose was next to her tent when she got up to exit her tent.

Red Rock Falls trail – the trail starts at the motor lodge parking lot near the amphitheater and it starts with swiftcurrent trail.  The trail is 1.8 miles to the falls one way, I thought it was round trip but who cares at this point in the trip.  The trail is wide in most spot and you have a few stream crossings with bridges.  There is a “T” in the trail just after a few yards and you have to go to the left and stay left.  The trail is hard packed dirt and has only a slight elevation gain during the entire trip.  The next decision you have to make is if you want to go to Fishercap lake or go onward to Red Rock Lake and falls.  Fishercap is a short trail to a lake that everyone says you can see moose but I was shut out in seeing any moose at the lake.  You hear Red Rock falls long before you can see them as sound travels weird between the mountains.  The lake is seen on your left and you can hear the falls but not see them at this point.  Back onto the trail and once you are around to the 1/2 point of the lake you can hear the falls well and also there is a “Y” in the trail.  The right goes to Swiftcurrent trail and the left is the falls.  The falls are nice and has two levels.  

Grinnell Glacier Trail – to start with the trial does not go to the glacier this time of year as there is still too much snow and it is not in great shape due to the melting.  You come to a point where there is a sign saying that the trail has ended due to unsafe conditions.  That being said many people have hiked across the snow pack as you can see their foot prints in the snow.  Back to the start of the trail, is a parking area specific to this and the lake trail which are the same for most of the way.  The start is flat and in trees with some signs talking about what yo are seeing, like a nature trail.  You come to the first lake, Swiftcurrent, and about 1/4 of the way around and then the trail heads up on a paved path towards Lake Josephine.  The first uphill is not bad as you are on the paved path.  You can exit the path and go to the dock for a boat ride or continue towards to Grinnell lake and glacier.  I choose the glacier but that choice I a bit down the way from the boat ramp, about 3/4 of a mile.  Once you commit to the glacier you are on your way up with an elevation gain of 2,400 feet in 3.5 miles.  You pass through many places where the snow is running off causing a waterfall and stream on the trail so make sure you have waterproof shoes or plenty of socks.  From Lake Josephine up you are on a dirt trail for the most part but in some parts it is a bit rocks.  On the way up some of the path scared me but on the way down it was like this is not bad at all so I would say it is not bad.  There is a cliff on some of the path but the path is fairly wide and this section also has a rock face on the other side of the cliff.  Near the top there was a big horn sheep jam!  You come around a switchback and looked to your left up the hill and you could see the fella.  I walked on the trail and he was off maybe 15 feet and I took a few photos while walking but he then decided to follow me.  I decided that if wanted to be on the trail then by all means it is his home so he can have the trail and I got off the trail.  He stopped and looked at me for a second being no more than 3 feet from me before he walked off.  I then followed at a safe distance when I heard someone yell “HELP!”  A hiker was taking a break in the shade and did not see him come up to her but he was looking down at her.  I told her to remain calm and he would go on his way.  Well he did go onwards but she decided she was done hiking.  I was hoping my new friend would go a bit further off the trail so that I could finish the hike, this was about 200 yards from where you have to stop.  Oh no my friend decided he wanted to go back down so down I went in front of him.  I pulled into the area where he first was and chatted with other hikers.  Well my friend came down and started eating again in this area so I just said farewell and went to finish the hike.  You have to cross some snow pack to get to the end of the trail and it is about 30 yards worth of snow.   My friend was gone when I came back down but I was good with that as I did not want him getting upset at me or anyone and head butt them.  The view Grinnell Lake was wonderful from where the big horn was or the end of the trail due to snow.  The total walk from the campsite to the top and back down was 9.2 miles and it took me  5 hours, about 30 minutes was the big horn jam.

Iceberg Trail – The trailhead is behind the Motorcoach inn.  The trail starts steep with stairs and today when I went there was a moose just off the trail here at the start of the trail.  The trail is mainly dirt with some rocks but this time of year there are many waterfall crossings that I would suspect later in the year would be dry since no additional snow melting.  Most of the 4.8 miles of the trail is uphill but it is a gradual climb giving you 1,765 feet of elevation gain during the hike.  The hike has you go through trees and within these trees you come to a very large waterfall that has a bridge over it so you can cross.  During the hike you can hear many waterfalls in the distance but when you turn the corner and see this big one it is cool.  The waterfall is about 1/2 way up to the lake.  There is also a vault toilet you can use just off the trail and it is after the waterfall and also the split for the Ptarmigan trail.  Today’s hike had a bunch of places on the trail that you had to walk over snow towards the top of the trail.  The real kicker was that you had about 600 yards of snow to walk across, and at times you couldn’t see the “trail” made by others walking on the snow.  Once you got that 600 yards you can see the first of two lakes.  The first lake was mostly clear of ice but there was still a bit of ice near the edges.  If you ventured to the second lake you can follow a snow trail and have to walk over a snow bridge in order to get to that lake.  This lake is still mostly covered with ice, about 1/8 water.  The snow was a bit tricky to walk on as if you have ever walked in snow that was more than 6 inches you know what I am talking about.  The trail had some slushy spots caused by all of the foot traffic melting the snow.  The snow was at least a foot deep in areas where you would walk but the occasional step you took would go down to the ground causing you to have a cold leg and snow in boot syndrome.  Because of snow in boot syndrome, I would recommend that you utilize a second pair of socks when you get to the waterfall when coming down as your feet will thank you for the dry socks.  The long uphill on the way to the lake is now a long downhill on the way back and you can see all the beauty that Glacier has to offer on the way down.  When I got back to my site today a family in the campground who was at the top when I got there said they saw a mamma bear and a cub on the trail just near the end and I guess I missed it by 15 – 20 minutes.  That is how it goes when you are in the home of wild animals they are not on your time.  The hike was well worth it even if you did not have to go over the snow.  One of the two lakes is in a amphitheater created by mountains and it is a awe inspiring view of what Mother Nature has done with this world.

Cracker Lake Trail – The trailhead is behind the Many Glacier hotel parking area near the horse corral.  The first mile or so of the trail is also a horse trail and today it was muddy and the horses had chewed up the ground with their steps in the mud.  The trail besides the mud at the beginning was a nice easy trail and you get a great view of Sherburne Lake.  The trail goes down at this point until you get to the “Y” in the trail that the horses take the left and people take the right of the trail.  There is a stream crossing but with the rain last evening and snow melt you had to go through some water to get to the bridge.  After the bridge the up hill walking starts and really does not end until you get to Cracker Lake.  The trail is rated for 6.1 miles one way and an elevation gain of 1,978 feet.  The trail go over some snow run off but then you also come to a river crossing with a bridge however the river is so high that you also have to go into some water/rock crossing in order to get across.  The trail just before the river is also a bit hard to follow as I think it should be down by the bridge but with the water so high you have to go up over some rocks and through some trees.  The trail is marked at this point with some orange tape hanging in the tree and it hard to see if you are not looking for the marker.  After this bridge crossing the hard stuff really begins.  You go up hill and after a bit you start with some run off crossings but also some snow pack crossings.  Remember the extra socks as you will need them.  Today the wind was very strong and when you got near the top of the hike the temperature dropped about 15 degrees from the low 60’s to the mid 40’s.  I was glad I had plenty of layers in my pack for the day.  You finally come up to the top and now you just have to walk about 1/2 mile to get to the lake.  The walk is fairly flat and you can see snow pack melting on the other side of the water.  The lake then comes up on you and it is just majestic.  The lake is tucked in like Iceberg lake but this lake has a wonderful color to it.  I walked about 1/3 of the way to the end of the trail at the back of the lake and campground.  The way back to the trailhead is mainly down hill and once you got into the forest you could shed some layers and enjoy the weather.  A couple of times you have to go up on the way to the trailhead but it was a very good hike down the hill.  Interesting things on the hike.  1.  I saw three people who were camping at the lake last evening when the rain and wind started.  A poor young ladies tent pole broke in the wind and ripped her tent so she was wet and cold all evening.  2. On the way down I started to shed some layers and was off the side of the trail and two ladies started coming up the trail.  One was wearing shorts and a tank top the other shorts and a t-shirt.  I said hope you have some warm clothes as it is cold up there.  The response is we have plenty in our packs, however I did not see two packs but only one.  The kicker was the one with shorts and a tank top was wearing leather soles loafers while hiking up the trail.  Not sure how that worked out for her but I was off.  

Ptarmigan Falls / Lake Trail – The trail head is behind the motor lodge and it is the same as Iceberg from the other day.  The trail is the same until just after the big waterfall when iceberg continues straight and Ptarmigan goes up and to the right.  The trail guide says that the trail is 4.4 miles and has an elevation change of 2,058.  I was tired when I got to the top.  The trail is up at a fairly steep incline the entire way but no switchbacks nor stairs to go up on the Ptarmigan trail.  I did have to cross over 4 trees laying over the trail.  There was over 500 yards of snow to walk across but it was not all at once but many sections of 10 – 20 of snow.  The snow is starting to really melt and at times you could sink into the snow up to your groin area.  Besides the snow and trees the trail is nice and well maintained packed dirt path.  The trail has some water/runoff to walk over and there are many spots that have waterfalls due to the snow melt.  You can hear the falls long before you can see them.  Also, the lake was 3/4 frozen when I got there.  A group of friends from college were at the lake when I got there and one spotted 4 ram on the side of the mountain.  He was an eagle eye for sure and they looked small from where we were standing but I do think they were a mamma and 3 little guys.  The trail was hard and I was beat when I got to the top of the trail but it was well worth the hike.  All in all today from the van back to the van was a total of 10 miles so not bad for a traveling day today.