St. Mary Lake

My second hiking trip of summer, 2002 took place in Glacier National Park on the northwestern edge of Montana. The main project was a four-day loop in the Two Medicine area; Alan and I also did a few dayhikes to various lakes and water falls.

Naturally I made many comparisons with the Pukaskwa trip that happened earlier in the summer. Basically the trails are better marked and the insects much less problematic, making this a more pleasant hike.

Here is a link to the official homepage of the national park, and a map.

Day 1: Going-to-the-Sun Road; dayhike to Avalanche Lake

The "Sun" is the main road that traverses through the heart of the park. We entered the park around midday and decided to do a short hike up to Avalanche Lake. It was definitely tourist season; the traffic on the trail was fairly heavy. We walked around the whole lake, and were able to find some more tranquil places on the far end of the lake. After hiking out of the lake we drove the rest of the Sun, checked out a few more spots along the road, and camped at St. Mary on the eastern end of the Sun.

Avalanche Lake

Avalanche Lake
view from far end

Avalanche Lake

rapids along Avalanche Creek

ice caps along the Sun

goat, allegedly licking beer

Logan Pass
view of Pollock Mountain

Logan Pass
view of Reynolds Mountain

Baring Falls at dusk

Day 2: Dayhike to Iceberg Lake, Many Glaciers Area

There were actually little icebergs floating in the Lake, in the middle of August. The 10-km (roundtrip) hike to the lake was fairly easy, with a gentle climb all the way to the lake. The view offers open valleys and soaring mountains, which was quite different from the trail in the forest in the previous day. After the hike drove to Two Medicine and met up with Erik and Julia.

resting along the trail

view from trail

view from trail

little lake near Iceberg Lake

Iceberg Lake; view from trail

Iceberg Lake

Alan perusing map

Iceberg Lake

icebergs!

Day 3/Loop Day 1: Two Medicine Camp to Old Man Lake

The lesson of the day is that one must check-in for one's backcountry permit before 10 A.M. We almost lost our reserved camps, but thanks to a printer malfunction the people who wanted our itinerary couldn't get it.

It was a beautiful day to begin our loop--blue sky with just a few puffy clouds. The climb was difficult, especially with large packs on our backs. There were plenty of variety on the trail: forests, alpine meadows, and more open valleys and soaring mountains.

walking on the trail

brook along the trail

lunch break

Day 4/Loop Day 2: Old Man Lake to No Name Lake

This is day with the most magnificant view. Unfortunately Erik and Julia decided to turn back to the trailhead in the morning, leaving Alan and me to fend for ourselves on the trail.

We began on the Atlantic side of the Continental Divide, and soon after the initial ascent, we pretty much had unobstructed view of surrounding lakes, valleys and mountain peaks the whole day. It was quite a pleasant surprise to find the deep blue water of Pitamaken Lake after climing up to the top of the our first ridge, which seemed to drop directly into the lake. After crossing the Cut Bank Pass (sort of) into the Pacific Basin, we walked on a narrow, rocky trail along the barren back side of Flintche Peak, heading toward Dawson Pass. Along the way we got to see our earlier campsite, Old Man Lake, from way up high. At Dawson Pass we crossed back to the Atlantic Basin. The descent from Dawson Pass to No Name Lake was quite steep, and we were glad that we had arranged our hike in this direction.

early morning at Old Man Lake

Old Man Lake, view higher up

on top of first ridge
view of Pitamaken Lake

on top of first ridge
(Cut Bank Pass on the upper left)

on top of first ridge

on top of first ridge

more goats

view at Cut Bank Pass
Atlantic side

view at Cut Bank Pass
Pacific side

panoramic view at Cut Bank Pass
Atlantic side

I'm on the Continental Divide!

Alan is on the Continental Divide!

between Cut Bank and Dawson Passes

between Passes

Old Man Lake, again
view from really high up

view at Dawson Pass-- Atlantic side
Upper Two Medicine and No Name Lakes

Day 5/Loop Day 3: No Name Lake to Cobalt Lake

The whole day threatened to rain, so we hiked as fast as possible to Cobalt Lake. The trail takes us pass a few waterfalls and around the middle Two Medicine Lake, and we bumped into many folks taking the boat ride from the Two Medicine camp.

sun rising at No Name Lake camp

No Name Lake

Twin Falls
the one on the right

Twin Falls
the one of the left

Rockwell Falls

sun setting at Cobalt Lake camp

Day 6/Loop Day 4: Cobalt Lake to Two Medicine Camp

We were planning for a quick hike up toward Two Medicine Pass in the morning, but we woke up to a steady downpour. The rain eventually stopped later in the morning, and we decided to go for it anyway. So we hiked up toward the Continental Divide again, this time without the cumbersome packs. Naturally the view was awesome, and it was neat to be able to see the tiny speck of blue that was our tent.

After a quick lunch along Cobalt Lake shore, we started heading back toward Two Medicine. It was an easy downhill hike all the way back, and we arrived at the camp without much fanfare late in the afternoon.

Cobalt Lake
view of Rockwell Mountain

closer view

view of Two Medicine Valley

view of Two Medicine Valley

view of Sinopah Mountain

on the C. D. again

view of Cobalt Lake

Aster Falls

view near trailhead

Day 7: St. Mary and Virginia Falls

We had plans to do a long dayhike into the Grinell Glacier, but it didn't happen because I developed a headache, perhaps from the drizzle that went on most of the day. Instead we did the much easier hike to the waterfalls, and it turned out to be a pretty charming trail--in addition to the two main falls, the trail was lined with smaller rapids and waterfalls to keep us entertained.

morning light at Two Medicine

St. Mary Falls

Virginia Falls

St. Mary Lake

Sun Point
view toward the east

Sun Point
view of Going-to-the-Sun Mountain

Day 8: Logan Pass

Our last day was another cold, drizzly day. We drove to Logan Pass with the intention of hiking toward Hidden lake, but instead we just visited the Visitor Center. The surrounding mountains looked very different from the first day, with low cloud hanging on their sides.

Goose Island

Logan Pass
view of Reynolds Mountain

along the Sun

along the Sun

along route 2

along route 59

 

 

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