Known as the “Crown of the Continent”, Glacier National Park (GNP) was established May 11, 1910. It is located in northwestern Montana encompassing over a million acres, 175 mountains, 762 lakes, 563 streams, over 200 named waterfalls and 25 active glaciers. The mountains were carved by huge glaciers during the last ice age. Last month, the mountains called and I went with twelve amazing women.
The group at the trailhead for Avalanche Lake. We were a boisterous bunch. (From left to right: me, Terry, guide Pat, Betsy, Jenni, Cheryl, Roxanne, Queen Bea, trip leader Debby, the other Debbie, Linda and Cindy.
Our first hike was to Avalanche Lake via the trail of cedars. The river gorge (pictured above) is located near the trail head. The trail goes thru a beautiful cedar forest (pictured below).
We ate lunch at this spot on Avalanche Lake. Afterwards, we got back on the trail to continue to the far end of the lake. As soon as we got on the trail, we ran into a group of hikers who told us a big grizzly was coming down the path. Both groups headed calmly back to the beach. Below is a blurry image of the grizzly. Couldn’t quite get my camera up in position and settled before I took the shot. Notice the claws on the lead paw.
Far end of Avalanche Lake.
It was a bumper crop year for the bear grass at GNP; especially on our hike to Piegan Pass. There was an excessive wind warning on this day. As a result, we had to turn back at the snowfield because it was unsafe to continue.
Lunch views at Piegan Pass
After spending the first three nights in a VRBO on Meadow Lake Golf Resort, in Columbia Falls, we headed to Swiftcurrent Motor Inn, in Many Glacier Valley, for the next three nights. This image was taken on our hike to Iceberg Lake.
The hike from our rooms at Swiftcurrent to Iceberg Lake was a little over 10 miles round trip with almost 1,300 feet of elevation gain. You are definitely in bear country on this trail but our group was loud enough for the bears to hear our presence for miles and miles. The prize at the end of this hike is Iceberg Lake!
Our final hike of the trip was to Grinnell Glacier. The day started with a delicious breakfast at Many Glaciers Hotel. We then took two boats on two separate lakes to get to the trailhead. The first was across Swift Current Lake and the other across Lake Josephine. This was my favorite hike last year. The views are spectacular!
The group at Iceberg Lake. Things I learned on the trip:
Laughter is a great core workout!
If I’m clean and you’re dusty - I need at least two inches of separation (makes perfect sense).
I couldn’t have picked a better group to experience GNP in the summer!
Special thanks to Deb of Momma Bear Adventures and her assistant, Pat, for another great hiking trip!