Noodlings & Natterings from the Edge: A Month at Glacier

Having pitched our way via several starts and stops across the upper U.S., we were happy to pause for a month stay at Columbia Falls, MT, about 20 minutes from the west entrance to Glacier National Park.

This was our third visit to the NP in six years, so we hit some trails we hadn’t done before. We also had the good fortune to meet up with a former colleague of mine, Laura, from my Aldus days in Seattle. She and her husband were spending the summer on their newly cleared property just outside the park and were taking full advantage of its trails, lakes, and rivers every day. We calculated about 20 years since we had last seen each other, and it felt like no time had passed at all. So inspiring to have friends like that!

Two large wildfires were burning on the east side of the national park during our stay. One of them forced closures of eastside attractions such as a campground and some trails. They also closed the road to the top of Logan Pass, the point that links the east and west sides of the park. The smoke stayed on the east side most of the time, but occasional winds blew it over the pass. This was taken on a west-side trail that Laura and I hiked one morning…one of the few times the smoke came this far. It filled in the valley quickly, and we headed back down the trail, which (ironically) was itself recovering from sweeping fires several years ago.

One of the weekly supply trains passed us on its way up. At the upper end of the trail about four miles behind us is the Granite Park Chalet, built in 1914 by the Great Northern Railway. It is accessible only by pack mule and foot. It’s one of two chalets that still remain from nine that used to dot the park in the early 1900s. Tourists would ride or hike 20 miles a day point-to-point to camp at the chalets. Hikers using Granite Park Chalet today pay $100 a night for a bunk, access to a communal kitchen, a wood-stove fired lobby (of sorts), and unparalleled views from their front door.

A find that someone before us had propped up on the trail.

Ken and I later took a jaunt up to Avalanche Lake on the west side. As in most of the western U.S., the summer here was very dry and had less than normal winter snow. Even so, water was still flowing impressively in some places at the base of the mountains.

This walk took us through forests…

…along rivers…

…and finally to the glacial Avalanche Lake. Super-high waterfalls are still visible on the face of the mountains. The group seated at the right were harassed by greedy squirrels. More than once, one or two of their party sprang up as if ejected and give mad chase to one of the fleeing beggars.

View from the other end of the lake, which is a perfect spot for a snack break.

And for watching the occasional loon.

Within two weeks of our arrival, firefighters had the most hazardous eastern fire under control enough to reopen Logan Pass, so we were able to visit it. There’s a short hike (1.4 miles, half of it boardwalk) from the visitor center to an overlook of Hidden Lake, nestled in a valley.

The top of Hidden Lake is as popular for goats as it is for tourists. Laura and I had listened to a ranger talk about a two-year research program on the impact of goats and humans in this area, and whether human presence was changing the goats’ migration/feeding patterns. The short answer is yes, and they’re still trying to figure out what, if anything, to do about it.

About half of the goats we saw were radio-collared.

The last time Ken and I were here, the trail down to lake level was closed because of a grizzly bear lunching on fish in the outflow creek. No bears this time, so we went the extra distance to get to the lake.

The steep 770 foot elevation change over less than a mile of switchback trail really gets the lungs and heart pumping.

Someone was skipping some good-sized stones across the lake. This one landed five times before it finally dropped in.

My Ansel Adams moment.

A marmot catches some rays on our way back from the hike.

By driving around the mountains instead of over them, we hit the eastern side of the park for a day. That led us to Two Medicine Lake, for an 8-mile hike around the first lake. Near the trailhead was one of the many vehicles in the Red Bus Tours line. They typically take tourists on the Going to the Sun Road (over Logan Pass), which is famously winding and narrow and offers spectacular mountain and valley views no matter where you are. With Logan Pass closed because of the fires, they had to drive guests the long way around twice a day.