On Thursday July 7, 2016, I got up early and rolled out of my little nest with the intention to hike to Grinnel Glacier in the Many Glacier area of Glacier National Park. After all what is a trip to Glacier National Park without an up close and personal visit to one of the park’s namesakes.
I rode with Craig as we left Mom, Abby and Amber at the campsite. They had their own big plans for the day. We had to cross Going to the Sun Road to get from Apgar Villiage to the Eastern entrance of the park. The harrowing drive was much less so with low traffic and a good dose of Dramamine. The fog obscured the precipitous drop offs and Craig’s nimble CRV took the curves with ease as we headed over the pass towards our destination.
We stopped and fueled up on a generous breakfast then stopped for gas and a canister of Bear Spray. The extreme response to the Grizzly on the Hidden Lake Hike convinced me that the Bear Spray was a worthy investment. At the entrance to Many Glacier we discovered that the trail to Grinnel was still closed due to hazardous conditions on the melting snow field. Disappointed we looked at our map and went to plan B. We chose to hike to Ice Berg Lake.
The hike was 9.8 miles round trip. A very popular destination, the trail head was congested with vehicles and we had to park quite a ways from the trail head.
As we started up the trail we ran into a ranger who went over Bear safety with us. We had a great conversation as we told him we had been in the group at Hidden Lake the day before. He told us the steepest part of the trail was at the beginning. Once past it the remainder of the trail proved to be a gentle incline.
The abundance and variety of wildflowers in all colors, shapes, and sizes was delightful eye candy.
I took lots of pictures, but pictures do not really do justice to the powerful vistas which make one feel rather small and insignificant. The grandeur of the peaks in the distance and the waterfalls cascading towards the valleys below, the forest as we entered it, how can it possibly be captured in mere words or still life photographs?
We passed Ptarmigan Falls and wound around the trail. It was as heavily travelled as the parking lot indicated it would be. We actually met a couple from our home state of Tennessee and chatted with them about their adventures staying at all the state parks in Tennessee. It sounded so neat it made me want to check out some of them. I am not a fast paced hiker so our new friends soon outpaced us.
Ice Berg Lake sits in a horseshoe shaped bowl with mountains reaching for the sky cradling this little azure jewel, shading it from direct sunlight, snow glinting around the peaks like a crystal crown. As a result of limited exposure to the sun the ice rarely completely melts leaving the surface dotted with little icebergs.
There was a crowd at the lake, even some adventurous souls swimming in the ice cold water, if you call running into the water, dunking down then racing back to the relative warmth of the shore swimming. A gentleman had binoculars and let us look through them to spy out Mountain Goats galavanting on the precipices above the lake. It is a wonder of nature how these beasts romp on the precarious heights. The world is full of magic and wonders and I drank them in to my hearts content.
The beautiful color of the water is caused by sediments from the glacier melt. I never imagined seeing something as picturesque as the azure water dotted with cute little ice bergs.
On the return trip I saw a few things I didn’t catch on the way up. I was searching the peaks on the ascent. Descending, one looks down the magnificent valley, the evergreens reaching for the sky, spread out on the walls of the valley.
The hike took us a little over 5 hours. It was not a difficult hike and the payoff was pure magic. The trail is well defined and travelled. There are potties at the lake for those like myself who can’t go 5 hours without going, especially if hydrating as recommended. I would heartily recommend this hike to anyone venturing to the Many Glacier area of this magnificent park. It has a dose of everything, a challenging little climb to get you started, nice defined trail through wildflowers and forest then above a landscape of awesome, breathtaking vistas, ending with the jewel that is Ice Berg Lake.
MrsSmithsLifeUnexpected 