Glacier NP - Hikes

Dave and I hiked 23.9 miles over a 5 day period.  Donna did a couple of hikes without us (she had the bear spray on her if needed) and she hiked 32.4.  My foot gave me problems after about a 3 to 3 1/2 mile marker - so Dave and I didn't do more than 4 miles on any given hike.  Will have to see a foot doctor when we get back to AZ this fall.  Regardless, the hikes were beautiful.  Saw many waterfalls (our weakness) and streams with clear freezing water running along it.  Some trails came to lakes, some trails just continued on and on.  One particular hike we did (only about 1000 feet of) is called the HighLine Trail - which ran above the Going-to-the-Sun Road - above on a cliff, up and over the horn of a glaciated mountain (where 3 glaciers came together and squashed the cliff and pinched the rock up into a horn), some trails went the entire length of the park - about a 35 mile hike.  There is lodge called Granite Peak lodge located way inside the park, only accessible by hiking there.  Set up for hikers.  We met people who had been on the trail for days - some coming in after 7 days out.  There is a hiker that is missing also - they have abandoned the search - how in the world can you track someone in this vast park?  Yes, the blue of the lakes and waterfalls is that blue.  The glaciers, as they melt, crush the granite into powder called granite powder, and the water flowing out of the glacier is a milky color.  When it gathers in a lake - the milky color looks so surreal blue - eventually the granite flower settles to the floor of the lake and the lake becomes a 'normal' color.  As long as the lake stays azure blue, the geologists know that the glacier is still there, melting. One hike - to Grinnell Lake/Waterfall/Glacier - we traveled by boat on Sherbourne Lake, walked 250 feet to the next boat, traveled over Josephine Lake then departed that boat and hiked 3 miles to Grinnell Lake.  What fun!  That's when we saw the new bear scat on the path - we were prepared just in case.

Our Boat docked on Josephine Lake - waiting to return back

Appistoki Falls - by Two Medicine 

Baring Falls - near St. Mary

Donna at IceBerg Lake - near Many Glacier

Grinnell Falls, Lake, Glacier - near Many Glacier

Hidden Lake - trailhead behind Logan Pass Visitor Center

Hidden Falls - near Grinnell Lake 

Hidden Lake Trail - near Logan Pass Visitor Center 

His and Her Pit Toilets near Grinnell Lake

Hidden Falls on Red Rock Lake - Many Glacier

Running Eagle Falls - Two Medicine

Siyeh Bend Trail and creek - near Gunsight Pass (Logan)

St. Mary Falls - near St. Mary Visitor Center 

Virginia Falls - 1/2 mile beyond St. Mary Falls

So many pretty trails and waterfalls and lakes.  Again, words cannot express the beauty.