After checking into the park Saturday morning, we learned that we're at least a month too early to see all of the park. They had a lot of snowfall this past Winter and are not scheduled to even think about opening the "Road to the Sun" until middle or even late July.
We were determined to see some of the park interior so Sunday we packed our gear and headed up to the "Many Glaciers" park entrance for a hike to Grinnell Glacier.
The 5.5 mile hike starts across the from the Grinnell Lodge on Swiftcurrent Lake and follows Swiftcurrent and Josephine lakes before heading up the side of Grinnell Mountain. Elevations range from 4500 to over 6000 feet.
We made it past both lakes easily but as we started to climb Grinnell Mountain, there was a LOT more snow.
We managed to navigate over and around a number of snow banks, taking care not to slip and slide down the mountain.
We finally got to a place on the trail that required crampons and an ice pick. It was time to turn around.
We grabbed a few shots of lower Grinnell lake and the Glacier then headed back to the trail head.
 |
| Grinnell Glacier over Robin's head |
 |
| Grinnell Lake |
 |
| Big Horn Sheep |
 |
| Baby Moose |
 |
| Mother Moose |
 |
| Bear Print |
On the way back to the trail head we passed these guys who were headed up another mountain for some snow sport. Crazy!
We only made it as far as Grinnell lake (about 8 miles round trip) but it was worth every step!
More pictures here on FLICKR: Glacier National Park Photo Set
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for commenting!