start:  7/11/2008

length: 5.3 miles (round trip)

time: 3:09 (round trip)

difficulty:  easy

avg speed: 2.0 mph

elevation gain: from 3805ft to 5240ft gaining 1435ft

comments: easy hike, drank from stream.

photos; flickr

google maps (with photos)

google earth (.kmz file with photos)

gps (.gpx file)

start:  7/13/2008 at 1208am(?)

length: 3.7 miles (from trail head to fire lookout)

time: 3:34:24 (up)  1:10:38 (at the top)  1:43:33 (back)

difficulty:  moderate / moderately difficult

avg speed: 1.o mph (up) 2.0 mph (down)

elevation gain: from 6783ft to 9368ft gaining 3585ft

directions: south of Stevensville to (either west on St Mary’s Rd or west on Indian Prairie Loop then North on St Mary’s Rd) then west on Lookout Trail

comments:  this had me gasping a bit, stops became more frequent as the trail went on, the last leg of the hike seems to be a bit more strenuous than the rest of the trail.

photos; panoramio or flickr

google maps

google earth (.kmz file)

gps (.gpx file)

Our visit to Glacier National Park took us 16 miles in the West Glacier entrance to Avalanche Campground. With 50 camp sites the campground is definitely on the edge of the wild.

While there were no signs of bears the deer had no problem with the campers.

After camping at Avalanche Campground, we took a hike along Avalanche Creek, a rough yet spectacular clear blue creek runs along an ‘easy’ hike up towards Avalanche Lake. The hike is approximately 2 miles each way and a gain of 500ft in elevation.

Along the hike many surrounding mountains still had snow which was melting and causing runoff resulting in huge falls, this is a small one;

Upon reaching the lake we found crystal clear water surrounded by mountains.

Later that day, a little lunch at McDonald Lake;

Just north of Victor on the east side of highway 93 you will find signs for Glen Lake. It is a nice drive up to 6800 feet (from 3400) with views overlooking Victor and Stevensville, if it weren’t so smoky we would have had views of the Sapphire Mountains as well. On the way up we hit some traffic (see little black bear picture right).

At the trail head are 4 parking spots with plenty of room for additional parking. It starts uphill immediately and stays that way most of the hike in, approximately 2 and 1/4 miles in, going from 6800 ft to approximately 7700 ft. Any real hiker would consider this an easy walk but it was a little more than we expected; our 7 year old son did very well though. Most of the hike consisted of views of the Bitterroot Mountains through the burnt forest.

There were probably 4 groups of people on the trail which was slightly disappointing but didn’t present an inconvenience. Trails.com reported over a dozen vehicles parked at the trail head back in ‘98 due to the trails easy status, maybe there were few people there due to all the smoke in the area but if there were a dozen people on that trail my opinion might be a little different. Despite all the burnt land and the other hikers; the views along the way and then reaching the lake made it all well worth it.

The 6 acre Glen lake sits back int he Bitterroots at an elevation of 7741ft. We packed our poles looking for the rainbow trout the MT FWP said existed but we saw no signs of life in that lake. Still a very nice place, probably better for camping than fishing. The hike in took us longer than expected (about an hour and a half) so our fishing time was limited as we needed to get back over the top of the mountain before the sun went down. The hike back was quite easier than the hike in, as the hike out only consisted of hiking up the backside of the mountain, a couple hundred feet; the rest of the hike was all down hill from there. Back to the truck and back down the switch backs, we hit more traffic (see picture right).