The water was crystal clear and wasn't moving at all. I continued on around where the ice was thicker. Here's a shot along the shoreline where everyone gathered. I walked around to an area where there were no people and climbed up for a higher view of the lake.
#Iceberg lake trail mt full#
There were a few more that took the full plunge, but many wanna-be swimmers turned into reluctant waders once they stepped in. This young fella looked like he may have regretted that decision as he was in a bit of a hurry to get out. We quickly learned that it is apparently a goal of some to take a little swim in the icy lake and to climb up on an iceberg. Linda had her resting spot claimed, so I did my usual wandering around looking for better pictures and different angles. We had a nice, blue background behind the gray mountains. We plopped our backpacks down, and I took some pictures. By the way, there is another pit toilet at the lake. Though there is plenty of room to spread out with a little effort, the crowd seems to concentrate in one small area. The trail dumped us out in a rocky area on the lakeshore where everyone seems to gather. However, because the lake only gets a few hours of sun each day, the "bergs" don't melt all the way and remain in the lake throughout the summer. While there is no glacier here anymore, the lake is surrounded by snowfields, and the large, compacted "bergs" fall into the lake as the summer temperatures heat up.
Īnd then uphill before making one final turn providing a dramatic look down at Iceberg Lake. īefore going through a colorful meadow past a small, pretty lake. While I thought the trail would take the direct route along the wall, it veered off to the left crossing a stream. To our right was a high wall known as an arête - a thin ridge created by glaciers on either side thus separating two cirques or glacial valleys. Still no bears.Īs we got closer, there were two lovely waterfalls down below providing a light "thunder" as the background music for the remainder of the hike. Along the way, there was a huge pile of bear scat, so our scanning of the area intensified for a little while. Once it stops moving, it's no longer a glacier, but rather a snowfield or icefield. Typically, the movement is caused by a combination of gravity and the stress of the ice under its own weight. To meet the definition of a glacier, according to a ranger, it has to be moving ice. Shortly thereafter, we exited a wooded part of the trail and got a good look at the cirque where Iceberg Lake exists and where our hike terminates.Ī cirque is a bowl-shaped hollow at the upper end of a mountain valley generally caused by glacial erosion.Īs an aside, when Glacier National Park was established, there were 150 glaciers in the park. The sign said to continue straight to Iceberg Lake which was 2.1 miles farther. Though this is a popular trail, and it wasn't exactly early, there were just a few people out there with us at that time.Īfter crossing the foot bridge in the above photo, maybe a tenth of a mile past Ptarmigan Falls is a trail junction. We took a little break on the rocks at the top of the falls along the stream. The falls are pretty, but there is limited visibility, and you can't get a full-length photo without some dangerous scrambling. Just past that, we came to Ptarmigan Falls. I suppose they have that bonus feature due to the guided hikes. We followed it for about a quarter-mile before it finally left the trail.Īt about the half-way point, there was a seemingly random sign pointing to a pit toilet up the hill. Though we searched for wildlife, all we saw was this bird that I thought was a Ptarmigan (since we were on the Ptarmigan Trail), but it turned out to be a Spruce Grouse. It repeated that pattern a couple more times. Īnd then it would go through a shaded section. The trail proceeds through prime bear habitat, and we kept scanning the hillsides and forests, but we saw no bears. After the first half mile, the trail ascends gradually enough that you really don't notice any uphill strain.
The trail gains 1,200 feet in elevation, but the steepest part is right at the beginning. But other than the length, the hike was relatively easy, and it is another very poplular trail. Add the walk from the parking lot to the trailhead and we were looking at a 10-mile roundtrip. The sign at the trailhead said 4.9 miles to Iceberg Lake. We managed to just get in front of the Ranger-guided hike (about 20 people) to Iceberg Lake. We were up at 6:00, out the door at 7:00, having breakfast at the Swiftcurrent Motor Inn in Many Glacier at 8:00, and on the trail by 9:00.
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