Exploring Ptarmigan Tunnel and Iceberg Lake at Glacier National Park

welcome to Glacier National Park this is day number three join me today for one of Glacier National Parks classic Trails as I hike roughly 15 miles to both Tagan tunnel and Iceberg Lake hope you enjoy the video so we met some subscribers on the trail and they have something to tell you sub subscribe to America's par all right hey great talking with you guys enjoy the rest of your hike yeah thank you very much we appreciate apprciate it so here's the full day today Swift Current motor in hit the trail head Iceberg targetman trail head up to targetman Falls targetman Lake targetman tunnel back down over on the spur Trail to Iceberg Lake and then back to where we started we did the Tagan tunnel 5.3 miles each way elevation gain 2,770 ft it was brutal but it was incredible thanks for traveling with us today [Music] so for the first mile it's gradually uphill a little bit of a pop at the beginning if you start early you're in the shade the whole time coming up to this point and it is uh beautiful to see the sun cast its glorious beams on those peaks in front of you in the foreground beautiful Trail 2.5 miles into the hike so uh approaching the halfway point um not the greatest view of the falls because much of it's obscured by the trees along the trail but uh so far hiking through a lot of forest so right after the Falls you'll see the fork in the trail to the left we'll take you to Iceberg Lake to the right the tunnel and we are heading to the tunnel first so I was mistaken we're not halfway yet 2.5 miles to the lake 4 miles to the tunnel wow this has to be my favorite view so far check that out Simply awesome love the Fall colors that are popping right now view of the peaks in the background the warmth of the sun right on me lighting everything up [Music] [Music] couple thoughts on my mind right now number one from the falls to the lake extremely intense and uh it looks like it's that way for the rest of this Trail uh the other thing I was thinking about too and I'll show you some shots of the lake as I'm talking to you quite often on my videos in the comments below people ask how long it took me to complete the hike I usually don't mention that because it takes me a long time number one I'm not an endurance guy never have been always been a sprinter um track swimming the shorter the better for me number two I do a lot of video work and obviously that slows me down considerably number three I love to just enjoy the sights I like to take my time and even on big hikes I can usually get done by 5 6 o' plenty of time for dinner and number four 5 days at Glacier and I'm looking at five long epic hikes so take my time my body does recover rather quickly rest and live to hike another day and so we depart right now for that final stretch and check this out it looks intense a lot of elevation gain and we are pretty much uh directly in the Sun the whole time here we go there is no stopping now [Music] [Music] [Music] so we have officially arrived let's go check out the tunnel and I'll share some history with you [Music] at 7,200 ft the 240t Tagan tunnel was originally built by the CCC in the 1930s to allow hikers to avoid the strenuous climb over the very steep terrain between many Glacier and the belly River Valley using jackhammers to drill from both sides and a series of dynamite charges workers completed the tunnel in less than 3 months the Blasted Rock was then used used to build a doorway entrances and retaining walls alongside the trail in 1975 the National Park Service added still doors to both ends of the tunnel which now remain closed between October 1st and the opening of the trail which is often around the middle of July [Music] [Music] [Music] a lot of people don't know this but when you exit the tunnel the trail will curve to the right go down about a football field or so and then look to your left and you should see uh one of the glaciers here at Glacier National Park actually I can see it over my left shoulder right now uh that is aarn Glacier just below Ahern Peak we'll try to give you a closer look at it so we are just exiting the tunnel right now and with the snap of a finger I'm going to take you to the iceberg Lake Trail Junction and like that we're back with you so it's decision- making time forking the road right here over there Tagan tunnel just came from there this way Iceberg Lake 500 FT elevation change about 2.2 mies come this far you got to go for it [Applause] [Music] he [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] so we are here at Iceberg Lake the sun is in the absolutely worst position for any kind of Photography but this is definitely a beautiful sight to see so glad I took the effort to make it out here we're going to sign off right here thanks for watching the video this hike took everything out of me I still got four miles 4 and a half miles to get back to the trail head but if you haven't done so yet please subscribe to America's parks and remember uh always room for you on every National Park Adventure what an amazing day thanks for joining us [Music]

Channel: America's Parks

Views: 27,669

Keywords: Ptarmigan Tunnel, Exploring Ptarmigan Tunnel and Iceberg LAke, Iceberg LAke, Iceberg Lake Glacier National Park, Ptarmigan Tunnel Glacer National Park, Americas PArks YouTube, Americas Parks, many glacier, glacier national park, Best Hikes Glacier National Park, Hiking Glacier

Id: _e9wEa610l4

Length: 10min 32sec (632 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 27 2024