Glacier: The Hiker’s National Park: Ultimate Guide By Travel writer/photographer Steve Salis

if you love the great outdoors Glacier National Park has got to be on your bucket list with over 700 miles of trails and spectacular views it's no wonder it's called the hikers National Park located in the northwest corner of Montana Glacier is for the adventurous who want to explore the wilderness on foot by boat or even on horseback record attendance over the last few years has brought traffic and parking issues to sites near the spectacular going-to-the-sun road and the rooms and rustic lodges must be booked several months or even a year in advance but you don't come here for the accommodations you come here for the amazing trails the animals and the incredible scenery you come here to hike to one of the remaining glaciers or to hike on the Continental Divide Trail photographers love Glacier for the wildlife for the variety of landscapes and the dramatic greens reds and blues on a personal note glacier is my favorite park and I've been to most of them and I've been going to Glacier almost every year since 1994 which compelled me to write this 90-minute documentary slash Travel Guide the goal of this show is not just to show you how beautiful the park is my real goal is to compel you to come here for yourself to drive the Sun Road to explore the backcountry to cruise or paddle its Lakes and of course to hike the trails that make Glacier the hikers National Park in this program I'm gonna take you step-by-step on many of the most popular trails in the park I'll show you it's lodges and motor Inns and for those not into the rustic accommodations I'll even show you where the posh people stay the park has plenty of alpine trails but the passes here top out at 67 to about 7500 feet so it takes very little time to acclimate to hiking and Glacier there's even flat trails and some of these are just as spectacular as the Highlands I'll take you on those as well [Music] some of the trails are long some are quite short and some go past many of the waterfalls in the park and I'm gonna take you there too most people see the park from the going-to-the-sun road and that's where we're going to begin most people see the park by driving across one of the most scenic stretches of pavement in North America it's called the going-to-the-sun road we begin our 52 mile journey on the east side near st. Mary's the east side is much drier than the West and there are fewer trees to block the Glacial carve scenery these shots were taken shortly after sunrise as we head west the road is sandwiched between two dog flats on our right in st. Mary's Lake on the left a sign at one of the many turnouts points to a very unique mountain water from this small minor peak flows to three different oceans the Pacific the Atlantic and the Arctic the power of ice is plain to see above to dog flats millions of years ago this area was a shallow sea and sediment collected over eons more recently several large glaciers have come and gone the last one receded more than 12,000 years ago and when it did it revealed millions of years of Earth's history this relatively flat section is excellent wildlife habitat shortly after sunrise herds of elk come down the mountain and towards the lake bears and other predators also tend to drink at the lake in the morning never approached a bear and don't get out of your car it's much safer to see them through the window stop at one of the many turnouts and take a look around a short trail from the Sun Point parking lot leads to st. Mary's Lake this sign warns that mountain lions have been in the area recently so you need to be alert this is the view of the lake again just after sunrise look carefully and you might just spot one of the smaller mammals in the park like this Alpine squirrel a few miles down the road is one of the most photographed locations in Glacier National Park it's the wild goose island viewpoint this spot should be visited often the view changes throughout the day in the morning it's dramatic it's serene in the afternoon and in the evening it's spiritual just past Wild Goose Island the road begins to climb providing an excellent view of st. mary's lake a few miles later is sunroof gorge this stream is just off the road if you're ready for a little exercise get out and take the trailhead to bearing Saint Mary's or Virginia Falls the road cuts through a variety of colorful geology in places it's a more typical dull gray or pale yellow but then a few miles away it's bright green and after that a deep red near the pass it cuts through the black band the reason for the diversity is fascinating and explained well in road side geology books available in the gift shop as the road climbs the forest gets thicker the alpine portion of the road begins at the jackson glacier overlook this is the largest glacier in the park but this one like all others in the park is predicted to disappear in the next decade or two the higher up you go the more twisty the road becomes at lunch creek when the weather is nice there's another great photo-op as the road gets higher the views become more spectacular [Music] it's very hard to capture the true majesty of the scenery it's one of those places you really have to see in person to fully appreciate [Music] there are tunnels on either side of Logan paths this is the East tunnel it's just below the panels [Music] during certain times of day cyclists are allowed to share the road there are a surprising number of riders who complete the route and it's even more amazing because from west to east there is more than 3000 feet of elevation change Logan Pass is the highest part of the road the visitors center is a very popular spot and it's a good idea to get here early because the parking lot is often full by noon can also get here by red bus several tours stop here the visitor center houses several exhibits a small gift shop and a comfort station hiker shuttle stop here to both pick up and drop off those interested in hiking one of the many trails in the area just behind the visitor center the three mile round-trip Hidden Lake Trail is one of the most popular here Grizzlies and other wildlife are often seen in fact it's not uncommon for the trail to be closed because of too much grizzly activity on this day there were only goats this is Hidden Lake [Music] the symbol of the park is bighorn sheep they can often be seen in or near the parking lot [Music] the weather changes quickly up here it can be warm and pleasant in the valley while it's cold and raining or even sleeting or snowing at the pass clouds rush in from the west and are pushed upwards by the mountains cold precipitation is often the result meanwhile east of the divide only a few clouds spill over the ridge most just evaporate the drier air of East just west of the pass the road begins to descend as it crosses a fall near the fall a short iron walkway provides access to an overlook this view shows the high line trail just above the Sun Road the road is carved into the garden wall the descent is narrow a bit twisty and seemingly always under construction but there are plenty of pull outs where you can stop and take in the magnificent views just west of the pass his bird woman falls it's one of the highest falls in the park at 460 feet it's still dwarfed by the mountains heavens peak is one of the better-known mountains along the Sun Road construction delays present an opportunity to spend a little time looking at it stop in the large parking area called the loop in 2003 much of this area burned in a forest fire that closed the park for much of the summer fire is an important part of a healthy forest life cycle without them there would be little new growth this 2010 video shows how the forest is recovering the West tunnel is just below the loop a window in the tunnel provides a striking view of heavens peak avalanches are common as temperatures rise in the spring hear the power of an avalanche is clear to see each spring several avalanches occur along the length of the road cleaning them up is one reason why the road doesn't open until mid to late June the road eventually levels out who follows the contour of McDonald Creek soon you'll see another large parking area it's for the trail of the Cedars it's one of the most popular places in the park here a boarded 0.7 mile wheelchair accessible trail winds its way through an old-growth cedar forest at the far end you'll hear the sound of falling water it's avalanche Creek where it narrows into a small but beautiful Gorge it's hard to believe that an area so lush like this temperate rainforest is less than 40 miles away from the dry grasslands of two dot flats the road continues west along mcdonald creek several parking areas provide access to McDonald Creek this is one of the creeks mini cascades he was shot in the fall when the water was low in the spring it's a raging torrent the creek empties into Lake McDonald this lake is the largest in the park it's about 10 miles long Lake McDonald Lodge is on its southeastern shore the 2003 fire burned much of the forest on the far side of the lake by the time you've reached the western end of Lake McDonald you've been exploring the Sun Road for about two and a half hours so if it's time for a break and maybe a snack stop in the town of Apgar here there is lodging shops and a nice diner the going-to-the-sun road ends a few miles later at West glacier since 1932 the 52 mile going-to-the-sun road has allowed visitors to see the Prairie as it meets the mountains it's allowed them to see spectacular glacier car valleys as well as the largest glacier in the park at the top you cross one of the most scenic passes in North America and see animals that live there on the west side you witness the rebirth of a forest and you've walked through an old-growth cedar forest but going to the Sun Road is one reason the park is called the crown of the continent here is a postscript the Sun Road is constantly being maintained when workers are on duty there can be delays of about 30 minutes on each side of the pass the Park website provides good Road status information but there is no internet access in the park and there's poor cellphone coverage ask a ranger at the park entrance for the latest construction news one of the challenges of hiking in Glacier National Park is adjusting to the altitude Lake McDonald on the west side of the park is a little more than 3,100 feet above sea level the floor of the mini glacier area on the east side of the park is over 4900 feet above sea level many of the trails and mountain passes reach between 66 hundred feet and 7,200 feet that may not seem too high for those used to Colorado but Flatlanders will have to get used to the altitude hiking a trail with lots of elevation gain on the first day in the mountains is not a good idea to help your body adjust spend your first day exploring the Sun Road or hiking a flat trail one of the best flat hikes in the park is the bullhead Lake Trail it's in the mini glacier area the trailhead is located near the Swift Current Motor Inn parking lot the trail begins in trees one is rather unique after about five minutes a spur trail leads to Fisher Cap Lake most live in this area and they feed on the lake nearly every day some say that most of the images of moose you've seen in nature calendars were taken at this lake they feed on plants to grow in shallow water the females tend to feed in groups for up to hours at a time providing plenty of time for photographers to get a nice shot they train their young to hide in the nearby brush moose move methodically in the water but they can move quickly when they want to moose are the largest members of the deer family this is clearly apparent when they get onshore they are accustomed to people but they are still wild and you shouldn't get too close bulls tend to feed by themselves the best time to see them is late afternoon to early evening bears tend to come down here around dusk so it would be a good idea to be off the trail by then deer also feed here in the nearby woods and near the shore a few minutes further down the main trail there's an interesting green rock formation in places berries grow along the trail they are a favorite food of bears so where there are berries there eventually will be bears to eat them talking singing or making any noise that sounds human is a good idea when walking in bear country about a mile and a half from the trailhead you're at the eastern end of Red Rock Lake it's another third of a mile to Red Rock Falls from time to time the trail heads through trees if your alert you may be lucky enough to see a moose it's hard to believe that such a large animal can be so difficult to see the trail goes through dense growth and even moose get tired of bushwhacking through it occasionally they take to the trail give them the right away just before the falls the geology gets bizarre again just imagine the forces required to fold and bend this rock formation also notice that earlier the rock was green here it's red Rangers frequently walk the trail looking for signs of bears anything out there of any interest leading this Ranger was warning hikers that a grizzly was using the trail to get over the mountains via swift current paths Red Rock Falls is at the 1.8 mile point this is a favorite spot for families there are plenty of rocks for kids to climb up so far the trail is gained only about 100 feet it's another spectacular mile and a half to bow head lake the trail gains about 300 feet as it follows Swift Current Creek the lake appears to be two lakes but the two pools are connected by a narrow channel this is the first pool at one point if you look back you can see the mini glacier hotel those are moose tracks in the water [Music] [Music] the larger bullhead lake pool is about three and a half miles from the trailhead it's one of the most tranquil places in the park here you're surrounded by mountains on three sides at the valleys end there are 3000 foot waterfalls there's another oddly bent rock formation where mountain goats sometimes feed the lake is clear and blue primitive life can also be seen on this trail the yellow and green blotches on these rocks are alive they are like it lichen grows very slowly these watches are likely to be hundreds of years old for most bowhead lake is the turnaround point but the trail continues 2,000 feet up and three and a half miles from here is Swift Current Pass and beyond that Granite Park Chalet the view from Swift Current Pass is my favorite view in the park when you're in the mountains it's only natural that you want to hike them but this trail is proof that short flat hikes can be just as memorable as a long steep one [Music] there are too many waterfalls in Glacier National Park to even count they seem to be around every corner the best way to get close to some of the best in the park is by taking the Falls hike off the going-to-the-sun road there are two trail heads and they're about nine to nine and a half miles from the east entrance of the Sun Road there are three Falls on the six mile loop with only 300 feet of up and down the trail head with the largest parking area is near Sun rift Gorge which is cut by bearing Creek which flows under the Sun Road towards the valley floor and bearing Falls from here you can go all the way to gunsight pass and beyond bearing Falls is just about a third of a mile and about 300 feet below the road [Music] several trails meander through the area so it's important to follow the sign coast especially on the way back you don't want to end up the wrong trailhead when your car is parked at the other one I've done this and then you gotta walk along the road and it's not fun after just a few minutes on the trail you can hear the Falls when you cross the narrow log bridge you can feel the mist from the Falls on a hot day this is a great place to cool off but on a cool and rainy day like this one the Falls run higher and look a little bit better if you're bold enough to cross the frigid water of the creek you can actually get next to the Falls when you're done exploring it's time to head to the next fall in trail st. Mary's to get there to go back the way you came until the fork in the trail then follow the arrow on the signpost for about a mile the best view of st. Mary Falls is from the bridge the two-tiered fall cut through the Red Rock providing a nice contrast with slight blue cabs with glacial meltwater [Music] the blue color is caused by rock particles scraped off by tons of ice it's another mile down the valley to Virginia Falls if you haven't read your guidebook you might think this is it but it's not this terrific spot is an unnamed multi-tier cascade it certainly deserves a name because it's at least as photogenic as the name falls this is the lower cascade the trail to Virginia Falls is above and around this area and pass the smaller upper cascade [Music] [Music] the trail wanders a bit and passes yet another really nice cascade eventually the trail leads to the 80 foot high virginia falls even on a cold and rainy day like this the hike is well worth the effort the six mile round trip took me just a few hours to experience three magnificent Falls and those beautiful Cascades and by the way a many photographers prefer to shoot on cloudy days like these because of the flat lighting glacier is a great place but it's pretty darn remote and you're going to need a place to stay in this segment I'll show you all the options in the park and where they are it's a big park and you're gonna want to stay pretty close to where you want to play I'll cover everything from campgrounds to cabins to motels and of course the historic lodges you'll even see how fire threatens them about two million people visit Leisure National Park each year they come for the spectacular scenery the wildlife and perhaps a chance to experience the early 1900's version of luxury there are few high-end resorts in this part of Montana there are moderately priced hotels on the west side of the park and there's one or two on the east side but if you want to avoid a long drive to a trailhead each day you'll have to stay in the park but to stay in the park you'll have to plan ahead as rooms and campgrounds are booked months in advance the largest hotels are historic beauties built by the Great Northern Railway they have floors the creek walls that are thin no televisions and beautiful lobbies with very slow Wi-Fi they are so remote that lodging is available only about 100 days per year in the early 1900's the first tourists got here by taking the Great Northern Railroad he arrived at either east or west Glacier they toured the park on horseback at the end of each day's ride they stayed in tents or small chalets built by the railroad but those accommodations weren't quite good enough for the wealthy Easterners who tended to take these trips so the Great Northern began building large modern hotels in spectacular places these hotels are much the same today as they were when they were built around a hundred years ago the rooms are basic by today's standards if you're expecting features and amenities that you would find in any major city hotel well you're going to be disappointed here there are a few modern conveniences to isolate you from the natural wonder that surrounds you Wi-Fi is a recent offering but it's slow and only available in the lobby you should also expect your cell phone not to work unless you're near Apgar on the east side today you can still arrive by train at East Glacier he'll disembark in front of the Glacier Park Lodge in the southeast corner of the park it was built around a century go by the Great Northern Railroad on the Blackfeet reservation just outside the park boundary red buses provide tours and there's a shuttle bus service to the rest of the park there are 161 guest rooms a restaurant a bar in even an espresso stand the gift shop features local Blackfeet crafts back in the day this was a destination hotel so there's an outdoor swimming pool a nine-hole golf course a nine hole pitch and putt course and a day spa the lobby is impressive 60 40 foot long Timbers support the multi-story structure two timbers were all several hundred years old when cut and they retain their bark which apparently is hard to do if you're looking to save a little money or if you just can't live without a TV you may want to stay in one of the few motels in the nearby town of East Glacier where rental cars are also available a few minutes down the road there's another place to stay it's in the to medicine area experienced backpackers will tell you that the best multi-day hikes in the park begin here there are also great day hikes here some of the trail heads like the one to Twin Falls is on the other side of the lake so you have to take a boat to get there there's also a small motel called a motor inn and a campground be 45-minute drive through rolling prairie along the east side park boundary weaves its way to the many glacier area in the aptly-named many glacier hotel the five-story swiss style hotel opened in 1915 the surrounding mountains reminded many of the Alps so the lodge was built in the Alpine Swiss style the Great Northern Railway promoted it as one of the most noteworthy tourist hotels ever erected in America located on Swift Current Lake the mini glacier hotel is the largest in the park with 214 guest rooms in keeping with the era in which it was built the rooms offer old-world charm one of the few modern items in the hotel is an ATM in the lobby the hotel offers a bar fine dining with a lake view and nightly entertainment provided with the help of a grand piano and from time to time eat local folk singer the mini glacier area is a day hikers paradise and once again this is my favorite part of the park many of the most popular trails in the park are here it's also a great place to see wildlife if you've come this far to see bears and this is the place to see them and moose also live in the area you may even see a porcupine if you don't need the big lobby and you're really here just for hiking may want to stay about a mile down the road at the Swift Current Motor Inn in cabins the motor Inns rooms are larger and slightly more modern than the standard rooms in the hotel and different types of cabins are available and they have been updated more recently they might be too basic for you so be sure to ask for what they include for example is there hot water is there a bathroom but if you here for the trails do you really need that stuff there are public bathrooms and showers just a few yards away here the public laundry the campground is across the parking lot it accepts RVs and tents but the spaces fill up quickly so plan ahead the lobby of the Motor Inn is functional it adjoins a restaurant with an Italian theme it's moderately priced generally healthy reasonably tasty and they have pizza the Swift Current camp store is well equipped and even has bear spray and it has reasonably priced items in local favorites like huckleberry soft-serve ice cream even if you're not a hiker there is much to do here every night in the Swift current parking lot there's a wildlife spotting party his animals feed on the mountainside a ranger spotting scope lets you see them up close often you'll see bears this day there were bighorn sheep on one slope in mountain goats on the opposite slope each evening near the campground there's an informative Ranger talk I've heard many of these and they're always interesting there's another Ranger talk of the mini glacier hotel that one often features a slide show moose live in the area and feed in nearby Fisher cap lake nearly every night and it's just a 5-minute walk in the parking lot bears also feed on berries in the area so be careful during the day there are boat tours canoes and kayaks can be rented but if you want a sail board you'll have to bring your own if photography is your thing many glacier is for you the sunrise in front of a mini glacier hotel is one of the best you will ever see the trails provide access to spectacular scenery these images were all taken on trails in this area if you're going to spend a few days in the park at least one of them should be spent in the many glacier area now that I've covered the ISA the part it's time to head west the going-to-the-sun road bisects the park at the town side of st. mary about the only thing that's really there is a gas station a grocery store and a hotel the st. mary's lodge and resort the lodge is now owned by the park properties the road is one of the most beautiful drives in the country stunning scenery and many trail heads are found along its 52 miles several trails are within easy walking distance of the Rising Sun Motor Inn cabins and campground in its near the east entrance the rooms and cabins are similar to those found a swift current they are simple basic and comfortable the cabins are tucked away in the woods and they're a step up from those at swift current there's also a camp store in a restaurant and by the way I have stayed in all of these rooms and did every place I've mentioned so far this is another great place for photography it's where the Prairie meets the mountains and we're elk graze in the morning in Wild Goose Island is just up the road it's an amazing spot [Music] a little further down the road our trail heads to several waterfalls so when you're looking for an adventure near the going-to-the-sun road on the east side of the park consider the Rising Sun Motor Inn okay now let's cross over the divide and check out the accommodations on the park's west side a few buildings on the west shore of Lake McDonald make up the town site of Apgar remember this is a place where your cell phone might just work that car has restaurants shops and other services including a campground the up car in is similar to the other ends in the park and it sits on the shore of the largest lake in the park Lake McDonald [Music] about ten miles west on the Sun Road is the only historic hotel on the west side its Lake McDonald Lodge the three and a half story structure is on the eastern shore of Lake McDonald and it opened in 1914 this smaller Lobby is one of its best features it's a three story open space supported by structural timbers and a large fireplace covers one wall the lodge has 100 guest rooms cottages and a Motor Inn there's of course a gift shop camp store lounge restaurant and from here red bus tours boat cruises and other activities are available in 2018 several cabins and other privately owned residence near the lodge and around the eastern shore of Lake McDonald were destroyed by fire the how fire grew rapidly and forced the evacuation and early closing of the lodge and surrounding properties there's still one more hotel to tell you about it's just north of the border in 1932 glacier and Canada's waterton national park teamed up to form the first International Peace Park it's here where the Great Northern Railroad built the Prince of Wales hotel in an amazing spot this hotel has a spot of British sophistication including high tea lake Waterton straddles the US Canada border a cruise can take you to the outpost called Goat hot on the US side of the border other water activities are available on Lake Cameron about 20 minutes away even if you don't stay here the setting of the hotel is one that you soon won't forget glacier is my favorite national park and I've been to most of them I prefer to visit around the 1st of September when the crowds and temperatures tend to be well a little bit more moderate but the end of the season is much more likely to be impacted by forest fires in 2017 and 2018 fires kept me away I've been in the park four times when there have been fires nearby and I've seen the devastation as well as the Reaper in 2003 I was there when the north ridge above Lake McDonald burned since then the remaining dead trees were turning gray and drying out and just waiting to burn in August 2018 the storm brought several lightning strikes in several fires in the next few days the wind picked up and the fire quickly grew is I watched from home on the parks web cam the air quality in Lake McDonald the area got very bad and much of the park was evacuated Lake McDonald Lodge was closed for the season and several private historic park buildings were destroyed do a youtube search and you can see just how bad it was this was the second bad fire year in a row in 2017 the historic Sperry Chalet was gutted by fire it was the only Lodge in the park that I had never visited but private donations are helping to reconstruct it when you're out here you can't help but be humbled by the beauty in the power of nature it's why I prefer to stay in the park where you're surrounded by it and it's easy to forget that well destruction is part of the process it's a part of nature only then can things be reborn and start anew and there's no better place to watch this process than from one of the park lodges I've been to the park more times than I can count and I've been to all of these places but my favorite place to stay is the Swift Current Motor Inn in the mini glacier area and I was younger I preferred the Swift Current cabins but but I'm a little too old for that these days but the setting here is incredible and my favorite trail heads are just yards away and by the way from a practical point of view the motor Inns and cabins tend to be more quiet than the rooms and the lodges and a good night's sleep is always nice before a long hike the spectacular vistas and valleys in the park were all carved by glaciers if trends continue many of the remaining glaciers will all but disappear by the year 2020 but you can get close to one now by hiking the Grinnell glacier trail the trailhead is located down the road from the mini glacier hotel but if you want to short the hike by about three miles take the boat even then the hike is a strenuous one in about four miles you'll climb from 4900 feet to 6600 feet above sea level tickets for the boat ride and ranger-led hike sell out quickly so it's a good idea to purchase your tickets a day or so in advance the boat leaves from the dock behind the mini glacier hotel during the lake crossing a ranger describes the scenery then there's a five-minute walk to Lake Josephine where another boat awaits those who start from the trailhead emerge from the trees near Lake Josephine's boat dock they then follow the trail along the northern shore the weather can change rapidly near the Continental Divide and on this September morning frost covered the gangway after the hike when the boat picked us up the temperature was near 70 ranger hikes begin with a talk about safety this is bear country and bears have the right of way we learn the best way to avoid a bear encounter is to make noise when a bear hears a human voice it will likely get out of the way but if you surprise a bear it's likely to be unhappy and you may have to use your bear spray to fend them off the trail heads into the woods on a boardwalk over marshy ground just a few hundred yards from the boat landing the climb begins the trail gains a few hundred feet in the first 30 minutes and on most days the wind grows stronger [Music] soon your efforts pay off with amazing views of Mount Gould which dominates the head of the valley on ranger-led hikes you'll have plenty of time to rest as you learn about local geology wildlife or any subject in which the Ranger is fluent this Ranger is into geology she tells us sediments which make up the rock of this trail are very old the layers were laid down hundreds of millions of years even before dinosaurs existed right next to the trail there's evidence of the powerful forces which meant the rock and formed these mountains recently Rangers have had to explain one more thing why so many trees in the area are dying the answer is an infestation of a boring beetle in a bud worm that feasts on new growth the climb continues and depending on the season the foliage gets more colorful hundreds of millions of years ago this entire area was under an ocean this is fossilized sea floor you can still see the ripples it's now about 6,000 feet above sea level there's a gentle rise over the next mile and a half bringing salamander glacier interview which is just above our destination the saddle is reachable from the other side of the mountains via the Highline trail there are fewer trees the higher up you go and the views of beautiful lower Grinnell Lake get better and better the lake gets its vibrant turquoise color from small rock particles that were scraped off by the glacier there are other trails in the area a trail on the opposite side of the valley leads to Piegan Pass bears aren't the only mammals on the trail this little guy will attempt to get your food but don't let them in this section lower Grinnell Lake is a constant welcome companion the scale of the scenery is hard to capture in a camera somewhere on that rock face is the trail in a few minutes you're beside another cliff face in many places the trail is little more than a narrow shelf carved into the rock there are a number of waterfalls on the trail but even in this remote location parasites may be present so water must be filtered before drinking the glacier is now only about a mile away and there's a small clearing if this were midsummer it would be filled with blooming bear grass after the clearing it gets steeper it's a single track wide enough for only one to pass at a time then there's an outcrop that provides one of the best views in the park at one point it's so steep that stairs are cut into the rock soon you can hear the waterfall at the end of the valley and there's another incredible view depending on your speed you've been on the trail for two to three hours by this point and you've climbed about 1200 feet so you need to be reasonably fit or an eight-year-old boy accompanied by his rightfully very proud father Grinnell glacier is one of the most studied in the park this lot is a US Geological Survey team at times the trail can be quite narrow walking it may look perilous on camera but it's not soon you can hear the waterfall eventually this mint water will flow all the way to the Arctic Ocean the trail was built in the early 1900's but the first explorers bushwhack their way up here in the 1850s back then the ice extended all the way to the fall turn around to see where you've come and you'll see the u-shaped signature of a glacier car valley and a string of aquamarine lakes the boat docked where we started is at the near end of the second lake bears like this part of the trail because it's lined with berries bright thimble berries actually tastes pretty good just before the rest area is the best view of the formation called the Angels wing it looks like half the mountain was sheared off and it was by a glacier that once filled this valley the rest area is a large open area with benches and a pit toilet it's about 0.32 point four tenths of a mile from the top of the trail the hardest part of the hike is still to come so this is a good place to stop rest have lunch and maybe add a layer of clothing bighorn sheep frequently graze in the nearby meadow this video was shot on a different day if you're lucky enough to see a bighorn remember that they are wild and unpredictable a hike up the moraine to the Grinnell glacier overlook is steep it rises almost 400 feet and for many it's the most strenuous part of the trail when you're at the top four miles from the boat dock you may be tired but the views are well worth the effort if you're lucky you may see a bighorn sheep up here too few continue to the glacier most just rest here and take in the amazing scenery the glacier itself is still about a half-mile away some even cool their feet in the very cold water there's much to take in the rock faces 3,000 feet high the waterfall nearly a thousand like glower Grinnell Lake the water here gets its striking color from glacial flour scraped off by the glacier most of those who make it up here know that the glacier is shrinking and they want to see it before it's gone this film crew is from Japanese television as glaciers die crevasses form near the edge or foot of the glacier ice then breaks off and becomes a bird Berg's now cover much of the upper Grinnell leg over time some of the Berg's turn on their side revealing ice layers that are hundreds of years old layers are also visible on the wall of the Lloret they were laid down over a billion years ago this is salamander glacier in the early 1900's it was connected to Grinnell glacier today the two glaciers are separated by hundreds of feet of rock after a US Geological Survey crew visited the glacier in 2008 they learned that it was shrinking even faster than thought it will likely stop moving and thus lose its Glacier status by the year 2020 to get to the glacier you'll have to cross a stream I've seen just how fast the ice is melting when I was here in 1995 the glacier was about 500 feet longer than it is today back then there were still small ice caves and the Rangers were giving tours on the ice as this 2010 video shows the ice is now thin and flat in fact it's far too thin to walk on safely glacier melt isn't always bad news in the 1930s ice covered this spot when it melted it revealed 1.4 billion that's with a B year old fossils of what was once the Earth's Tom species these are stromatolite fossils these humble algae colonies are responsible for giving the earth its breathable oxygen before them the atmosphere was carbon dioxide but their waste gas was oxygen they were formed in warm shallow seas proof that this ice-covered mountaintop was once a tropical shoreline by now you might be wondering what sort of effort is required to reach this spot so I asked hiker Tim Curry about his thoughts and that last four tenths of a mile was a little steeper than I expected so was the effort worth of you it was absolutely I would recommend this to anybody who's of sound limb but I wouldn't recommend it to anybody who was not quite in shape for the mountain because we do feel the altitude it is a steep climb it's very rocky you should be in shape for it and fitness clearly is not based on age this grandma did it and she's and she didn't take the boat she started from the trailhead five and a half miles away it took her four hours to get here and what did she think of it the Grinnell glacier trail is one of the most scenic in North America and one of the few that follows a glacial valley past stunning vistas with an incredible Lake and then ends at a remnant of the last ice age this is more than a beautiful place it's also a great place to learn something about geology the earliest forms of life and climate change so when you're in Glacier National Park if you do only one hike the Grinnell glacier trail is the one to do the iceberg lake trail is a popular day hike in the mini glacier area it's a moderately easy hike of 9.4 miles with only 1,200 feet of elevation gain it features nice views of the surrounding Valley a small waterfall and it ends at iceberg lake which is surrounded on three sides by 3,000 foot cliffs the trailhead is behind the Swift current motor in the trail begins with a steep 200 plus foot climb until it meets the main trail take it to the left there now high enough to see the surrounding Valley and it's prime bear habitat the trail climbs gradually occasionally traversing a grove of trees but most of the time you're above the trees where there's nothing to obstruct the views of the valley when entering a grove it's particularly important to make noise as a standard bear precaution this was the first day the trail was opened after weeks of closure due to bear activity this is bear scat it's proof that the bear threat is real it takes less than an hour and a half to walk the two and a half miles with 700 feet of elevation game 2 tarping and Falls they aren't much to look at when the water is low as it was on this day but there are plenty of places to sit and take a breather it's a great place to get to know your fellow hikers this couple is from Massachusetts they wanted to see some wildlife they didn't know it but very soon they would see another and this time it wouldn't be from a distance after the Falls the trail is in the trees so when you come to an intersection the trail to the right Rises another 1,700 feet to the ptarmigan tunnel and the amazing view on the other side the trail to the lake goes straight a few minutes later I saw a group heading back down the trail I recognize many of them from the picnic area at the Falls why were they heading this way so rapidly some were nervously smiling but nobody would stop their retreat to tell me soon I joined the retreat eventually I did learn that a mama bear and two cubs were also using the trail one hiker took these pictures and some video with a little point-and-shoot camera usually bears will try to avoid humans these block the trail and headed towards them they got quite close this is potentially a very dangerous situation they were very lucky the mama was only interested in teaching her kids how to find and eat berries I and others had bear spray but none of us wanted to have to use it after several minutes of backtracking we saw another group coming the lady in orange is a trail tour guide leading a group from the Boston area we all felt that she knew best how to handle the situation then someone came up and said he saw the Bears leave the trail and go up the hill so we decided we could continue but we did so is one large group there is safety in numbers secretly I'm sure all of us were checking out the others in the group trying to determine who was the slowest while at the same time hoping that an old joke wouldn't come true 15 minutes later in a clearing one hiker showed us her photos of the bear she was quite close to it I've seen what happens when a bear attacks on this very trail and it's not pretty the victim I saw in 1994 struggled down the trail covered in blood this witness explains what he saw I saw him he has the last week laceration on the top of his head what a gross they would have taken the victim three or four hours to get to the nearest hospital by car and by then it might be too late so a helicopter was called in the next week he had to endure four operations but he did survive youthful enthusiasm can be nothing more than naivete this time we were lucky but the danger was real in the trail was again closed the next day the trail continues to rise very gently and it never feels like you're climbing until the last little bit just before the lake the trail then descends to the lake the birds that gave it its name are long gone but it's still an amazing site including rest stops it took about three and a half hours to get here the icebergs that gave the lake its name are long gone but it's still an amazing sight the lake is surrounded on three sides by three thousand foot cliffs numerous rocks provide plenty of space for even our large group to spread out and enjoy the quiet of the place I stayed for about an hour taking photos and fending off squirrels we again grouped up for the hike down it took less than two and a half hours recently rules have changed to allow the carriage of handguns on the trails one of our group had one and I was glad for it the iceburg trail is a popular day hike because it's an easy 9 plus mile stroll it's a great first day hike before taking on something a little more challenging it offers a wonderful view of an alpine valley and of course the amazing one-of-a-kind iceberg lake the trail of the Cedars is one of the most visited in Glacier National Park in part because it's located near the more popular west entrance it's also popular because it's only a 0.7 mile hike and it goes through an amazing old-growth cedar rainforest which contrasts dramatically from the alpine sections of most of the park a boardwalk lines it's way past large trees and plentiful ground growth but the highlight for me is the gorge carved by avalanche Creek it's one of those places where I tend to just silently watch it's amazing that water carved all this through solid rock and the results are impeccably beautiful the best time to come is after a recent rain and that's when this HD video was shot the rain really brings out the vibrant color of the red rock and the green moss which provides plenty of contrast with the crystal clear waters of avalanche Creek since the last ice age thousands of years ago water and the silted carries carved these intricate shapes and curves in places the creek is remarkably narrow a spur trail to avalanche lake takes you above the gorge where it's easy to imagine how the gorge was formed I shot this video in September I can't help but wonder how much more violent the flow is in the spring during the snowmelt when all the snow that's high up in the mountains melts and flows down this valley it's easy to understand why the parking spaces for the trail of the Cedars fill up quickly but if you get here before 10:00 like I did you just might have the whole place to yourself in this segment we'll cover the fifteen point two miles of the very popular and with good reason Highline trail the trailhead is at Logan Pass will start by traversing the garden wall three and a half miles later will climb the formation called the haystack at the halfway point we'll get refreshed at Granite Park Chalet then we'll cross the Continental Divide and take in the view that makes this hike special then we'll hike down 2300 feet pass several lakes to the journey's end at the Swift Current Motor Inn the trailhead is across the Sun Road from the Logan Pass parking lot a signpost reminds us that more than 15 miles will be hiked before dinner tonight this is bear country there are more than 500 Grizzlies in the park and as a sign says there is no guarantee of your safety with an incredible view of the valley below the trail drops quickly 200 feet to a shelf blasted into the several thousand foot high garden wall it's so narrow that you have to stop that other hikers by it may seem scary and but it's not in part because there's a handy garden hose covered safety cable to cling to the trail is hundreds of feet above the Sun Road at this point so you can still hear the traffic as it winds its way down the valley it's not until you get off the shelf and look back that you see just how massive the cliff face is but it's a view across the valley where you will most likely cast your gaze soon you're off the cliff face in the trail opens up a bit bears aren't the only wildlife feeding here bighorn sheep like it to across the valley the 492 foot bird women Falls comes into view the trail cuts across the safety of a scree field then you're back in the trees where bear precautions are necessary some wear bells on their boots but most Rangers think they're not loud enough talking singing or generally making noise is deemed the best way to let a bear know that you're coming some of the smaller creatures of the park may come out in hopes that toss them a crumb or two but don't it's best to keep wild animals wild the trail continues along the garden wall and by now you can no longer hear the road below it's only natural to spend most of you time looking down the trail but the view up is also impressive this is a place where you can truly be surrounded by the magnificence of Mother Nature it's easy to understand why the big mountain in the distance is called Heaven's peak at this point we're only about an hour from Logan Pass and you can see some amazing scenery without too much effort and you can turn around whenever you want again you never know what you're gonna see on the Highline trail here a mountain good family grazes next to the trail these goats may seem cute and docile and most of the time they are but they like all wild animals are unpredictable and it's best to keep your distance the trail is pretty flat for the next mile and a half the view is anything but there are a few trees or fellow hikers this far out and now it's just you and the mountains at about the Three Mile Point there's another grove of trees beyond which there's another shelf carved into another cliff face if you don't have the time to do the whole trail this is a great place to stop and take in the scenery before heading back notches in the cliff make excellent picnic spots they're a great place to take in the McDonald Valley while resting up for the several hundred foot climb up to haystack this is also a great place to interact with other trail users most are friendly but some will insisted you get out of their way it seems here even wildlife enjoy the incredible panorama when you see hikers heading the opposite way it's a good idea to ask them if they've seen anything up ahead yet sheep or anything over there the cliff face is only a couple hundred yards long then there was a clearing in this case Bighorn were grazing in the clearing bighorn sheep are the symbol of the park and it's a treat to see just one and you're really lucky when you see several doing what Bighorn the open space and lush grass attracts other grazers as well here predators such as bears can be seen with plenty of time to get out of the way however some grazers think it's safer on the rocky ledges no usually they're right but seconds before this video was shot this bear was chasing a goat the goat got away bears are omnivores that means they'll eat just about anything they also can be territorial this mama bear has a cub and which he finds an area with plenty of her favorite food berries she'll defend the area for her family these bears are about a thousand feet above the trail but these animals can run at 35 miles an hour and when you see a grizzly heading your way at end you're 90 minutes away from the nearest road and a few hours away from any medical help you're glad that you're not the slowest person on the trail luckily this bear was just checking us out right about here the crew had a little problem this was the last shot we got with the HD camera but we were prepared at least a little bit the rest of the hike was shot with our standard definition backup camera the climb to the haystack is about two hundred and fifty feet over two switchbacks about ten minutes later we are at the top that's heavens peak in the distance in McDonald Creek to the left here there's evidence of an old forest fire in the distance you can see a large burn area from 2003 when dry conditions and lightning strikes caused fires that burned much of the park after rounding a been at the six mile point granite park is visible it's a welcome sight because you can purchase something to drink and even a snack to augment your personal supply before you get to the lodge there's a spur trail to the Grinnell glacier overlook if you decide to take the trail it will add about 1.2 miles to the hike and another 1,000 feet of up and down this is the view from the Overlook you are standing exactly on the Continental Divide it's a lot of work to get up here but the view is spectacular the chalet is the halfway point it's about seven and a half miles from Logan Pass it's a good place to rest and to meet fellow hikers more importantly you can buy water and food here this is also one place where you might actually get cell phone coverage oddly the shop contains a fridge but there is no electricity also oddly the prices are reasonable but there's no trash collection here so you have to pack out whatever you purchased the chalet also provides primitive accommodations you have to supply your own bedding and provide and cook your own meals the trail to the pass leads past the bunkhouse several trails meet here in a signpost will point you in the right direction there's a 500 foot climb to Swift Grand pass and you may be sharing the trail with a few bighorn sheep after eight miles and this latest climbed to 7,200 feet you may get a little tired but it's all downhill from here but going downhill as we said is actually harder on the body than going uphill as I was soon reminded I was very close hurt my right knee perhaps due to being tired or my painful knee well I was in need of a boost and I got one tiredly I'll explain view is beginning to be there and I can't wait to get a little further down the road feeling better hot rates getting back on a hundred 25 nice cool breeze in my back sunny it's a good day after nine miles I'm approaching the view I've come to see it's amazing I'm at over 7,000 feet looking 2,000 feet down a valley Carfi a glacier 12,000 years ago leaving behind a chain of beautiful lakes in addition I can faintly hear the sound of 3000 foot waterfalls this is a special place there's no other way to see this you have to hike here you'll have to endure exhaustion blisters in pain while hauling yourself your food and water and your cameras for eight hours just to see this they say that you appreciate things more when you earn them and they're right [Music] after crossing yet another shelf you're close to the falls [Music] if anything the view only gets better [Music] the Falls begin in a hidden melting glacier this trickle will soon join others to form the Swift Current River [Music] [Music] several wide-eyed minutes later I'm on the valley floor I look back and realized that this meltwater is just starting a journey that will end in the Arctic Ocean in 10 to 20 years the glacier will be gone and this stream bed will be dry for much of the summer causing local wildlife to look elsewhere for this vital fluid that we all take too much for granted almost daily bears use this trail to cross the divide so you need to be alert that the striped bears get temporary suspension bridges help you cross a couple of creeks at this point are not stopping is often to look at the scenery but I made an exception at Red Rock Falls it's just a short walk off the main trail it also means I'm only one point eight miles from the end of the trail [Music] this is the last large lake on the trail and while it would be nice to stay and appreciate it I do so only briefly it's been a long day and I'm much more interested in basking in the luxury of a sparse TV less room with my boots off several minutes later eight hours after starting out and carrying a lifetime of memories with me that's what I did you when you're looking for a moderate hiking glacier consider hiking up to Pike and Pass via the Sun Road trailhead the trail begins by following the creek the well-traveled trail then doubles back as it climbs the trail crosses a creek several times on a hot sunny day the shade from the trees may be welcomed but the forest is dense in the views the mountaintops are few every once in a while though a peak will poke through wildlife seem to like this wooded area also so it's very important to be alert and yes this is bear country on this early September day bear scat sightings were nearly as frequent as creek crossings so common bear precautions must be taken for the most part you're surrounded by trees and the canopy is dense covering the trail the trail is very heavily tree-lined a few trails intersect with this one and the Park Service has done a good job of providing easy-to-follow signs to point you in the right direction just after the last fork in the trail at about the three mile point the trail opens up the nearby mountain peaks are no longer obstructed and to me this is the interesting part for about a quarter of a mile the track runs parallel to the ridge and over a scree field by now most of the climbing is over there's only about 300 more vertical feet to the pass the fascinating thing about this section is well because it's so open the brain doesn't quite know what to make of it I ran into one couple who had enough before even crossing half the scree field when I asked why they said well they couldn't really explain it but they both have this odd and overexposed feeling so they decided to turn around blocking on the screen is easy the slope of the trail is gentle in the side slope isn't steep walking on this thing is actually not difficult it's just in a slew stressful you know that's kind of vertigo we so tall and high and wide and big the West is big so why do people get this odd feeling well it's probably because all of the visual reference points are so far away the straight is an arrow trail is over a mile long the ridge up the slope is a few thousand feet above the road is miles away and 1500 feet below and the opposite peaks are several miles away there's simply no reference points I've hiked the Highline trail many times in places it's only about three feet wide and I've never had a feeling like I have here so the only thing I think of is it must be the distance the reference points it just throws your body out of whack but to me this was the most enjoyable part of the trail after 30 minutes you're off the screen a few hundred more yards and you're to the pass well folks here we are you can pass if I can pass two hours and 20 minutes or so to walk up 1,700 feet four and a half miles and this is the view it's not bad you know the lake down there's probably the coolest thing for a minute I thought about climbing one small Blue Lake was an interesting reminder that this pass was covered by ice not all that long ago at a slow pace and allowing for plenty of time to take photos and shoot this video it took less than two and a half hours to get to the pass it took about an hour and a half to get back down after a little exploring and a lunch break it was time to head back down the pion path trail the day of the hike the temperature was in the mid 50s there wasn't a cloud in the sky the next day as the weather tends to do in the mountains things had changed a few inches of snow had fallen and fog obscured the trail segment describes the hike to the ptarmigan tunnel from the many glacier area the first two and a half miles rises just about 700 feet until the ptarmigan Falls from there the trail climbs another 1,000 feet in a mile and a half two tire begin Lake the final push is a 600 foot one mile climb to the tunnel and the amazing view on the other side the trail is shared by the iceberg lake trail and the trailhead is located behind the swift current motor and parking lot at about 5,300 feet the footage from here to the Falls was taken the day I hike to iceberg lake because I used a better camera the steady climb is mostly out of the trees with nice views of the surrounding mountains the area is frequented by bears so make noise and practice other bear safety precautions the temperature was in the 40s and the sky was threatening on this early September day one of my favorite things about hiking in Glacier is the tree line is pretty low and you're often hiking above it so here you get to see the mountains not just a bunch of trees the trail does go through a few groves and in one of them there was some bear scat if you haven't seen bear scat before you need to know what it looks like big pile of bear scat this pile is a bit old so hopefully the bear left the area this was the first day the trail had been open in weeks because of bear activity it was closed the next day for the same reason and if you see bear scat be alert these folks were heading for the iceberg lake but now they're retreating because a mama bear and to overcomes were using the trail I got this footage from a hiker who got out of the way and shot some phone footage of the bear family this footage was responsible for closing the trail the next day bear activity frequently closes this trail so if it's open do it because it might be closed tomorrow the Bears were seen heading safely into the woods so the group turned around again and headed back to iceberg the first leg of the trail ends at ptarmigan fall and here they are in case you're wondering how long it took a 50 year old man to get there cardigan Falls took an hour and two minutes or so to get here the Falls are nice but not spectacular especially when the water is this low but it's a good place to add a snack and rest before the steepest part of a trail not far from the bridge there's a side trail with a signpost pointing to the ptarmigan tunnel the ptarmigan Trail goes to the right and up the slope and I knew this was gonna be a tough hike it's 2,300 feet up from the trailhead so on this leg of the journey I decided to take the lightest camera I owned at the time it wasn't a very good camera so I shot some stills to the weather kept changing and while there were clearings much of the trail is in dense forest which makes it easier to surprise a bear and after about an hour or so I was well above treeline and in a Cirque there was also a hole next to the trail which was recently dug probably by a bear here's some of the bad video of the Serkan ptarmigan Lake it was drizzling and getting colder in one reason I'm showing you this shot is just to point out how quickly cameras have gotten better the camera used here isn't that old but it uses an obsolete technology called videotape today cellphones have much better cameras and the switchbacks may look like they're cut into a sheer cliff wall but they weren't too bad it took only 20 minutes to climb the remaining 600 vertical feet to the tunnel here are my first impressions okay two hours 49 48 minutes heart rate 190 know as much as 140 so I'm going up this hill last bit of 600 feet switchbacks in the trails not fun started out five and I asked my five point two miles that way started raining at the bottom of the lake halfway up the lake raining it's cold it's raining I'm here tired not sure it's worth all this effort but I finally been here and I've done it my disappointment wouldn't last for long this at the tunnel it's only about 60 feet long and the day before it was occupied by a bear who was using it as a shelter but this is the view from the other side it definitely made this trip worth all the effort the rapidly changing weather was a bit unnerving but it made for very dramatic and impressive images to the right you see Red Rock that was laid down in a shallow sea millions of years ago and that's Elizabeth Lake in the valley there were a few other hikers up there and we discussed the situation while I was talking to one of them I looked down straight down and I quickly snapped several pictures and it's a good thing I did because a few minutes later the clouds have moved in invisibility dropped to near zero it was time to start thinking about getting back down I took him to view for a while but once the view had gone there was no reason to stay it was time to start thinking about heading down they said a cold front was coming through and I think was coming through till tomorrow on the other side the clouds were even more dramatic they were just rolling over the 8,000 foot Divide and by the way I was so captivated by the weather yeah once again I forgot to take a shot inside the tunnel and when you're out here you're pretty much on your own there are no reliable weather forecasts here in the mountains tend to make up their own weather anyway and remember there's no cell phone coverage so you can't call somebody or to look at a radar app on your phone it's an interesting predicament there are over five miles and 2300 feet of potentially slippery slope to go and the trail goes through lightning attracting tree-lined bear country it's impossible to know whether it's better to wait or to go so I just enjoy the uniqueness of the experience it really was quite amazing then I had a snack and was about to head down it's leading pretty good cold fronts come through when it started the sleet if it continued it would be a rather slippery track so once again I had to decide do I stay or do I go well I decided to go 45 minutes later I was 1,300 feet lower it was raining and this is what I had to say it's 36 degrees I'm fogging up thousands more feet to down to go about three miles or so maybe two it's pretty cool but now it's kind of scary before and after the rain came the fog the video camera kept fogging up so I switched to the still camera again sometimes this hindered the view at other times it made it interesting and when I got below the fog the clouds got really interesting I've hiked hundreds of miles in this park in this hike was one of the most memorable the cold rain sleet and fog made it special and I also captured one of my favorite images I've shot thousands of images here since 1994 and in the few minutes that the valley and Helen Lake was visible I was able to stitch together one of my favorite shots so let's do a quick recap on the tarping and trail hike it is one of my favorites and the trailhead is just behind the swift current motor in it starts out in the open and it's pretty easy then it gets quite hard on the way up it is frequented by bears it's often closed because of too much bear activity so if you're here and the trail happens to be open take it when you can you never know when it's gonna be closed and later in the year August September it's much more likely that that will happen Glacier National Park in Northwest Montana is a great place to see for yourself that the Earth's climate seems to be warming in the 1850s there are at least 150 glaciers in the park in 2005 there were only 27 officials will tell you that all of the parks glaciers will be gone by the year 2030 in 2008 I ran into a US Geological Survey team on Grinnell glacier and they told me that most of the glaciers wouldn't even last that long I've never been a big believer in all the fears that are associated with what most believe is man's influence on global warming but in Glacier National Park I've seen firsthand that the glaciers are shrinking I've been visiting the park over Labor Day weekend snot 94 on my first trip I had to climb over ice blocks to get on and Cornell glacier I didn't notice any significant change to the closure the next year but by the end of the 90s it was obvious that the glacier was shrinking in the last few years the shrinkage is no sadly quite noticeable using my photos as a reference and Google Earth to help measure distance I determined that Grinnell glacier has melted back about 500 feet between 1994 and 2009 the ice in the park has been melting for hundreds and probably thousands of years the more than 1/2 mile thick glaciers that carved these valleys disappear 12,000 years ago for at least a last few millennia smaller el Pine glaciers have built up and shrunk again so even Al Gore agrees that the shrinking glaciers are nothing new this average global temperature chart was developed by the US government it represents ice core data going back 425 thousand years the blue line represents temperature data the red line represents co2 levels notice that most of the time the earth is significantly cooler than it is now but every hundred twenty-five thousand years or so the earth gets warmer these warm cycles are called interglacial periods we're at the tail of one such warming cycle now as you can see there have been many temperature fluctuations in the last 5000 years or so so let's take a look at a more detailed chart this chart displays global temperature data over just the last 4,500 years there have been several warm and cool periods during this time in the burning of fossil fuels cannot be blamed for any of the previous warm cycles there's plenty of photographic evidence that all but a couple of glaciers clashers are shrinking the only glacier not shown to shrink since 1938 is Piegan this is a 1914 photo of Jackson and Blackfoot glaciers at the time you couldn't tell one from the other today Jackson is the largest glacier in the park but it hasn't been connected to Blackfoot for quite some time this 1900 Glacier National Park archive photo shows Grinnell glacier still attached to what is now called salamander glacier this 2009 photo shows what's left the isolated horizontal patch to the right is salamander there is now several hundred feet of rock separating the two glaciers thanks again to the Glacier National Park archives it's possible to show just how much ice has melted away from Grinnell in the last 160 years the lines here show Grinnell's boundaries at various times in 1850 it was well down the valley by 1993 it had pulled back considerably now let's look at it from above here it is in 1938 1981 1998 and in 2009 the glacier is definitely melting is the cause manmade co2 emissions the destruction of the rainforest or simply the natural cycles of the planet well I don't know it's probably a bit of one in a bunch of another to me it doesn't matter why the ice is melting I simply know that it is I shot this video in 1994 there were several large blocks of ice and even a small ice cave as this 2010 video shows the ice is now thinner and flat the glacier is still over 4,500 feet wide and twelve to seventeen hundred feet long at the cliff face it's still a few hundred feet thick so will all the ice be gone in less than twenty years no I don't know but the glaciers might be the US Geological Survey defines a glacier is an ice mass with a surface area of at least 1/10 of a square kilometer along with evidence that the ice is still moving by that definition it's not hard to believe that Grinnell will lose its glacier designation in less than 20 years the earth is always changing there's plenty of evidence that since the beginning of time the earth has been affected by the species which dominate it at the time for most of Earth's life there is little or no breathable oxygen a billion years ago the most advanced species at the time change that forever large colonies of cyanobacteria better known as blue green algae began living and dying in shallow tropical seas they took in co2 and gave off oxygen oxygen was their waste gas their pollution during their reign their waste gas polluted the atmosphere to a point that they were no longer the dominant species they changed a planet's atmosphere from one that was rich in co2 to one that was rich in oxygen this change influenced the climate but more importantly it made the rise of more advanced oxygen breathing animals possible as each generation of the bacteria died they built structures called stromatolites as it happens the receding Grinnell glacier has revealed some well-preserved stromatolite fossils hundreds of millions of years ago this mountain top was a tropical shoreline the earth is always changing and sometimes earth creatures like cyanobacteria or human beings influence change but more often than not far greater forces are at work many years ago this area was much warmer it was a tropical beach today the glaciers are receding and I for one will be very sorry to see them go in only time will tell if man has permanently altered Earth's climate cycles but history predicts that this interglacial period will eventually end in thousands of years from now the earth will return to its more normal low temperature state and ice will again fill these valleys one of the least visited areas for the park is the Northwest section here you'll find remote trails beautiful lakes off-the-grid homesteads rafting and surprisingly a pretty darn good bakery we're gonna head up the North Fork Road towards Polebridge and then beyond to Bowman Lake you'll have to take a private vehicle to get there you can get there from outside the park via the North Park Road but we're gonna head out from the add car town site and the western end of Lake McDonald the eleven miles of the camus Road is surrounded by forests of different ages a series of fires over the last 20 years are responsible for the diversity of flora and fauna the well-maintained park road has the highest speed limit in the park 45 miles an hour the road ends at a fork in the road just outside the park turn right on the gravel North Fork Road it roughly follows the contours of the North Fork of the Flathead River there are a few turnouts along the way this one has an info sign describing the benefits of a forest fire to the ecosystem the past fire made it easy to see the river as this was shot in late August there was little white water local Outfitters provide transportation and guide services for what is surely a most memorable trip after 30 to 40 minutes you pass a few old homesteads the area was settled about 100 years ago and there are still a few folks who stay here year-round though they are well off the grid yep the powerlines stopped about 20 miles back today there's a few ranches a hostel a few cabins and the main attraction Polebridge mercantile it's been a going concern since bill Adair hand cut the timber fort in 1914 his original house is next door today it's the northern lights saloon the nearby clearing holds the rustic hostel with both dorm style and private rooms there are even a few cabins the kitchen and outhouses are shared and you can even rent a canoe solar panels provide much of the power a generator provides the rest the murk was once a general store since 1991 it's been an off-the-grid bakery all the items are baked fresh on-site by a staff that lives on site of course t-shirts and other souvenirs are available the place has changed little and the handcrafted construction is on display it stood up well against over 100 years of harsh weather it's open year-round but in winter only three days a week the road to Bowman heads north past the saloon back in the day this was a residential street most of the home sites are long gone which you can't see evidence of the old buildings along with past forest fires about a mile later the road turns right to cross a bridge over the North Fork River almost immediately there's a ranger station indicating we're about to re-enter the park from there the Park Road gets rougher a couple of yards after the parkade there's another fork in the road go to the left for 14 miles and you'll end up at the beautiful kittler Lake we're gonna go to the right and then six miles we'll be at the equally nice Bowman Lake the single lane track is twisty with many blind corners we're going only about 15 to 20 miles an hour as a precaution i honk the horn on particularly blind corners to alert anyone heading in the opposite direction this was shot late in the day and there was a time problem we were staying at the Rising Sun Motor Inn on the other side of the park but the Sun Road was going to close in a few hours for construction so we wouldn't be able to stay long about 30 minutes later we are at a beach near the Bowen Lake campground the water is remarkably clear in the setting just about the fines tranquil turns out it's a great place to connote ooh I only wish we could have stayed longer [Music] you you

Channel: The West is Big! Travel Guides

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Keywords: Glacier, National Park, Glacier National Park, hiking, grinnel glacier trail, highline trail, going to the sun road, sun road, many glacier hotel, swift current motor inn, two medicine, bullhead lake, ptarmigan tunnel, ptarmigan tunnel trail, hiker, logan pass, bear safety, iceberg lake, Glacier: The Hiker's National Park, The west is Big!, the west is big, steve salis, kalispell, west glacier, montana, babb, st. mary, hotel, resort, lodging, 2020, Hungry horse, Whitefish mt

Id: OVg_cYB2hSk

Length: 92min 5sec (5525 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 24 2019