It rained all the way to Browning. Duck Lake Road was thick with fog and mist; but when we turned at Babb to make the drive to Many Glacier, the sun came out. By the time we reached the shores of Sherburne Lake, a beautiful rainbow arched over Grinnell Point ending on the road, showing us the Glacier is our pot of gold.

And the day only got better as we enjoyed our hike around Swiftcurrent and Josephine Lakes. The glacier lilies as well as the spring beauties are opening and lined our path. We also so a few other flowers such as yellowstone draba and strawberries.  For animals, we saw sheep, moose, goats; for birds, bald eagle, mergansers, golden eye, varied thrush, spruce grouse, so we saw all of the biggies except a bear. In fact, we didn't even see tracks.

The weather was in the 40s-50s with just a light drizzle, which fizzled out as the day wore on, so many of the gals didn't even put on rain gear. But we were glad to have waterproof boots and gaiters as we were walking on snow about half of the way, which involved some post-holing at times in very wet snow. At least it wasn't very icy.

We didn't make it to Grinnell lake, stopping a third of a mile short due to the stream crossing being a bit deeper and swifter than normal. We did find a decent place to cross where the bridge normally is; however, on the other side was a steep snow bank that wouldn't have been fun crossing, especially in water shoes or sandals. Instead, we ate our lunch by the creek with Hidden Falls tumbling behind us. After lunch, we climbed to the top of Hidden Falls, marveling at the canyon it carved, almost like Avalanche Gorge.

As for animals, the goats and sheep, especially, put on quite a show. They were very active around the side of Josephine Lake, jumping up and down the rocks and skidding across snow fields.  We even saw a herd of sheep come up and over Grinnell Point to join some others further down.  The sheep all appeared to be rams; most likely the ewes are preparing to give birth and sticking to lower elevations; yet we didn't see any around the lodge, like we usually do.

Instead of encircling both lakes, we backtracked around Josephine, due to much fall down and deep snow on the south-east side of the lake. Then some of us retraced around Swiftcurrent Lake, while others encircled Switfcurrent to end up at the Many Glacier Hotel, at which point the ladies climbed up to the viewing area, despite their legs being a bit worn out from hiking on snow.

We had a bluebird day along with a bluebird on our car that started our hike off on the right track (we saw several other bluebirds along the trail too). Nine of the GiG went up the Prospect Shafts Trail, stopping along the way to read about musician Fred Kuphal, for whom a grove of trees is named after. Read More

​We also stopped for photos of the frittilary, pasque, shooting stars and phlox flowers along the way. The biscuitroot, buckwheat and arrow-leaf balsam root were just starting.

​Also on the way up, we stopped for a rest at the lime kiln (read more), when an 86-year old woman passed us up, giving some of us motivation to make the top.  She said to us as she passed that she was 30-years older than we were and that she climbed Mount Helena once a week.

​We all did make it to the top and found that there was no wind and no people, a surprise for this trail, which is similar to our River's Edge Trail for popularity.
​On the way down, we chose the 1906 trail so we made a loop around the mountain. We stopped by Devil's kitchen, a small cave in the limestone cliff on this side.

We did hit some snow on this side as the trees keep the trail in the shade. On the trail, the snow had been packed down to ice so we had to watch our step.

​After our hike, we had built up an appetite for our brunch at the Mediterranean Grill. We all loved both the lentil and rice/tomato/basil as well as the knaffe dessert.

​Who went: Susan, Doris, Bonnie, Toni, Randi, Catherine, Brenda, Kuntz, Katie
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​Tower Rock State Park can be a simple hike up a trail or it can be a technical climb to the top of the actual Tower Rock, requiring--or at least recommended-- rope. Five of the GiG did something in between, mastering Class III climbing as we went off trail and scrambled up the rocks, having to use our hands and feet much of the way.

​Kuntzie took lead on the climbing section, finding the best routes, while also being the brave one going first down the scary parts. We only had one slight fall--and on the trail--not the climbing area. Often the trail seemed worse than the climbing as it is steep and covered with small pebbles that act like ball bearings, making it quite slippery.

After getting to the top and admiring the views, we headed across the top rocks to make a loop before leaving. Kuntzie navigated over the rocks, which were precipitous at times, to lead us to the next set of boulders, which all required hands, dropping our poles and sliding with footholds, only to do the same again on the next set of rocks.

​We met at 10 a.m. for the 30-minute drive to the park, and got on trail quickly in the cool air. We soon warmed on the very vertical climb to the base of Tower Rock. Along the way, we saw several types of wild flowers: arrow-leaf balsam root, fritillary (yellow bell), sumac, pasque flower, early buttercups and one shooting star. On top, we saw phlox and cut-leaf daisy.

​The trip was a very good one to get us in shape, with our quads and calves as well as lungs getting a good work out going up/down the trail and our balance and route-finding skills warming up on the off-trail, climbing sections.

​We didn't see the resident mule deer herd, which was a bit of a disappointment, but we did see their sign, so they are still around, just probably feeding in the fields for the day.

​We arrived back in town by 1:30. And best of all--no ticks.

With newbie Patty along, we learned a few things about her life and another use for the word "surfactant" as she told her story about her daughter being born a premie but having enough of the substance needed to have strong lungs. The word cropped up again as Jasmine, our leader, told us about the surfactants used in the mining process. For those who don't know, "surfactant" is a lubricant that reduces the surface tension in liquid.

​Anyway, our day started out at 8 a.m. with raining coming down in Great Falls. The roads were a bit of a worry as it was already snowing in Neihart, according to the weather report, with rocks and possibly ice on the road, but we headed out anyway, letting Jasmine know we might be a bit late getting to the Inconvenient Store, our meeting place.

​We arrived around 9:30 and wondered if Randi's front-wheel-drive vehicle would make it up the road as it had snowed about six inches and no one plows the Carpenter Creek road.  But we decided to give it a shot. Jasimine loaded up Tip, the dog, and we followed her to the turn off point, which we quickly discovered would not be a good idea to go farther in Randi's car. So we all hopped into Jasmine's Honda CRV, five gals and a dog, for the wild road trip of three miles.  Jasmine handed the car well, and the car, in turn, handled the deep snow well.

​We hit the trail about 10:15 as the snow really started to come down, but the wind wasn't bad, thwarting the prediction of gusts up to 40 mph. Still, we were in a near blizzard; albeit with 30-degree temps.

​We had a lovely climb to the top of the mining area with Jasmine doing the majority of the trail breaking in the new fluffy stuff.  We all though it looked like Christmas, rather than late March, with the trees laden with snow. On the climb, we came across several mining structures, all collapsed, and  we could glimpse the mill far up on the hill off and on through the trees.

​Jasmine led us to the Glory Hole, a huge mining pit from the silver boom days. She said it was visible from space; and the hole has a protective fence all around it as the ledge was steep.  In the hole, we spied a huge nest in a side cave.  It would either be a big bird/raptor or perhaps a porcupine, which like to find alcoves and caves. At the hole, Tip the dog got afraid. She put her trail between her legs and slinked off.  We wondered if she sensed the danger of the drop off or if there were magnetism or if perhaps the contaminating chemicals affected her. We didn't stay long as the wind started to pick up and we didn't want to catch cold.

​So we headed downhill, with a few route finding efforts on Jasmine's part, to the actual mill.  It was in quite good shape and still had the gears and machinery inside the structure, remnants of an earlier time. 

​The rest of the trip was a quick downhill descent to the car.  Jasmine had a note on her car from a neighbor, asking her to drop in. While we took off our gear and loaded the car, she went to his shop to see his latest wood-crafted items.

​We said goodbye to Jasmine at the highway and got back into Randi's car. We were surprised that even though it had snowed most of the day, the road was just wet, not snowy or icy, so we traveled back to Neihart to have hot chocolate, coffee and sweet potato fries at Bob's Bar. We sure hope Patty wasn't scare away by the weather or climb. We hope to see her on the trail again soon.

​Who went: Susan, Randi, Patty, Katie, Jasmine

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