What an awesome hike. We hit the trail with Sue M. leading the way. She set a fast pace as she was remembering last years sun beating down on them. Fortunately we had a lovely breeze the entire hike with Mary very accurately predicting our arrival times.

The bear grass was spectacular and we felt like we were walking down a decorated aisle not a hiking trail! God is an awesome gardener!

Susan W. had decided to join us instead of going to Iceberg Lake and she just laughed with joy all the way up and back. This was Chrissie's first attempt and the other 3 kept reminding her of how miserable they had been in the heat last year.  Susan was so glad she decided to try this hike again.

On the back side of the tunnel we were afforded a spectacular view of Elizabeth Lake and Old Sun Glacier, not to mention the layers of curved and severed rock formations in the mountain we had just come through!

You would think that would be enough to take in for a hike but as we came down we bumped into a teenage male moose (his mini-rack kind of gave us an idea). He just ignored us as the vittles were much more interesting! We could literally hear his teeth crunching we were so close!  Just beyond the pit toilet we bumped into the rest of our crew that had gone to Iceberg Lake.  We were excited to be going out together...but our excitement was interrupted by a bear sighting! Some 50 feet above the trail a 'tawny brown colored' bear was sitting on his haunches enjoying the view and 'posing' for our cameras. After a few minutes he sauntered off into the bushes. The ranger said he was a tawny black bear, but there was discussion that it could have been a grizzly. It did have a hump, just saying!
We hadn't been 5 minutes further down the trail when someone said, "there's a moose". This guy was big and had a rack to brag about. Fortunately, he was quite a ways down the mountain side and also more interested in eating. He did look our way a few times as if to say, "What are you guys looking at?" I could see him clearly in the binoculars but my wimpy telephoto lens did allow me to get a few pictures. Despite the animal distracting delays we made it back by 5!

We finished our day with a great meal at Swift Current Inn.​

The Girls in Glacier were ready for another adventure as we left Great Falls to drive to Many Glacier. As we drove out of town, we were greeted with the glorious sunrise to the east. Upon arrival at Swiftcurrent, the ladies got their gear together and met at the trail head to discuss our plans.  We all started at the trail head and stopped for a snack at Ptarmigan Falls. Once leaving Ptarmigan Falls, Mary, Chrissie, Sue, and Susan split off from our group to go to Ptarmigan Tunnel, and the rest of us,  Beth, Gail, Brenda, Toni, Sara, Catherine, & Kathy M, continued on to Iceberg Lake.

 As the day got warmer, we were thankful for the gentle breeze which made the hike a bit more bearable in the heat. Wildflowers were plentiful along the way, although it looked like it was getting to the end of the season for the Beargrass. The Indian Paintbrush were plentiful in a wild array of colors from pink, salmon, orange, red, and even fuchsia. We even saw a few new flowers that we had not seen before.

Once we arrived at the lake, the ladies were stunned by the intense teal blue color of the lake but disappointed that the floating "icebergs" were too far away for those who would be brave enough to attempt a chance to stand on one. However, the wind came up, and it became quite chilly at the lake, so we donned our jackets to keep us warm while we ate our lunch with little chipmunks to keep us entertained. One even scared Beth as he ran between her legs as she sat on the rocks eating her lunch! Later, we hiked towards the northern part of the lake and  two young men bolstered with testosterone and a bit of bravado wanted to "show off" for their girlfriends. All four stripped down to their bikinis and swim shorts and there was might bold talk about a $100 bet from the guys about swimming to one of the icebergs. One of the guys dove into the water and made an attempt to swim, but he didn't get to far since the water was bitterly cold. He quickly turned around and went back to shore. The other guy made somewhat of an attempt, but he turned around as well. So much for that! 

As we hit the trail to head back to Swiftcurrent Inn, we stopped once in a while to visit with other hikers along the way. One of the hikers notified us of a bear in the area, so we were hyper-vigilant about our surroundings. Sure enough, we saw a bear lumbering along parallel to the trail approximately 20 yards away. We wondered if it was a grizzly bear because we noticed that he had a hump on his upper back, but after reporting the sighting to the ranger, he said that it was a black bear with tawny coloring. 

After seeing the bear, we looked below the trail and saw a beautiful black moose coming out of the timber. His coat glistened in the sun and his horns were in velvet. What a sight to behold! As we continued down the trail, the Ptarmigan Tunnel ladies met us on the trail so we all met up with perfect timing. Once we got back to Swiftcurrent Inn, we made reservations for dinner. The restaurant was full, so we had to reserve three separate tables to accommodate all of us. After a nice dinner, some of the ladies opted for the soft-serve huckleberry yogurt ice cream at the Swiftcurrent store. It was a long day, and we arrived back in Great Falls around 10:30 p. m. What a great day!

P.S. It was a personal best for Toni and she got her 100-miler club mug!

Link to Kathy's pics
Link to Gail's pics

We all made it!  Ten miles with lots of uphill, but the Mexican Food from El Rancho Alegre in Lewistown along with the Margaritas for one of the gals hit the spot after a long day.

We started out at 5 a.m. so as to miss the heat of the day going uphill, which did make for a much more pleasant climb.  On the way up, we encountered a mountain biker, who must have gone over the top and continued onto the Crystal Cascades trail as we didn't see him at the caves.  We also saw gorgeous wildflowers, predominantly larkspur and columbine as well as fantastic views of Crystal Lake.

We ate lunch at the top of the Snowy Crest, with 360 degree views of the all of the mountain ranges. Thank goodness the smoke from the Washington/Oregon/Canadian fires cleared so we could enjoy the views of nine ranges from the top: Moccasins, Belts, Highwoods, Absarokas, Judiths, Little Snowies, Little Rockies, Bears Paw, Pryors and Madisons. We couldn't quite see the Tetons, but the views were still spectacular. We also enjoyed the Medicine Wheel and views of the small surrounding towns and the Judith Gap wind farm.

As we followed the ducks/cairns to find the trail on the rocky mountain ridgeline,  a party of two young men overtook us on the way to the caves and they took our picture at the sign to Devil's Chute, which we declined to go in.  

Again, the flowers were so colorful, we had a hard time not snapping photos as they blues and yellows popped out at us.  

When we arrived at the Ice Cave, the guys were just exiting, leaving the cave to us by ourselves. What a fun time to go through the small cave opening and see the beautiful ice formations. We put on our yaktrax and ice cleats and walked on the solid ice flooring to explore the formations. One column had a hole in it, so the gals shined their lights into it, revealing  a fallen flashlight and other items, leaving the gals to wonder what else might have fallen into that hole over the years.

After our cool inside-the-cave adventure, we made the long trek back down, searching for and finding a few fossils in the limestone rocks we had to walk across. We met a gal going up and in addition to bear spray, she was packing a pistol, showing it to us when we inquired if she was afraid of hiking alone.

At the end of the hike, since we finished just before 4:30, we decided to head into Lewistown for dinner, deciding on Mexican food. We arrived back in Great Falls by 8:30.

What a wonderful day and such an amazing place to see!

Who went: Susan, Sue, Brenda, Mary, Gail, Chrissie, Katie
Link to Katie's pics
Link to Gail's pics

Three gals got out of the wind and avoided the really bad smoke by hiking Porphyry Peak where Showdown is.

The lupine and penstemon were beautiful, and we did see some coralroot orchids along with sticky geranium, arnica, chickweed and other flowers.

The wind tossed around on the way home while the smoke got thicker and thicker as we approached town.

Who went: Ellen, Gail, Katie

The day was hot, even with starting around 9 a.m. and everyone agreed that the 10.2 "glacier" miles seemed more like 15 in the heat, but the views, wildflowers and spawning trout were well worth the suffering on the way up. In addition to the heat, we were battling smoke in the air from the Washington fires.

Over 50 wildflowers were spotted by the gals, and in the openings, they were spectacular, from silky phacelia to bear grass and twisted stalk. Another beauty was Rose Creek, which you follow all the way to the lake with glimpses of wonderful waterfalls.

At the lake, the gals got to see the trout spawning and fishermen catching them as the did.  The gals also started a new tradition to cool themselves: soaking their shirts in the cold water of a lake or stream.

We saw some bear scat, but no animals other than little critters and fish.

At the end of the day, we had a meal at Two Dog Flats restaurant under the new Xanterra ownership.  The two who ordered pasta primavera said it was really, good but the others said their meals were just okay.  Of course, we drank several gallons of water to re-hydrate from the long, hot hike.

Who went: Catherine, Kathy M, Susan, Jeanne, Mary, Katie

Link to Katie's pics
link to Kathy's pictures

Although we heard we might need crampons and ice axes, we made it all the way to Headquarters Pass with only having to skirt one snow field.  The day was lovely!  It started off on a good foot when we pulled up into the parking area and saw three beautiful white mountain goats.  It was surprising to see them down so low.

We hit the trail around 9:30 and decided we would all attempt Headquarters Pass instead of some doing Our Lake.  It was the right decision.   Besides a few tricky stream crossing and a steep spot where we had to go around a snow and ice field, we have easy sailing on this hike.

Flowers were out, including lady and fairy slipper orchids, but no limestone/Jones columbine, so Jo Ann was disappointed again.

The waterfalls on the way were fantastic; and at the snow field, we happened upon a curious mountain goat, who got a bit too close for comfort at times.  When Katie was skirting the snow field, he kicked some rocks down on her and kept trying to cross right in front of her. She tried to give him room but he seemed more curious about us and not necessarily trying to get around our party. We decided to eat lunch before continuing; and he hung around the whole time.

As we approached the last set of switchbacks, we scared up a goat family with a small kid and another lone goat, possibly the same one we saw down below.  So we really saw quite a few goats on this trip.

When we arrived at the top, at the Bob Marshall Wilderness sign, all of the gals were stunned at the views into the Bob. Although a bit hazy from the smoke out of Canada, we nevertheless found breathtaking looks at the northern end of the Chinese wall as well as Rocky Mountain Peak, the highest point in the Bob.  Only Katie and Jo Ann had been to this spot before.  By then it was approaching 2 p.m., so we headed back down after taking many photos of the views and of our group around the sign.

We completed the hike at 4:30 and ate dinner at the Log Cabin in Choteau. What a wonderful day!

Who went: Jo Ann, Kathy M, Gail, Anita, Bonnie, Brenda, Katie

Link to Kathy's pictures