a night at the Sperry Chalet in Glacier National Park
The premier hike in the Lake McDonald area must be an overnight stay at the Sperry Chalet. My plan was to hike all the way to the Sperry Glacier and then spend the night at the Chalet. Then on the next morning I would hike further in and reach the Gunsight Pass.
The first about four miles of the trail (which starts on the other side of the road of the Lake McDonald lodge complex) are spent hiking uphill on a wooded area. Getting to the Sperry Chalet you go up a set of stairs chiseled on the rock. Trivia: the glacier used to be just over those stairs.
From then on, you start crossing about two of three icefields to get to the final marker. I was lucky to see this dude guarding one of the markers …………. that is not a zoom photo, these guys don’t mind hikers since they will wait for you to drop your pack or hiking poles and steal them to lick the salt off them. Trivia: when they were blasting the rock with dynamite to create those stairs, the goats would lick the salty residue from the dynamite.
Oh, and his friend showed up.
The views are very nice, just careful on the icefields.
And then you reach the final cairn. I didnt like the pics that I took, but at least they are decent.
On the way back to the chalet, I got some more nice views, which reminds me: always look back when you hike.
I then finished the day getting a refreshing lemonade at the Chalet. Tip for the sleeping quarters that the staff will remind you: hang everything since there are mice that will enjoy getting into your stuff.
The next morning I woke up early and then hiked further in in order to reach the Gunsight Pass. That hike has incredible views of both sides of the pass. First, you hike along Lake Ellen Wilson (there is a campground down at the lake).
After hiking the length of the lake, you will cross a waterfall (careful, it is slippery) and then go up the pass.
Here is a story: I was the only person there at the time and after I just started going up the switchbacks up to the pass, I heard a loud whistle. I turned around and saw nothing, so continued hiking. I then stopped and the whistle sounded again; at that point I was thinking someone was injured and that person had a whistle to draw attention to themselves. I kept looking around and call for them, but saw nothing. The weird part is that the whistling only took place when I stopped, until I figured it out …. a damn pica was yelling at me !!!
Ok, you then reach the pass and you run into this weather shelter.
Nice view of the valley below …
And you turn around …..
You can reach the pass from the other side, Going to the Sun Road. The trail is the Gunsight trail, which takes you on side trips to Florence Falls:
This is one of my best pics ever, I wish I knew more about the camera to have taken it with more care about depth of field and light. This was taken at mirror pond.
And Gunsight Lake:
