Woke up early and drove to Glacier NP. Went to the backcountry office in the park where they told us about snow conditions (snow in July, yes!) and we figured out a nice 2-night, 3-day trip.
The one-way route started in St. Mary and ends at Two Medicine, so we parked the car at TM and took a shuttle to St Mary.
Thursday, Day 1: 9 flat miles from St. Mary to Red Eagle lake; camp by Red Eagle Lake.
Friday, Day 2: 14 difficult miles from RE to Morning Star, via the Triple Divide pass, elevation gain of 3,000 feet; camp at Morning Star lake.
Saturday, Day 3: 12 difficult miles from MS to our car in Two Medicine, via Pitamakan pass, 2,000 ft. elevation gain and about the same drop.
Heavy packs, even though we are light-weight campers. Sad that we can't make fires in the park... but after the fires in 2003, it makes sense. I worked in the park in 2003, when almost the entire park burned. The place where I worked, Rising Sun, was the ONLY place that remained open the entire season. All other hotels in the park were closed because of the fires. It was so smokey!
The hike was great, blue skies, beautiful weather. Sad to see everything burned down, it takes so long for the forest to recover! | 