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| Hiking | 8.36 Miles |
3,255 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.36 Miles | 4 Hrs 8 Mns | | 2.21 mph |
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| 3,255 ft AEG | 21 Mns Break | | |
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| no partners | | This was the second hike of my first day in Glacier and although unspectacular by most Glacier standards, I still found it enjoyable with some pretty good views along the way and a worth destination in Trout Lake.
The West Lakes Trail sees a fraction of the traffic that some of the other trails on the other side of Lake McDonald do. In fact, even with a late start, the only other vehicles at the small roadside trailhead when I arrived were those of the forest service crew that was doing some maintenance on the trail. As with most Glacier trails, the trail was in great shape, even with the first few miles traveling through the path of a past forest fire. The trail does start with a pretty good little climb to clear Howe Ridge, but then its a pretty quick downhill to Trout Lake. I had a quick snack at the lake and turned around.
Final Note
I chose Trout Lake because I thought the lower elevation and short trail would mean no grizzlys, as I was trying to ease into hiking solo in grizzly country. However, I soon found out that the area is actually prime grizzly bear habitat and Trout Lake was one of the locations of the deadly grizzly attacks that coincidentally occurred on the same night in 1967. I guess not the grizzly free warm-up hike I thought it was going to be. |
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