Iceberg Lake (Glacier, MT)

Iceberg Lake     9.6 miles    500 m elevation gain  (Canada Day weekend 2018)

We opted to drive down to Glacier and hike the same day.  Including the border crossing and picking up a park pass at Many Glacier we ended up arriving at the trailhead around 10am.  I knew it would be busy by then but the scenery was absolutely worth it.

After 12 years of visiting the mountains, we finally saw Beargrass.  This was the initial frond.  Exciting.

Beautiful.  Day made.  There was plenty of it along the trail.

The first part of the trail ascends through forest then opens up to views.  I didn't find the elevation gain tough at all throughout, it felt very gentle.

Various streams crossed our path off the steep hillside.  Rocks are another thing I get excited about, red, blue, green!

As we climbed I spotted some rays of sun and became determined to get there while it was still a thing so we ended up overtaking a ton of people en route.

At around the halfway point we crossed a waterfall though I couldn't find a good spot to get a full length photo - too many trees.  Spot all the hundreds of people at the top.

After the falls we came around the right side of the valley cresting the headwall into the lake basin. Small furry things scurried ahead of us most of the way.

The only snow patches were on the lake approach.  Look at those clouds sitting on the Continental Divide.  Gorgeous.

A lake before the lake.  Or maybe a tarn.

I had looked up pictures online but was still amazed at how beautiful Iceberg Lake was.  Again, obviously, it is supposed to have icebergs but I was surprised at how many there were.  At this time of year we were happy it wasn't completely frozen.

Pano from the right side of the lake.

There were strong and chilly wind gusts.  It wasn't really weather to sit so we walked to the far edge away from the crowds and some arse playing an instrument.  Badly.

The trail on the way out gives you an elevated view and we were lucky enough to get some sun at that point.  There had been a few drops of rain causing a mass exodus immediately prior.  Winning.

Since the crowds had headed off we took our time on the way back out.

I'm glad we did as we spotted Mouflons (Mountain Goats) way up on the cliffs.  Roadsigns have them in French and English in Canada and we prefer the French.

Then a Grizzly with her two cubs.  The cubs were playing, at one point they chased each other through a snowbank - great entertainment!  They're faster than you might expect.

We need to come back here, it's literally stunning.  I can't believe we're only 3 hours drive away.