Glacier National Park
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Lunch Creek Glacier National Park |
July 18, 2008
Thirty years ago I peered up this canyon and resolved one day to visit the waterfall at its back end. It seemed as if this would be a great place to have a picnic or something; it is only fitting that the stream is called Lunch Creek!
It appears that it was best to postpone a visit until now in order to accommodate an unusually heavy winter snowpack. At nearby Logan Pass, the wonderful boardwalk trail remains completely covered by snow (although dozens of people have ventured up there anyway).
Leaving my sweetie at the trailhead with her puzzle books, I promise not to take too long on my trek. Although there is no official trail here, it is clear that others have had the same idea as I. A fairly well-defined usage path hugs the creek, then veers right into a thicket.
Lunch Creek Canyon
Despite the spring season being early in its cycle, there already are plenty of flowers around.
Bear Grass
Penstemon
Presently a wonderful scene unfolds, with a cascade right in front of me and three more in the background. Just ahead is a big snow bank which I must traverse for about a hundred yards.
This is why I go hiking
The cirque, and Pollock Mountain, 9145'
A marmot greets me, then uncharacteristically proceeds to ignore me, turning its back to dig a hole. Normally, these guys are more timid and skittish.
A relatively unafraid marmot
The great stone facade on the left, known as the Garden Wall, represents the Continental Divide. Lunch Creek ultimately flows into the Missouri River and the Gulf of Mexico; streams on the other side go to the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean. The park's famed Highline Trail traverses the far side of that ridge.
I would love nothing more than to scramble up that pair of cascades and keep going all the way up to Pollock Mountain, then loop back on the main trail; but that is not in today's plan.
The top of this cliff is the Continental Divide
Up near the base of the falls, there are some different flowers along the trail.
Almost there
Yellow Columbine
Mountain Pasqueflower
Snow Buttercup
I stop here as the greenery ends, leaving just a bare talus slope and some residual snow. The only other hiker that I would see passes me here and clambers up the cliff well to the right of the falls.
The falls
A look in the other direction reveals the snowy portion of the trail.
Heavy Runner Mountain, 7950', and Reynolds Mountain, 9005'
After a final glance at the pretty cascade, I head back.
This is my kind of place
Nice textures!
As I approach the trailhead, I see that my bride has not missed me a bit. The group is staring up at what one observer believes are bighorn sheep. Mountain goats are a dime a dozen around here, but not the sheep.
Excitement at the parking lot
§: My quest has been fulfilled. Every aspect of this hike was exhilarating. Of course, one expects no less in the exquisite high country of Glacier Park.
It turns out that a connection with the Highline Trail would not have been
possible without climbing equipment. There is no easy way down the
Garden Wall.
Glacier National Park
Lunch Creek
Pollock Mountain
Logan Pass