Tall Pines Hiker: Otokomi Lake

Friday, June 29, I hiked to Otokomi Lake in Glacier Park. The distance was 10 miles round trip with an elevation gain of 1900 ft. The hiking group was: Bill, Joyce, Sue Ann, and I.

Otokomi Lake is in the St Mary valley on the east side of the Park. Going-to-the-Sun road was not open as it wouldn't open until July 1. Therefore we had to drive on Hwy 2 to East Glacier, then MT 49 and Hwy 89 to St Mary.

The trail starts at the Rising Sun campground behind cabin 9A. After we turned off the Sun road the campground road split left and right. Sue Ann who had hiked this trail some years ago - and didn't like it and didn't want our group to hike it - said we needed to go left. We found that left went into the tent and RV campground. No trail was found so we asked a park employee and discovered we had to go right and past the campground store to where the cabins were located.

There was nowhere to park at cabin 9A so we drove down the road and found a place to park a short distance away.

Under sunny skies on a pleasant morning we started our hike uphill. Sue Ann claimed the trail went up and down and the running joke was "Where is the downhill part; we've been doing nothing but climb." We said it more among ourselves than to Sue Ann as she is never wrong. Okay, maybe she had been wrong about the "left/right" direction, but that was the only time she had ever been wrong - according to her.

The trail goes for the most part through tall pine trees. This was an area untouched by fire. Nor had beetles killed off trees. So - lots of live trees.

The trail follows the stream that flows from Otokomi Lake down to St Mary lake. If you couldn't see the stream you could hear it. There were quite a number of viewpoints to see various falls along the stream.

It wasn't more than a mile when we encountered a young couple - both with large backpacks - sitting on the side of the trail. They were hiking to the lake where they planned to camp overnight. She had one shoe off and her socks rolled down. She already had a blister. The shoes were broken in, but they weren't her shoes and this was the first day of their vacation and the first time she had worn the shoes. Big mistake!

No wonder she had a blister. We offered her some of our bandages but he said he has some. They initially planned to just put a little tape on the blister but we encouraged them to put a bandage on it. Then we wished them well.

Then we encountered, separately, several young 20-something couples backpacking from the lake after spending the night there. They were all in good spirits.

A few miles from the lake high clouds blocked the sun. Good, as it would keep the temperature cooler. But we quickly found it to be bad as the mosquitoes came out. It got so bad we could barely stop to take a break or take a photo as the mosquitoes would quickly land. Then they became annoying even when we walked. We got branches to swish them away. We being: Bill, Joyce and I. Sue Ann had gotten ahead of us.

We met a fellow who said the mosquitoes were really bad at the lake. "Oh, great." None of us had thought of bringing insect repellent.

We came to a rocky, and for the most part treeless, area and still had mosquitoes. We crossed a snow field and then caught up to Sue Ann, who was in a cranky mood at having to wait for us.

The others weren't too keen on hiking down to the lake with the mosquitoes. I decided to hike to the lake as we couldn't see it from where we were, and no way was I hiking 5 miles to a lake then not see it.

The backcountry campground of 3 sites was not next to the lake but closer to the stream that came from the lake. The stream was clear and there were lots and lots of fish swimming in it.(Notice all the fish in the second photo.)

The trail, running along the lake and next to the stream, barely threaded through a thick stand of evergreen bushes. I looked the lake over, and mountains and snow on the far end of the lake. And swatted mosquitoes. Turning around to return I found Sue Ann and Joyce had come also.

Bill remained above the evergreen bushes and had climbed the loose rock to get a view of the lake from above. He said the mosquitoes were not as bad there so we decided to eat our lunch up there. It wasn't long before the mosquitoes found us. The view was nice but the lunch was quick.

As we hiked back from the lake we again met the young couple where the woman had the blister. She was hiking without shoes. Instead she wore all the socks she and he had. They were near the start of the rocky area and sat down to take a break. When I expressed sympathy at her plight she claimed it wasn't too bad to hike with no shoes on the rocks as the rocks were relatively large. I also learned they had not packed mosquito repellent. It is one thing to not bring repellent on a day hike, and quite another to not have it when camping out. They said they would manage. I was impressed at her good nature. They both had wedding rings and we later wondered if they were on their honeymoon. I hope this won't be her only hiking experience ever.

Joyce was ahead and eventually Sue Ann and Bill dropped behind me and away. I found a trail junction and took the more developed trail only to discover this was not the trail I wanted. This trail went along the stream and came out below the cabin area. I hiked up the road to the car where Joyce was waiting and watching uphill for our return. Later Bill and Sue Ann made the same mistake as I.

I took off my heavy pack as I had filled it with rocks on the return hike. The better to get in condition for the long July 8th hike from Glacier Park over the Continental Divide and into Canada. I took an apple out of my pack and set it on the ground while I put my pack away. And that is where I left my apple. Later someone may have wondered why an apple was sitting on the ground behind their SUV.

At least I remembered my camera and sunglasses. The "Alzheis" haven't completely claimed me yet.