Snyder Lake in January

Saturday, January 30, Patti and I hiked up to Snyder Lake in Glacier Park.  Yes, I said 'hiked'.  We had brought our snowshoes along but found that for the most part the snow on the trail was packed down hard enough to walk on.  I ended up carrying my snowshoes on my back the entire way.

When we started quite a number of cars were in the Lake McDonald lodge parking lot near the trail head.  Next to us was a young couple getting ready.  Next to their car was another couple part of the group.  They were going to backcountry camp that night as Avalanche Lake.  That meant cross country skiing on the Sun road almost 7 miles to the Avalanche Lake trail head, then ski and snowshoe the two or so miles back to the lake.

The men were loading plastic sleds with the tents, sleeping bags, and supplies, to pull behind them. The men had their work cut out for them as they had a lot of stuff.  I asked how many nights they planned to stay?  Just one.  One woman said that extra nights just mean a little more food, that's all. 


The first part of the trail, the part that also goes to Sperry Chalet and is steep, was under a thick tree canopy; and with this year's lower than normal snow amount, was packed to a hard icy sheen.  In some spots it had melted a little and was icy.

I was able to get up the steep trail but walking on the side of the trail where there still was some snow to get traction on.  Patti put on her YakTrax and then was able to get up the trail.

Once the trail split off to Snyder Lake it wasn't quite as steep, but higher up and not under as thick of a tree canopy, had more snow.  This photo was taken shortly after we started on the Snyder Lake section of the trail.  Later the track got sunk so deep in the snow we felt like we were walking in a bobsled or luge run.

I was able to make it all the way to Snyder Lake just using my shoes, but I had to take care not to step on the sides of the narrow trail as then I would sink down into the snow.

One time one off balance step led to another and soon I was in snow up to my hips. I was glad I had worn my gaiters.  On the last mile of this trail Patti put on her snowshoes as with her little feet she began to sink into the snow even when on the trail.  With my bigger feet, as long as I stepped lightly, I didn't sink.

The only people Patti and I saw on the trails were one young couple as we came back down the Sperry Chalet part of the trail after visiting Snyder Lake.  This couple had hiked up only as far as to see the view of Lake McDonald in the photo below.

Lots of snow, and with little no no wind, it fell straight down as seen in the photos.

Finally in the last mile of the 4.4 hike to the lake we could see the mountains ringing the cirque.

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

As we neared the lake we could see the blue ice from a number of frozen waterfalls. Here are photos of a few of them.

 

At the lake I crossed the stream leading from the lake and checked out the campsite and the outhouse. The previous week a couple camped here. They had to shovel out the outhouse in order to use it.

 

No... that is not an outhouse for midgets.

  

The campers also had shoveled snow from an area to make a place to sit and enjoy the mountain views. It was so quiet and beautiful up there.  Here is where my snowshoes came in handy... as something to sit on so as not to get a wet butt from the snow.