Once before in 2009 I hiked up to this pass only to have clouds move the last 20 minutes of the hike and completely obscure the pass. That time I could hardly see ten feet in front of me. This time we were cloud free all day and I was finally able see the mountains from the pass. This was the first time to the Pass for Patti and Gene and they were both impressed by the views.
The hike length is 7.2 miles, making it 14.4 miles round trip. The elevation gain is 2,380 ft to reach 7,397 ft at the pass. Considering the mileage and elevation gain, this is not a difficult hike. Once we branched off from the Medicine-Grizzly trail our climb was slow and steady with no switchbacks. I think the reason for that is because this used to be a horse trail back before the Park had roads when the tourists back then did their sightseeing on horses. The trail has some rock work and has a similar vibe to the Highline Trail.
For a cloudless day, a Saturday, and a popularly rated hike (on most people's top three beautiful day hikes in Glacier Park), we saw few people on the Triple Divide Pass trail. Five people I believe. The trail head parking lot was full so I believe the other people may have gone to either Medicine Grizzly Lake or Morningstar Lake.
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| Bad Marriage Mountain |
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| Medicine Grizzly Peak |
Two views of a mountain I do not know the name of. Moon is visible over and left of the mountain.
I don't know the name of this mountain either - though I am calling it "Number 9". In the background, in the center of the photo, is Triple Divide Peak. The pass can't be seen here as it is to the right of the mountain right where it "meets" with "Number 9" in the photo. I wrote "meets" as the two mountains are not near one another.
Views of Medicine Grizzly Lake and Razorback Mountain..
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| Patti and Gene |
Even though it is August and getting dry, some wildflowers and snow were still around.
A few photos looking back down the Cut Bank Valley we hiked from.
Triple Divide Mountain is the mountain right of center. The line of mountains is the Continental Divide.
The mountain on the left is Razorback Mountain.
What are Patti and Gene looking at?
Oh. Triple Divide Peak.
The view of Triple Divide Peak from the pass. While Patti and Gene stayed back at the pass, I climbed up a little of the mountain and took the second photo from the highest point I climbed. One can climb to the top of Triple Divide Peak, but the route is not in these two photos.
The view back to the pass. The mountain on the other side is Mt. James. I plan to climb Mt James the next time I am in this area. Apparently it is another two miles to the summit of Mt. James. Mt James, at 9,375 ft, is higher than Triple Divide Peak at 8,020 ft.
The view down the valley towards Red Eagle Lake (not visible in the photo). As you can see the trail switchbacks down the valley from the pass. I believe the mountain with the point is Little Chief Mountain.
As you can see, the lakes are still mostly snow covered.
At the pass were several marmots and also several Columbia ground squirrels. The marmots were aggressive. When my back was turned when I was talking with another man who had also hiked up to the pass, one marmot came over and started chewing on one of my pack's straps in order to get the salt. As you can see, later while I was eating, one marmot came right up to me before I shooed it away.
An unhappy marmot after I shooed it away from me.
After our hiked we stopped at the Firebrand Pass restaurant, which is located along Hwy 2 near Marias Pass. The food there is excellent. We all got something different to eat and all really liked our meals. The restaurant wasn't as busy as the other time I ate there last year.
