Red Eagle Lake 2016

On Sunday June 26, 2016 Patti, Lynda and I hiked to Red Eagle Lake in the east side of Glacier Park near St Mary Lake.

The roundtrip distance was 15.9 miles.   The elevation ranged from 4500 to 4850 ft.  So a relatively flat hike.  On the hike we crossed Red Eagle Creek twice over suspension bridges.

This is one of Patti's favorite hikes due to the wildflowers.  This year the wildflowers were there but so-so.

The weather was in the 70s and nice.  The sky was mostly clear but as the day wore on the clouds increased.  At the lake with a small breeze in the sun it felt nice; and then with a shadow from a cloud it felt cool.

Along the trail we met two Glacier Park trail crews working on the trail.   We met one other young couple backpacking out as they had hiked over Triple Divide Pass on their way to the Reynold Creek campsite west of St Mary Lake.   Other than a few people closer to the beginning of the trail, we had most of the trail and all of the lake to ourselves.

In 2006 this area burned in a major fire.  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eOF-VzPWkM)  So, other than the many standing dead trees, the hike was mostly open and with views.

Because Weyerhaeuser bought the Plum Creek lumber company Patti will lose her job.  She has found another job in Wisconsin.  So this might be the last time Patti visits Red Eagle Lake, or at least probably for not for a long time.  When it came time to leave the lake Patti got emotional. 


Here are 18 photos from our hike: https://picasaweb.google.com/109566462412251958234/6307057059417718977?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCOiHjpDT6YDkSA&feat=directlink


Here is a 50 second video of the lake: https://youtu.be/U-ncHWOT_n4

Otokomi Lake

Saturday July 23 I hiked to Otokomi Lake in Glacier Park with Patti, Gene and Gene's ladyfriend, Ivy.  The length of the hike was 10.4 miles round trip.



Info Patti researched on Otokomi Lake:

• Elevation gain of the trail is 1882 ft 
•  Elevation at the trailhead is 4488 ft
• Elevation of the lake is 6482 ft 
• The big mountain at the head of the lake is Goat Mountain, 8826 ft 
• The bowl the lake is in is called Rose Basin. That and Rose Creek are named for the red rocks, which are called argillite.

Since Otokomi Lake is on the east side of the Park we got an early start.    It was a cool morning with the temperature at 38 degrees.  Steam rose from the creek across the road and the river on the ranch.

This was my second trip over Logan Pass this year and in the morning sun lots of snow was on Heaven's Peak (obscured by the cloud) and its northern ridge and lookout (on the knob on the very right of the photo).  The Park was going to restore and stabilize this historic lookout but due to the heavy snow this year they have postponed the work until next year.

On the way we stopped for a bathroom break and I took this photo up Gunsight valley towards Jackson Glacier.

In the parking lot at Swiftcurrent Inn, and near the trail head, I saw this small trailer.  Man, I've seen tents larger than this trailer.  I don't see how an adult could sleep stretched out.

The view near the start of our hike.  I believe one of these mountains is Goat Mountain.

Apparently an old small dam used to be on Rose Creek near the start of the trail.  It is near the cabins.

The water was running high.  The previous time I hiked to Otokomi Lake I only remember seeing a few okay waterfalls.  This time there were lots of opportunities to see waterfalls.  Well.. a correction.  I just read my post on my hike to Otokomi Lake in 2007 and I had commented on the numerous waterfalls and had a number of photos of them.  I guess they didn't make a great impression as I forgot about them.

I have a YouTube video of the above photo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5QfP4eNhSg 

I have a YouTube video of the following photo:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAnCu_Kwah0

In the video Gene is telling Patii and I that several other people wanted to join our hiking group because one person saw a bear on the trail ahead.  This guy was hiking alone when he saw the bear and he was pretty nervous about it.  We never saw the bear.  Of course when people were calling "Hey bear! Hey bear!" over and over, the bear left.

The following photos are of the same waterfall as in the preceding photo. Just a different view.
I have a YouTube video of the following photos:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_M1__BI8fE

I have a YouTube video of the following photo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20g67KKaLVU

I have a YouTube video of the following photo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkdjkOFhgQM

Here is a waterfall from the mountains on the side of the valley.

It is amazing where some trees grow.

Our hiking group once the three other people joined our group after the person from Seattle saw a bear.

These are views towards the start of the Valley.  In the first photo I believe that is Otokomi Mountain. The "pointy" mountain in three of the photos is Divide Mountain.  I hiked/scrambled up it last year.

Otokomi Lake is at the end of the valley, below the snowfields.

We had to cross three snowfields on way to the lake.

Otokomi Lake.  The previous time I visited the lake was June 29, 2007.  I took a similar photo.  There is more snow this year than that year.

Two differences from the previous time I did this hike:

1. No mosquitoes this time
2. No fish swimming at the mouth of the lake.  While Jake said he saw the fish there when he hiked to this lake the previous Monday, I saw no fish.  I did see a half dozen or more adults and kids fishing in the lake.  That may explain why no fish this time.

Ivy only made to the first snowfield before stopping.  She quit a half mile from the lake.  Gene caught up to Patti and I, saw the lake, then went back to be with Ivy as she ate her lunch.  Patti and I found a spot somewhat out of the wind and ate our lunch by the lake.  The lake's water was very cold!  The air temperature was pretty chilly, especially when the sun went behind a cloud.

On the hike back to the trail head, not too far from the cabins, I spotted this a little ways off the trail. In between the foil pieces I saw a small credit card sized piece of plastic.  I don't know what it was or the purpose of this.  Some kind of monitoring device?

On our drive back over Logan Pass I took a couple photos of what was left of the "Big Drift".  Keep in mind these photos were taken July 23.

The view west from Logan Pass.  Lots of snow still.

Red Eagle Lake

On July 10 Patti and I hiked to Red Eagle Lake on the east side of Glacier National Park.

The distance we hiked was 20 miles total.  We were both tired by the time we got back to Patti's car.  My feet especially were sore.  We had not done too much hiking this year so 20 miles was a little on the high side for us.  Due to how tired we were on the way back we decided not to take the Beaver Pond Trail that goes by the 1913 Ranger Station.  We can see the ranger station another day.

The elevation gain to Red Eagle Lake is 300 ft.

This area was extensively burned in a massive forest fire back in July 2006.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv-8gykpHWw

As you can see there is lots of green from the new growth among the many dead trees. I never hiked on this trail before the fire so I didn't know how closed in it was, but judging from all the trees the views were limited back then.  Now, I think this is a fine trail to hike in the Spring or Fall.  There are views and the sun would be welcome.  In mid Summer I think this area would get too hot during the day for an enjoyable hike.  The day Patti and I hiked was a cool day even if it was in July.  This year was a late Spring and a cool Summer so the sun felt good on us this day.

My photos were not good in capturing the wildflowers, but there were many flowers blooming which made for a pretty hike.

Red Eagle Lake is in the valley in the center of the photo.  The mountain left of center is Curly Bear Mountain.  The mountain right of center is Red Eagle Mountain.  St Mary Lake (hidden) is to the right of Red Eagle Mountain.

We crossed Red Eagle Creek twice.

Red Eagle mountain in the background.

These rapids are just downstream a short distance from Red Eagle Lake.  One has to go off trail to see them.

Red Eagle Lake from near the campground at the foot of the lake.

Red Eagle Mountain.  We spoke to a couple camping at the campground who told us a man hiked/climbed to the top of Red Eagle Mountain a few days earlier starting from this campground.  He said it was extremely windy at the top.

Beargrass and a bug.

Patti and I hiked to the head of the lake then beyond to reach Red Eagle Falls.  Past the lake we came across two young male moose in a swampy area.  One moose can be seen left of center behind some trees.  He moved away from us when we came into this area.  I guess that is better than him running towards us.

This is the first waterfall we came across. It is off trail.  Due to the terrain the sound is mostly muffled hiding its power.  When hiking south there are only a few places to catch sight of the falls from a distance on the trail.  Coming from the south (from Triple Divide Pass) it would be very easy to miss these falls as they cannot be seen from the trail.

The second waterfalls.

Here are three videos of the various waterfalls:

Outlet from Red Eagle Lake.  59 seconds long.                   http://youtu.be/avXGkbBgLgk

First set of Red Eagle Falls.    57 seconds long.                   http://youtu.be/nYnHdjROrUM

Second set of Red Eagle Falls.  2 minutes 11 seconds long.  http://youtu.be/5eqL1MPrB8E