Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Upper Quartz Lake

On June 22, Patti, Joyce and I hiked to Upper Quartz Lake in the NW part of Glacier National Park.  This hike and lake are one of our favorites.


The hike is about 6 miles one way. The trail goes over the Cerulean Ridge so our hike gained 1800 ft before descending 1600 ft.  Of course, once we returned to the trail head we had to go back up and down the Cerulean Ridge.

The trail leaves from Bowman Lake, one of the prettiest lakes in Glacier Park.  As always, I have to take a few photos of the lake.  These are before-and-after hike photos of Bowman Lake.



Even though this was June 22, there was plenty of snow on the mountains. Numa Lookout was still buried in the snow.

The first photo has the Numa Lookout in it.  The lookout is at the top of the snow covered mountain that is in the foreground.  The lookout blends into the mountain - Numa Peak  (center of the photo) - behind it.

The second photo is of Square Peak and Rainbow Peak.  Square Peak is the smaller pointed peak on the right side.  Ya... I know what you're thinking.  But no, I do not know why the mountain is named Square Peak.



Here is a seasonal stream we crossed on the Upper Quartz Lake Trail.  The stream is located after the split from the trail that goes to Lower Quartz Lake and before one gets to the top of the ridge.


Here is a short video of this stream.

http://youtu.be/JziekGafTHI


At the top of the Cerulean Ridge we had to walk on snow for a half mile or more.




Lower Quartz Lake.  We did not hike there this time.



Upper and Middle Quartz Lakes


Upper Quartz Lake



Upper Quartz Lake.  While it was a nice warm day the water was still cold.  However, that didn't stop us from wading in the lake until our legs got numb from the cold water.



We were the only people at the lake, but while relaxing at the lake we had to keep an eye on this little beggar else he or she would have tried to steal our food.

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