Piegan Pass, Gunsight Pass, and Mirror Pond
Glacier National Park, Montana
Sunday, August 28th, 2011
View on the Gunsight Pass Trail
After our Hidden Lake Trail Hike, Amy was ready to relax a bit with one of the (27) books she had loaded up on her Kindle. However, I was wanting to do another hike! Amy dropped me off at the Jackson Glacier Overlook and agreed to meet me a couple hours later at the St.Mary Falls trail head.
Hike Route (highlighted in Yellow)
My original plan was to hit Deadwood Falls and then hike over to St Mary Falls and Virginia Falls. However after arriving at Deadwood Falls, I realized that with full sunlight, this would be a lousy afternoon for waterfall photography.
Deadwood Falls
Too much sun to bother setting up the tri-pod
Instead I decided to turn onto the Gunsight Pass Trail and hike up to Mirror Pond.
First of many similar style footbridges I would encounter throughout the week
The Gunsight Pass Trail (at least the part that I hiked) maintains a fairly constant elevation as it parallels the St Mary River. The trail was mostly through some thick forest, but there were a few spots that offered up some nice views.
view from the Gunsight Pass Trail
The St. Mary River along the Gunsight Pass Trail
Because it is called "Mirror Pond" I was really hoping for a nice reflection shot. However, the area surrounding the pond is a mucky swamp and I was not able to find a good spot for a closer view. And any higher views which would reveal more of the pond were obstructed by trees.
Even though it doesn't really show much of the Pond, I was still happy with this shot:
Mirror Pond
Coming Up Tomorrow: One more Day 2 Hike: The Red Eagle Trail and Beaver Pond Trail
3 comments:
Damn! I am so jealous! Were you mainly hiking alone on these trails? Or were there lots of other people? My hike to Avalanche Peak there was only one other guy on the trail--he caught up to me and since he was really, really scared of griz, we hiked together after that.
Those mountains are gorgeous. They remind me of the peaks around Lamar Valley in Yellowstone.
Carole and I were thinking that our next western park will be Crater Lake. We're still debating...
Most of the hikes were Solo. However, I don't think I ever went more than an hour at a time without encountering other hikers.
This was my trip selection so Amy gets to pick the next one. She wants to go up to Maine and New Hampshire. So Acadia National Park might be our next one.
If we can hit one National Park a year, we might just see them all before we croak!
You guys would LOVE Acadia. I've been twice, once with Carole. She loved it and wants to go back.
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