Forest Service sign out on the fence going into the cabin.

Our Lake (Hidden Lake) July, 2022

Joshua Rutledge July 25, 2022

I recently went on a quick trip with my wife and my sister up to a Forest Service cabin west of Choteau, Montana on the border of the Bob Marshall Wilderness. We went to the cabin with the intention of hiking to Our Lake, also known as Hidden Lake, as well as just spending some time in the mountains. We had a great time. Since I knew we were going to be doing a lot of hiking, I really paired down my camera gear and only brought with me my Canon RF 100-500 and my Canon RF 24-105 in my camera bag along with my Canon R5 and R6 bodies. I was also using it as an opportunity to test out a new, small, Think Tank BackStory 13 camera bag I bought for another upcoming trip. I did throw a couple of wide angle lenses into my regular bag in case I got the chance to do some astrophotography. I also threw in one tripod and my ball head.

We arrived at the cabin a little after 1 PM. Official check in time was 2PM, but since we didn’t see anyone around and the gate was locked, we assumed they had already left so we went ahead and got our stuff moved in. My sister and I had stayed at the cabin previously a few years ago, when we were also planning on doing the hike, so we already knew what to expect. It is a fairly rustic cabin, but it was still nice.

Looking up the valley from the cabin into the Bob Marshall Wilderness. My sister is sitting around the campfire.

We did some dutch oven cooking and had a good time just hanging around that afternoon. After dinner we decided we would try to do a little fishing. That was a total bust. We never even saw a single fish. I have to assume there are some fish in the river there, but we never saw anything. We also did a little driving around, including the Cave Mountain area, and around the Teton Pass Ski area. You could not actually go to the ski area as the gate was locked. We did see a lot of wild flowers, deer, squirrels, snowshoe hares and even two black bears. Of course I didn't get pictures of either of them. Once we got back to the cabin we had a campfire and relaxed until dark. I stayed up a little while as I wanted to set up a time lapse of the Milky Way. I knew the moon would eventually be rising, but I was hoping maybe I could still get enough frames in for a time lapse before that happened. As it turns out, that did not work out. I got a late start as I was having issues trying to get my lens to talk to my Canon R6. I had my 14mm 2.8 Rokinon lens, which is one of my favorite astro lenses (and it’s cheap) but it is a completely manual lens. This was the first time trying it on my Canon R6 however, and it just didn’t want to work. I knew there had to be a setting, and I even kind of knew what it probably was, but I couldn’t find it in the menu system… So finally I gave up and put on my old Canon EF 16-35 2.8 version 3 lens with the EF to RF adapter. Once I got home I did solve the issue. It was in the menu under an area that didn’t make sense to me, so I missed it while I was looking in the field. Oh well, I have it fixed now. I was still able to get a series of frames before the moon came up, but not enough for a proper time lapse.

I kept hearing the sound of an owl while we were sitting around the cabin. My hunch was it was a screech owl but I was not 100% sure. I kept looking around in the trees and I could just never find it. Finally I looked up into the eaves on the back of the cabin and there it was. It was a Western Screech-Owl. With my paired down camera kit, I did not have my 70-200 2.8 with me, which would have been my best choice. The owl was perch where it was very dark under the eaves so the 2.8 aperture would have been nice. My other lenses were too short, as I did not want to scare it. I settled on my Canon 100-500, but with the slow aperture of that lens, even at 1/50th of a second I was still at ISO 12800. I went ahead and took the picture, but the quality is not great.

The next morning we got up early, broke camp and headed for the trailhead. I think after everything we got there about 8 AM. Which honestly was already a little late in the morning. As it turns out, we picked the hottest day of the year for our hike. It was 102 back in town, I don’t know what it was in the mountains, certainly cooler than that, but still very hot for a hike. This time we made it all the way to the lake. Our previous attempt a couple of years ago was in June and we made it probably ¾ of the way to the lake and then hit heavy snow and we were not able to get through and had to turn around. So it was nice to finally make it there. The hike is about 3 and a half miles in. So a little over 7 miles round trip. It is pretty much uphill the whole way going in. The trail consists of a lot of switchbacks however, so the trail was never super steep, except for the last little bit up to the lake itself. We were still pretty hot and tired by the time we got back to the vehicle though.

A view of the waterfall that comes out of Our Lake from the trail on the way up.

A panorama of Our Lake. My sister is wading in the water if you look on the left-hand side.

We were hoping to see mountain goats around the lake. We finally spotted these, but they were way up on the side of the mountain trying to keep cool.

Glacier National Park - June 2022 - Day 2

Joshua Rutledge July 7, 2022

We started day two of our June 2022 Glacier National Park trip heading north along Camas Road with plans to go to Polebridge and then on to Bowman Lake and eventually as far as Kintla Lake. It had been many years since I had been to Bowman Lake and even longer since I had been to Kintla. Unfortunately, we discovered that the road to Kintla Lake was closed due to flooding. So that will have to wait a little longer. We still made a stop at the Polebridge Mercantile and acquired some baked goods. You have to try the huckleberry bear claws if you ever get the chance. This year we also discovered they had a few savory items as well, we really enjoyed the baked pizza roll.

With our bellies filled, we got back on the dirt road and headed towards Bowman Lake. The road is dirt, but most of the time it is passable in a passenger car, although I would prefer something with a little more ground clearance. Once we got to the lake we spent a little time around the boat launch area and then took a short hike around the eastern shore over the bridge at the outlet of Bowman Creek and continued for another half a mile or so along the shore. We saw a lot of wildflowers, some deer and even a spruce grouse in the area.

The view of Bowman Lake from the bridge over the Bowman Creek outlet. My sister Melissa is admiring the view.

We were probably just a little early for the peak of wildflower season, but we still found a lot, including these Purple Clematis.

Another shot of the male Spruce Grouse, he was not being a very cooperative subject.

Since we could not make it to Kintla Lake, we had to shift gears and come up with a plan B for the rest of the day. So after our curiosity was satisfied at Bowman, we decided to drive all the way around to the east side of the park and do some hiking. I had been wanting to see Saint Mary Falls and Virginia Falls, so we made a plan to do that. Since we were so late in the day at that point, we were not able to find parking where we wanted for the Saint Mary Falls hike. We ended up parking just down the road from Sunrift Gorge. This meant we could do a little longer hike and also see Baring Falls, so that is what we did. We hiked down Siyeh Pass to Baring Falls and then got on the Piegan Pass trail along Saint Mary Lake until we hit the Saint Mary Falls trail and then continued past the falls up to Virginia Falls, with some lesser falls along the way. If you enjoy waterfalls, I would really recommend this hike. I believe it’s a little over 5 miles round trip. There is a little bit of elevation coming and going, but it’s not too bad. On our way back we decided to hike up to the road and walk it back to where we parked since it was a more direct route then going around to Baring Falls again.

A view from the trail between Baring Falls and Saint Marry Falls with Saint Mary Lake and the mountains in the background. There is also evidence of the fires that went through this area several years go.

A cascade along the trail between Saint Mary Falls and Virginia Falls.

Virginia Falls. Even from this far away you could still feel the mist on you. If you hike a little further there is an overlook closer to the falls.

On our way back of course we had to stop for some Wild Goose Island and Jackson Glacier pictures. With so much snow still left on the mountains, you could not really discern Jackson Glacier from the surrounding snow still on the mountains. We were hoping to maybe spot a bear on our way out too, as they often frequent the shores along Saint Mary Lake, but we did not see any this time. Even though it was getting late and it was a little rainy, we decided to pull into the Goat Lick Overlook. I am sure glad we did. We saw at least 15 mountain goats there that evening. They were primarily hanging out in three different areas visible from the overlook area. The rain and fog would kind of come and go, so it wasn’t great for photography, or at least not for what I was trying to do, but it was still awesome to see so many mountain goats in one spot. As the name implies, the goats were in the area licking the salts that leach out of the rocks/soil in the area. We stayed there until it was pretty much dark and then we finished the drive back to our hotel at Lake McDonald and called it a night.

Wild Goose Island on Saint Mary Lake with an incoming storm.

Three mountain goats in the Goat Lick Overlook area.

Near dark, a nanny mountain goat with her kid tucked in behind her on the cliffs at Goat Lick Overlook.

A cloudy sunset overlooking Lake McDonald from the Village Inn.

Glacier National Park - June 2022 - Day 1

Joshua Rutledge July 6, 2022

I had the chance to visit Glacier National Park again this June. It was a little earlier in the season than we would normally go, since we knew the Going to the Sun Road would not be open yet. But it did mean for fewer crowds and a little different vibe to the experience. We have had an abnormally cool spring, so there was still more snow than usual left on the mountains and despite drought conditions elsewhere in parts of Montana, the streams and rivers were still very high. In fact, several areas of the park were closed due to flooding, further limiting our options where we could go. If you have not followed my blog or looked around my page yet, I do have a page dedicated to Glacier National Park on my website and I also did a post on my blog this winter catching up on my Glacier trips from last year that you might be interested in.

We had two nights booked on the west side of the park in Apgar and one night on the east side at Many Glacier. Since the Going to the Sun Road was not open yet, we had to drive around outside of the park to get back and forth.

We drove up to Glacier taking the route through Choteau, Montana and up to Browning and over. We prefer this way as it is a little more scenic than going on the interstate and over. We drove through the Freezout Lake WMA near Fairfield on our way, but we did not spot anything too interesting. We stopped at Bylers Bakery in Choteau on the way through town to pick up some treats. I highly recommend it if you get the chance. We then continued north through Bynum and Dupuyer and up to Browning. Then we swung east to East Glacier and around the south end of the park to get to the West Entrance of Glacier National Park. While the Going to the Sun Road was not opened, you are still required to have passes for that side of the park. Since we had accommodations inside of the park we did not need one. We did however have to have passes to go up the North Fork which was new this year. I would recommend keeping tabs on the current conditions and requirements on the GNP website.

Avalanche Gorge - Trail of the Cedars at Glacier National Park.

Upon arriving at the park, we knew we had a few hours to kill until we could get into our hotel room. So we drove up to the Avalanche area, which was as far as you could go on the road anyway. Luckily the campground was not open yet, so it was available for parking, which was nice since it’s usually a very congested area and parking is at a premium. We did find out when we got there that the trail to Avalanche Lake was closed due to flooding and we had planned on doing that hike. So instead we just hiked around the Trail of the Cedars and then pretty much stopped at every pull out and side road along McDonald Creek to take in as much as we could on that side of the park. I was hoping to find some Harlequin Ducks as they are known to frequent the area, but I think maybe due to the high water flows I was not able to find any.

A little different angle of Avalanche Gorge. The water was still very high and a little murky.

Looking down McDonald Creek from the bridge on the Trail of the Cedars.

A water feature along the Trail of the Cedars. There was so much water that there will little water features all along the trail. I liked how the light was coming through the trees kind of highlighting this one.

Lots of flora and fauna along the trail to observe, including this little snail.

McDonald Creek was still very high and fast.

Foot bridge over McDonald Creek with a view of the mountains in the background.

A picture from the bridge looking down to where McDonald Creek meets Lake McDonald.

We then went back to the Apgar area and visited the Visitor Center, did a little shopping and looked around Lake McDonald until it was time to check in at the hotel. We stayed at the Village Inn which is a fun little hotel as every room has a view of Lake McDonald. The lake was very high, as high as I had ever seen it, so the water was right up to the hotel. Normally there is a little bit of a beach to enjoy.

Bear Grass we found up the North Fork. It was just a little early yet, so not all of the bear grass was fully bloomed yet.

After we got checked into the hotel and dropped a few things off, we decided to head north and see what we could see. We first went up Camas Road as far as the bridge heading out of the park. It was a little bit early to see a lot of wildlife, but there were some nice vistas to take in overlooking Lake McDonald and some of the meadows along the way. We then returned to the Fish Creek area and decided to take the Inside North Fork Road. It had been many years since I had been on that road. I am really glad we did as we saw a lot of wildflowers, some interesting birds (I did not get any pictures) and on our way out we saw two grizzly bears. I had not seen grizzly bears on that side of the park in a long time, so it was a nice surprise. By the time we got back to our hotel it was getting pretty late, so we enjoyed a little time on our balcony looking at the lake before calling it a day. I was hoping maybe we would get a clear night and I would try to do some astrophotography, but it was not to be. By the time it was starting to get dark the sky had filled up with clouds. I fell asleep to the sounds of waves lapping right outside our door.

Our Lake (Hidden Lake) July, 2022

Glacier National Park - June 2022 - Day 2

Glacier National Park - June 2022 - Day 1

Search Posts

Featured Posts