Lake McDonald area

The anchor of the Lake McDonald area is the Lake McDonald lodge and campground. It is in fact part of a small viilage, where you can eat and get provisions. I took the boat ride around Lake McDonald and it was very nice (I believe it cost $16). On the southern side of the lake there is another motel/camping area (Apgar Village) where people rent boat and travel the lake at their leisure. Bonus: there is a ice cream store in there and recently there is a tent that rents bear spray.

I guess the premier hike in that area is the hike to the Sperry Chalet, with a side trip to Sperry Glacier. I did this hike as an overnight stop that the Sperry Chalet.

So you can start the the hike just other side of the park road across the Lake McDonald lodge area and the hike immediately starts going up a wooden area. That is the blue path below.

I think it takes like four miles of this uphill wooded area, pretty boring, but the rewards are further up. You can two choices, you can take a very long day hike to Sperry Glacier and go back or you can stay at the Sperry Chalet overnight and extend your area of hiking on the next day

 I spent a night at the Sperry Chalet, so I decided to hike to Sperry Glacier on the first day. This guy was guarding the way towards the glacier.

The Sperry glacier has been reduced significantly. There are some steps on rock that you know they were carved to read the top of a ridge. Back when those steps were constructed, the glacier reached the top of the ridge.

Now, you will walk on ice fields before reaching the current location of the glacier.

The glacier has receded a lot, but still it is large and the views are great:

To get to the last cairn, you have to cross 2 or 3 ice fields, which is pretty cool. I was following a group of four guys, so I used their path and their feet marks to make sure I didn't slip and make an ass of myself. The ice fields are flat enough that there is no danger that you will slip and fall of the mountain.

After spending the night at the Chalet, I got up early and decided to hike to the Gunsight Pass (the red path on the map). That hike has incredible views of Lake Ellen Wilson to your right (there is a campground in there, it must be glorious to spend the night there).

After hiking the length of the lake, you have to cross a small waterfall (which will get you wet, careful, it is slippery) and then you go up to the pass. Here is a story about the pass ............... I was the only person there at that time and I started going up the switchbacks towards the pass when I turned around to look at the lake when I heard a LOUD whistle; I turned around and saw nothing, so I continued going up. I then stopped and then the whistle again; at that point I thought someone was injured and all they could do is blow a whistle (maybe trapped somewhere and lost their voice). I kept looking around but didn't see anything. The weird part is that the whistling only occurred when I stopped ......... hmmmmmmm ............. yes, a fucking pika was yelling at me, that is what is was.

Then the view of the valley below is great ! There is a rest cabin that can be used as a refuge from the weather, but not as a camping site.

​Then you can turn around and look back at Lake Ellen Wilson -- >

You can reach Gunsight Pass also from the other side, a trail that starts that the GTTSR, which I plan to do (I did the part getting up to Gunsight Lake and did not go up to the pass). For now, I will just mention my hike from GTTSR to Gunsight Lake and back (about a total of 12 miles).

There is a side trip to Florence Falls. YOU HAVE TO SEE THOSE FALLS !!!!!!!!!

Also, if you keep an eye to your left you can see a small pond, called Mirror pond. This is the picture that inspired me to learn more about the camera, editing tools and composition. I took it JPEG, without manual settings, I can only imagine if I was careful about the settings.But look at that view, plus I was lucky that two moose were eating in the pond and never minded my presence. These are the kinds of shots that you have to be lucky to get.

UPDATE: If all goes well, I plan to hike from GTTR to the Gunsight Pass in 2019. If that happens, I will post more pics and details of the hike here.