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Jewel Basin Hawk Watch 2023
As summer wanes in later August, my fellow bird nerds and I get excited for an annual event, raptor migration. Unlike many bird species that migrate at night, raptors such as hawks, eagles, and falcons, choose the day time along mountain ridges where they can ride currents and updrafts. This saves valuable energy as they…
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Piegan Pass with Cataract Mountain – Fall 2023
Forecast called for a sunny day and with the fall colors poppin’, the trail was calling. We hadn’t been to Piegan Pass for a bit and thought that we might climb Cataract Mountain if we had time/energy/desire. It turned out to be a glorious day of colors, birds, mammals, and views in Glacier National Park…
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Climbing Calf Robe Mountain 2023
Rising to the west of Marias Pass lies a crumbling ridge of named summits. On the north end, a saddle-shaped summit known as Calf Robe Mountain makes for a fairly short climb with plenty of rewarding views in this quiet corner of Glacier National Park. The bane of a hard earned summit is one shrouded…
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Poia Lake 2023
The beautiful Poia Lake sits in the Kennedy Creek drainage just north of the main Many Glacier Area of Glacier National Park. With a little bit of effort going over Swiftcurrent Ridge, you can enjoy this beautiful lake in a quieter area of the park. We’ve been doing quite a bit of citizen science work…
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Climbing Iceberg Peak and South Iceberg Peak 2023
It’s a big day full of trail miles and elevation, but the payoff for covering over 20 miles and 5,000ft in elevation gain is the incredible views looking down on the iconic Iceberg Lake and incredible views all day long from Iceberg Peak and it’s neighbor down the ridge, South Iceberg Peak, in Glacier National…
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Climbing Mount Helen 2023
While not the most notable summit in Glacier National Park, Mount Helen sits just above Dawson Pass in the Two Medicine area and is a wonderful addition to your day, that is, if you have any gas left in your tank after climbing to the pass. On paper, our plan was to take the boat…
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What’s in our Day Hiking Backpacks (2023 Edition)
When I first got interested in hiking and backpacking after moving back to Montana, I opened up Backpacker Magazine and started creating a list of items I needed to purchase to explore the great outdoors. Unfortunately, I ended up with boots that gave me blisters and hurt my feet, a tent that was too heavy,…
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Lake McDonald Trail 2023
The lower trails of Glacier National Park are drying out quickly with this recent stint of warmer weather. Since many of the roads are closed, the list of hikes without snow is pretty small. We settled on the Lake McDonald Trail on its western shore, hiked a bit, had lunch and turned around on a…
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Apgar Lookout – Spring 2023
The forecast called for a sunny, bluebird day in the high 40s, so we packed up and decided to see how far up the Apgar Lookout Trail in Glacier National Park that we could get. Imagine our delight when we realized that there was a decent boot pack all the way to the summit and…
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Fish Creek Picnic Ski
When Glacier is all locked in snow, a great place for a spring picnic on a sunny day is Fish Creek Picnic Area. You can snowshoe in, but we skied and enjoyed the beautiful views under a blue sky all while avoiding a chilly wind coming down from the mountains. We parked at the gate…
