Tag: lake mcdonald lodge

  • Snyder Lakes 2024

    Snyder Lakes 2024

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    Jake Bramante

    Tucked amongst towering walls lies a pair of lovely lakes. While no trail reaches the upper lake, the 4.5 mile trail from Lake McDonald Lodge takes you to the lower of Snyder Lakes. First through the lovely cedar hemlock forest, then through the burned area with birds and flowers galore. On a predominantly overcast day,…

  • Jewel Basin Hawk Watch 2023

    Jewel Basin Hawk Watch 2023

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    by

    Jake Bramante

    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…

  • Mt Brown Lookout 2022

    Mt Brown Lookout 2022

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    by

    Jake Bramante

    As the snow continues to recede, we’ve been finding more places to hike for views. We headed up the Sperry Trail and took the trail to Mt Brown Lookout. In the past, trees obscured much of the views as you steeply climbed, but the burn from a couple of years ago has really improved the…

  • Avalanche Lake Spring 2022 Bike and Hike

    Avalanche Lake Spring 2022 Bike and Hike

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    by

    Jake Bramante

    The forecast called for a lovely spring day on Kristen’s birthday, so we decided to load up the bikes and head on up to Glacier National Park to bike, then hike up to Avalanche Lake. On the west side of the park, the Going-to-the-Sun Road is closed at Lake McDonald Lodge. When they’re not working…

  • Skiing Grist Road to Fish Creek

    Skiing Grist Road to Fish Creek

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    by

    Jake Bramante

    If you head west from Apgar in Glacier National Park and cross over McDonald Creek, the first road on your right is called Grist Road. Along this quaint road are a collection of private inholdings. The road dead-ends and one of Glacier’s few “bike-able” trails continues on to the Fish Creek Campground Road. I wouldn’t…

  • Biking Going-to-the-Sun Road – April 2019

    Biking Going-to-the-Sun Road – April 2019

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    by

    Jake Bramante

    After a bunch of spring rain, we decided to haul our bikes up to Glacier National Park and bike Going-to-the-Sun Road on a sunny Sunday. We were not disappointed! The weather was gorgeous and we were able to bike up past the Loop. On the west side of Glacier, the Going-to-the-Sun Road is closed to…

  • Frozen Lake McDonald

    Frozen Lake McDonald

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    by

    Jake Bramante

    With the sunshine and the warmer weather up here in Northwestern Montana, we’ve been trying to soak up the sunshine that seemed to have disappear for months. A trip to Glacier National Park was in order. The plan was to ski Going-to-the-Sun Road over to the ranger station at the head of the lake. We…

  • Gunsight Lake and Florence Falls

    Gunsight Lake and Florence Falls

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    by

    Kristen Bramante

    I visited Gunsight Lake in 2014 as part of a memorable 20 mile day hike that took us to Gunsight Pass, Lake Ellen Wilson, Lincoln Pass, Sperry Chalet, and out to Lake McDonald Lodge. So when some of my girlfriends invited me to hike with them to Gunsight Lake I gladly accepted the invitation to…

  • Gunsight Pass 2016

    Gunsight Pass 2016

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    by

    Jake Bramante

    The long and wonderful hike over Gunsight Pass in Glacier National Park is traditionally done as a two day backpacking trip (or a nice stay at the alpine Sperry Chalet), but we decided to tackle it as an incredible day hike. It was a perfect day full of blue skies, stunning lakes, waterfalls, wildflowers, and…