Mountain Goat

Cracker Lake

Cracker Lake is a surreal-colored lake in the Many Glacier valley. Once the location of a mine, this lake is nestled in a basin with towering walls and an abundance of wildlife. On this particular trip, I saw mountain goats, a moose and a bear in addition to many birds, flowers and small mammals such as marmots and Columbian ground squirrels.

Cracker Lake
White-crowned Sparrow

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15 responses to “Cracker Lake”

  1. Karol Moosekian Avatar
    Karol Moosekian

    Awesome!!!

  2. Beautiful and inspiring. Thanks for sharing.

  3. Mike Kinsella Avatar
    Mike Kinsella

    We’ve never done Cracker Lake, mostly because it’s an
    in-and-out hike and I have a phobia about back-tracking. But it looks like it’s worth the trip.

  4. Teresa Lewis Watts Avatar
    Teresa Lewis Watts

    I am so glad to find you on my Homepage on Facebook! This video is so wonderful, especially with all the name tags for the birds and wildflowers! It takes me back to our first trip to Glacier last July…thank you for sharing this! I’m going to share it on my Wall 🙂

  5. Great Video! Looks like it might be a fun winter trip too?

    1. It could be a fun winter trip, although the approach is longer because they close that road to cars.

  6. Jana mejdell Avatar
    Jana mejdell

    Love what you are doing! Your pictures, videos and commentary is great..really like that you are identifying plants and animals, make it so informative. Will be there in the backcountry (Northern Circle) for 7 days in Sept. Doesn’t look like we’ll run into you but ya never know!

    1. It looks like some of my plans are changing around that time…

  7. Great hike and pictures, also enjoyed the note at the end about the miners. Keep on trek’en.

  8. Mike Kinsella Avatar
    Mike Kinsella

    My daughter and I did Crypt Lake on Friday. The thing I notice about Glacier compared to 25 years ago is how much hotter it is. We used to have to layer up to keep warm and dehydration was never a problem. This time we were down to shirt sleeves by the first mile and dehydration was a serious problem by the afternoon. Are you noticing that you have to carry more water or do you filter water as you go? Also, how much does that camera pack weigh and how much total weight are you carrying on over-nighters?

    1. I’m not sure if it’s hotter on average or not. With my camera on the front, I’m hotter in general and am drinking more water. I have noticed that over the past couple of days, it’s been much cooler which doesn’t make me too happy as I need fall to hold off. 😀 My camera gear weighs in around 15 lbs which is super light considering what I can get with my lenses (that used to take about 30-40 in gear). My day setup is around 25 lbs I think and my overnight setup is about 45 I think. I’m looking forward to being able to have a day trip that has a pack that’s under 10 again so I can move fast!

    2. My wife & I went there in August for the first time. I told her to bring all these warm clothes because I expected it to be cooler than it was. Except for Logan Pass, it was quite warm on all the hikes I did. We didn’t really need the warm clothes until we hit Rocky Mountain NP in September.

  9. Sally Estes Avatar
    Sally Estes

    I SOOOOO want to do this hike!!!!

  10. […] the full blog on the Cracker Lake here and keep on the lookout for the big game of the Many Glacier […]

  11. hatfielj Avatar
    hatfielj

    Got to do a horseback trip up to Cracker Lake last year. It was amazing. These videos are very well done, but they still don’t do justice to the beauty of this park and this trail in particular. Cracker lake was outstanding. The backpacker’s campground there was unbelievably beautiful. We saw a huge bull moose thrashing around in the water at Cracker Lake which I’m told is fairly common at that lake. its “his” lake:)

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