Otokomi Lake

Otokomi Lake

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by

Jake Bramante
Otokomi Lake

Starting at Rising Sun in the St. Mary Valley and following Rose Creek for a little over 5 miles, you’ll end up at Otokomi Lake. It’s a beautiful lake nestled at the base of Goat Mountain. Early in the season, the waterfalls coming into the lake are beautiful and Rose Creek is cascading with some force. You might also be lucky enough to catch the spawning Cutthroat trout and a moose like we did as well as a wide variety of birds and wildflowers. (**updated to reflect my error as I rambled concerning elevation gain)

Otokomi Lake
Waterfall at Otokomi Lake

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Comments

17 responses to “Otokomi Lake”

  1. Mike Kinsella Avatar
    Mike Kinsella

    Your definition of “not strenuous” apparently differs from mine. Any trail that gains more than 3000 feet I call strenuous no matter how many miles it takes. Crypt Lake was 2200 feet in 5 miles and I would call that “moderately strenuous.” And it’s not just my age talking!

    Beautiful photos as always- looking forward to many more. Congratulations on all the good press.

    Reply
    1. hike734 Avatar
      hike734

      As soon as you said that, I went scrambling, checked my facts and modified my video and reuploaded it. Well I can’t change what I said on the trail, but I can throw some text in at the end. 😉

      Reply
  2. mountain girl heidi Avatar
    mountain girl heidi

    I love Otokomi Lake! It’s probably one of my top three favorite hikes in the park. Plus, it’s never busy. Shhh… Don’t tell anyone about it. 🙂 Congrats on your accomplishment!

    Reply
    1. hike734 Avatar
      hike734

      It involves getting out of the car and gaining some elevation.. I think we’re okay for a little while longer. 😉

      Reply
  3. Another Glacier Girl Avatar
    Another Glacier Girl

    We hiked to Otokomi in 2010. It was just as beautiful as you showed on your video. It was mentally a long way, however because I kept expecting the lake to be around the next bend. And the next. And the next. Ok, maybe this bend. Argh! Where is that darn lake?!?!!! I’ve been showing your website to all our Glacier friends. We are all duly inpressed!! Great job!

    Reply
    1. hike734 Avatar
      hike734

      Thanks for sharing my site/video! I completely agree on the, “Where is that darn lake?!?!!!”. It feels like a cartoon where they keep moving the finish line, but it’s amazing!!

      Reply
  4. Robin Joyce Avatar
    Robin Joyce

    Love the out takes. 🙂

    Reply
    1. hike734 Avatar
      hike734

      Yay!! I love throwing them in there. I’m trying to keep a variety with them.

      Reply
  5. Mike Kinsella Avatar
    Mike Kinsella

    Molvar’s guide says it’s about 1900 feet gain which, for me, takes it back down to moderate. Think I’ll puy it on my list even though I hate backtracking.

    Reply
    1. hike734 Avatar
      hike734

      So I had made the changes and uploaded the video and just hadn’t changed the link inside of this post. Thanks for fact checking… I don’t want to be all misleading! 😉

      Reply
  6. Sue Davidson Avatar
    Sue Davidson

    Another great report. Thanks. Have done this hike twice in 30 years. Surprised you didn’t mention the mosquitos. They were atrocious both times I was there. Last year as we got close to the lake we met a couple that intended to stay overnight but were hiking out because the mosquitos were so bad.

    Reply
    1. hike734 Avatar
      hike734

      Well I was fortunate on this one as I don’t remember a ton of mosquitos… that doesn’t mean that I didn’t have my fair share on other journeys. All about timing I guess. I think it was a bit too early for them this year when I went.

      Reply
  7. Sally Estes Avatar
    Sally Estes

    Just wondering if you plan to post more videos. Like, the Grinnell Glacier trail. We missed this one this past August because on the snow and bear activity closure.

    Reply
  8. Sally Estes Avatar
    Sally Estes

    Oh, and Ptarmigan Tunnel.

    Reply
    1. hike734 Avatar
      hike734

      I am planning on posting videos for every trip I did which means that there will be a video for every single trail in the park! Grinnell is coming. I’m releasing them in the order that I shot them. In regards to the Grinnell blog forthcoming, I’ve got a two word sneak preview… “moose fighting”.

      Reply
  9. DG Avatar
    DG

    Your site is a treasury! I followed along this summer after a heads-up from my Dad and now I’m looking forward to all the vids! Love the documentation of birds and flowers (and the outtakes of course!). I did this one while working at Rising Sun 30+ years ago — scrambling up and over the Goat Peak saddle into the Baring Creek drainage. So nice to see that the cutthroat still rule Otokomi’s outlet!

    Congrats on a job well done!

    Reply
    1. hike734 Avatar
      hike734

      I’m definitely looking forward to doing some scrambling again this next summer myself. I banned myself from it this year so that I wouldn’t jeopardize my project (didn’t want to overdo it), but next year, I’m excited to start connecting the Park in fun ways and do more of the classic traverses such as the Norris and the Ptarmigan wall.

      Glad you’re enjoying the blogs… keep spreading the word!

      Reply

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