Trip Report East Glacier – Wildlife and Wildflowers Galore
Due to problems with snow and permits, we started our trek at Many Glacier instead of the Canadian Border. Oh, we’ll come back and do the part we missed later. In fact it will make a Grande Finale to our CDT adventure. Starting the trip in Glacier is a bit like having dessert first. Glacier will certainly be one of the highlights of the entire CDT. We are having dessert now, but have set aside the icing for later.
The 66 miles from Many Glacier to East Glacier are rugged and rewarding. With three major passes: Piegan, Triple Divide and Pitamakan, we had our share of steep snow chutes, steep climbs, snowcovered switchbacks, navigational challanges and crossing swift flowing cold creeks without the benefit of bridges.
We also found Wildlife and Wildflowers galore!
From Wild Grouse to running Black Bear, curious Big Horn Sheep, Mountain goats with new born kids, to Hoary Marmots already lining their nests for winter, Glacier Park lived up to it’s reputation for remarkable wildlife!
The array of wildflowers all present and blooming at the same time was simply stunning! Glacier has been in full bloom. With snows melting later than normal and summer days already getting shorter, the plants all know that NOW is the time to get on with the business of blossoming, blooming, pollinating, and procreating. The landscape is a photographers and botanist’s delight. Oh, that we had time for more of both. We travel at a hikers pace, not a botanizing pace and weight considerations eliminate any thought of plant guides. Still we enjoyed identifying what we could see and counted over 75 plants wecould recognize, along with many more we could not put a name to.
For a list of the native plants that we were able to identify, read our Plants of Glacier National Park page.
Today, we rest, resupply and get ready to explore “the Bob” (the Bob Marshall Wilderness).
