Iceberg Lake

This hike, while not as spectacular as it would be in late summer, was still pretty cool! Ironically this one which was supposed to be our longest hike at 9.7 miles ended up being our shortest hike. 

We started off early in the morning and this big fox with the poofiest tail ran across the trail right in front of us--so close that Nathan automatically leaned forward to pet it before he realized it was a FOX not a fluffy cat and jerked himself back!

Luke had some really good hair that day. 

And the wildflowers were ON POINT. 

A couple miles in you pass Ptarmigan Falls; they were really pretty and I did not really try at all to get a decent photo (there's a big cascade down to the left that's hard to photograph). 

This was a really pretty hike but I'm so glad we did it early in the day; the people we passed on the way back looked pretty hot! There's very little shade. 

After you pass Ptarmigan Falls, the destination is pretty clear. There was a warning about snow but the couple tricky places were not bad at all if you had poles. I was a little nervous because both Abigail and Juliet realized they hadn't changed into their hiking boots, but they were fine. 

Headed towards that cirque!

There's a lovely little jewel of a lake cupped into the cirque before you get to the actual Iceberg Lake--a lot of people stopped here and didn't realize you had to go on through the boulder field. 

And here it is! Kind of anticlimactic this early in the year. (And by early I mean July 7.) 

Our boys tried their very very very best to smash up the ice to hurry the floating icebergs along...the big allure of this lake is that jewel-bright blue water with big chunks of ice floating in it all summer. We could see a hint of blue! (And in the photo above don't worry, they aren't actually on the lake. We saw one dumb guy go out, but our kids are smarter than that.) 



But on the way out we saw lots of bighorn sheep! I was the first one who saw them, thank you very much, and Matty and I watched them for quite awhile after we called everyone else back to us. There are advantages to bringing up the end of the line!

Back past the really pretty lake that might maybe at some point get warm enough to swim in? Probably not. 

Love the purply-red rock!

 And that was a wrap for Glacier! The next day we packed up bright and early and headed for Rapid City. 

Swiftcurrent Pass

When we asked our kids what their favorite hike was from the trip, it was pretty evenly split between Avalanche Peak and Swiftcurrent Pass. This was a GREAT hike and we almost missed out on it!!

This hike starts out as a chain of lakes in a valley--there's one every mile or so and a pretty great waterfall halfway between the last two lakes. It's supposed to be a good hike for families because there are lots of turnaround points. We planned to go to Bullhead, the farthest lake, but IN NEWS THAT WILL SURPRISE ABSOLUTELY NOBODY, NOBODY AT ALL, we went further. 

The lakes were...fine. We actually didn't even go to the first one, Fishercap Lake, until we were on the way back (hoping to see a moose, but we did see a few deer) because it was seriously like 1/3 of a mile down the trail and we didn't want to stop right after we'd started. We slept in, made a very leisurely elaborate breakfast, and didn't start hiking until 11 am.  

Then we hiked on to Redrock Falls and we actually spent quite awhile here--probably an hour? We were planning to have a super lazy day and not hike more than 7 miles, so we had tons of time. I pulled out my book and read for an hour, the kids built all kinds of dams through the rocks, etc. We were there long enough that they even started making friends with the other kids around us (I felt so bad for one kid when we left because he was an only child and just OVERJOYED to have four boys there to play around with the dam construction!)

I pulled out my book and read for an hour, the kids built all kinds of dams through the rocks, etc.

 

We were there long enough that they even started making friends with the other kids around us (I felt so bad for one kid when we left because he was an only child and just OVERJOYED to have four boys there to play around with the dam construction!)

Eventually we packed up and headed out to Bullhead Lake, another couple of miles past the falls. 



The trail changed dramatically once we passed the falls, and there were very few people past that point--it was much narrower and clearly less traveled. (And lined with bagworms; Juliet about died.) 

We passed this waterfall which was really amazing because the water somehow cascaded over the rocks in such a way that it was as clear as glass in the center and you could see all the rocks behind it, BUT when you looked at it through your camera you could see every bubble suspended in the clear part. 

Then we got to Bullhead Lake, and it was fine, but we could see snow up ahead so we passed the lake without even stopping and headed toward the snow.



The hike had honestly been kind of boring up until this point (just walking along through beautiful scenery, but kind of repetitive after a week of beautiful scenery) and nobody was really tired, so we decided to head for the switchbacks up the pass and see if we could get a better view of the whole valley. Neil remembered the switchbacks being very steep as a kid, and we were pretty confident that we wouldn't be able to get very far because a) we knew the trail at the top was still under snow and thought most of the switchbacks would be as well and b) spring runoff was still high enough that none of the bridges were installed yet. 

But my children are categorically unable to resist hopping on stones through a stream. 

And so we went up a whole chain of streams. 

Then we got to the point where there would normally be a bridge, and it was about twenty feet wide and 2-3 feet deep and ICY cold. 

Isaac went right across (he couldn't hear us yelling at him to come back) and got himself half soaked. The rest of us spent twenty minutes trying to throw enough rocks in to make a decent crossing, but it was just too deep and fast. So then the next thing I knew the kids had their boots off and were crossing the stream.

I cannot possibly overstate how horribly cold this water was. It was glacial melt, it was deep, it was fast, and the rocks underfoot were so tricky that you really could not take it quickly. And Neil went across it multiple times ferrying Matthew and Nathan on his back!! A bunch of twenty-something hikers came up and crossed as we were finishing and they were just watching Neil and then when he came across the last time they all started applauding and were like "Dude, that is TOUGH."  

And Neil, because he is Neil, even had a microfiber quick-dry towel in his pack so we could dry our feet. 

Then we started switchbacking our way up. It was pretty steep but the views once we got up a little higher were so amazing!



We decided that Bullhead Lake could have been more accurately named Batman Lake!



I think we took a picture every time we climbed a new switchback. 

I loved loved love this picture I managed to catch of Neil mocking influencers posing...



As we climbed higher, the footing got increasingly sketchy and Matthew was very much done and so Neil was carrying him, which was nervewracking for the parts that were climbing over heaps of rubble on the trail and skirting ledges that were only a few inches wide, etc. So we decided to turn around at the waterfall (which was such a bummer--we were SO close to the top of the pass!). We did some pinky-promising that we would come back and climb over the top and go to the chalet next time. 

So many waterfalls, so much beauty (so close to the top!!), and suuuuuuuch a grumpy baby. Holy cow was he a grumpy baby. 

This elegantly posed picture of me putting my phone back into my pocket shows some of the other side of the cirque where we were hiking--man it was gorgeous!!!

It was super windy and cold up there (another reason that we decided to turn around...I was the only one who brought a coat and Matty was wearing it), so the kids tucked into this little overhang to eat a snack. 

Then we started back down...

Can you spot the waterfall ledge where we had our snack break? 

Seriously one of the most beautiful hikes we've ever done!!! Can't wait to cross the pass next time. 

Goodbye waterfalls!

And then it was back across all the streams...note that at this point Matthew is just tucked under Neil's arm, haha. (And Matthew is not a small child.) 

Back past Redrock Falls, which we had totally to ourselves!




And back to Fishercap Lake, where we had another round of fruit snacks, watched the deer come down to drink at the edge of the lake, and then went back to the Swiftcurrent Motor Inn for sooooo much soft-serve mountain berry ice cream. This trail was absolutely LINED with huckleberries that were about 2 weeks away from being ripe...torture!

And some Magic Fire to wrap up the night!