When you ask our kids what was their favourite part of our trip to Glacier National Park, they will tell you it was our hike to Iceberg Lake. This was a great accomplishment for them and they were pretty proud of themselves for having completed it. This was a 12 mile hike with an elevations gain of 1364 ft.
We left the camp site early in the morning to ensure we would make it to the trail head with plenty of time. This trail is located in the Many Glaciers area of the park. The park was so peaceful on our drive over. We lucked out and saw a fox wandering down the road during our drive. The views were lovely, but be prepared the road is a little rough in this portion of the park.
We chose to join the Ranger led hike up to the lake due to the frequency of bear sightings in the area and we also thought it would be a great way to learn more about the park. The meeting location for the hike was in front of the Swiftcurrent Motor Inn, as the trail is located behind the cabins. We were the only family joining the ranger led hike with kids so we did discuss it with the ranger before leaving and we were told we were more than welcome to join in. Our concern was if if your children would be able to keep up with the group. Our kids more than kept up throughout the hike.
Our ranger Diane went through how the hike would work, and anything we needed to be aware of before heading out. As well she wanted to make sure everyone had sufficient water for the hike.
The hike starts out with a fairly steep climb, but then levels out a bit more and the rest of the hike isn’t too bad even though it is a steady climb. Our ranger always seemed to know when everyone would need a break for a few minutes and would stop to tell us some facts about the area we were hiking through.
We did take a longer break near the halfway mark at Ptarmigan falls which is in a lovely wooded spot with some great rocks for sitting on. The break was long enough for a snack and for everyone to be able to run up to the washroom if needed. There is a pit toilet here.
Shortly after this break we hiked back into the opening and the views really opened up. Walking along a cliff edge there were some great views and we could get a sense of where we were heading to.
When we were nearly there the trail was loaded with wild flowers on either side and a small gorgeous blue lake . It was beautiful and a nice surprise.
Iceberg lake did not disappoint and was a great spot to sit and enjoy our lunch. During our lunch we even had the chance to see a chunk of ice and snow fall into the water, creating waves. Some people chose to jump in for a swim, but this is glacial water so extremely cold. There is a pit toilet not far from the lake, for those who may need it before heading back down. The colour of the water in Iceberg Lake is actually that colour, there has been no editing done on these photos. It really is something else.
The day was starting to warm up considerably so we figured we better get going as we wanted to make sure the water we had left would last us all of the way down.
To keep the kids motivated and also to ensure we didn’t startle a bear, the kids and I sang our way down the mountain. I may have also had a secret stash of M&M’s to sneak the kids one every once in a while.
The kids did well and were pretty proud of themselves when we completed the hike. There was a small amount of whining towards the very end, but I think we were all feeling it at that point, since it was a hot day.
The general store at the trail head serves up great soft serve ice cream, so the kids were rewarded with a big cup of it each. That seemed to energize our two completely. After they finished they wanted to race to the car, and with their energy, no one would have known they had just hiked 12 miles.
One can’t drive through the Many Glaciers area without stopping on the side of the road for at least a couple pictures of the mountains.
We headed over to the St Mary visitor centre to pick up our trailer where we had dropped it for the day before making the drive over to West Glacier. As trailers cannot be taken on the Going-To-The-Sun Road, we took the long way around the bottom of the park along highway 2. This is a very scenic route, where there were a number of picnic areas. Driving along highway 2 around the park takes approximately 2 hours.
We were booked into Fish Creek on the west side of the park for the next couple of nights. Will discuss the campground in detail on the next post as we arrived quite late this night.
Have you hiked to Iceberg Lake? Any favourite memories?
If you missed any of our previous posts from our trip to Glacier National Park you can find them here:
Day 1 – Getting our Bearings in St Mary’s
Day 2 – Waterfalls and a boat tour on the East side of the park
Day 3- Driving the Going-To-The-Sun Road and hiking at Logan’s Pass
Day 5 – Quiet day exploring the west side of the park
Day 6 – Ranger led hike to Avalanche Lake
Day 7 – Family fun at Whitefish Mountain
Day 8 – Hungry Horse Dam
Day 9 – Two Medicine Valley
