Akokala Lake - Glacier National Park

Here's a post I should have made a while ago! I had the pleasure to go on a group hike with a bunch of lovely ladies from all different corners of the country. We went to Glacier National Park and took the trail to Akokala Lake. It was a very easy hike, low and mostly flat.

There wasn't a whole lot of crazy things or views on the trail but the lake sure was beautiful!

At this time of year the mosquitoes were eating us alive, you really couldn't stop, even with bug spray they were intolerable.

 Coming up on a small bridge, about three quarters of the way to the lake.

Here's the bridge.



What was neat on this trip is that we got passed by a forest service pack team.









The team was bringing in panels to be installed in the water ways. 

They are hoping to keep the Lake Trout population from infesting Akokala Lake. The Lake Trout is a growing problem in the parks waters.

There were two strings of 5, including the riders mount. It was pretty sweet to watch as they crossed over the creek while I waited for the rest of the group to catch up to me.














When we first arrived at the lake the surrounding peaks were shrouded in clouds creating an almost unreal look. It felt as if you could become enveloped in the soft puffy layers if only you were to stare intently enough. 

Much to my delight, as we sat there eating our lunches, the clouds began to drift away unveiling the magnificent peaks that laid underneath. 

At your farthest left, still beneath the clouds a bit, is Reuter Peak.

Kintla peak is in the middle to the left hand side, also just beneath some wispy clouds.

To the middle right and clear as day is Mount Peabody.

Numa Peak sits on the far right, towering above the lake.

The whole hike was just under 12 miles, so if you're looking for a little distance and an easy trail, this could be for you. 

With all the fish I saw, I would highly suggest bring a rod!

Happy Trails!

Lincoln Lake - Glacier National Park

Early June we decided to embark on a little more challenging hike, not difficult but a test of endurance. This hike, in to a gorgeous mountain lake in Glacier National Park, starts off pretty strenuous but it mellows out quickly.

Woke up feeling great, got things done and hit the trail at a leisurely 10:30 am. It's a steep, unrelenting grade for the first 1.6 or so miles, you'll definitely want a trekking pole on this venture. I didn't bring one and coming down that slope on the 14th mile of the day was pretty dang rough.

Once you get to the top of the first part it starts looking more like this, there's so much vegetation in between the trees! 

We crossed over a lot of water, little streams and creeks.

Coming down one switchback there was an oh-so tempting log. We just had to walk out on it. Of course at this point we were going down... uh-oh, we thought.

This seems to be a very good hike to do earlier in the season, there was minimal mud even though it had rained the day before and the bugs were not bad at all either. 

About 2 miles in! Yay. The trail splits off and you can hike over to Fish lake if you really wanted to but we were determined to make it in to secluded Lincoln lake. Having been told it was a trail you would only want to back pack it felt like a challenge to make it a day hike.

Along the way we began to see signs of animal activity... including very fresh bear movement. 

The farther you go, the more looming the mountains are, they just seem to get taller and taller!

Getting closer, 3.6 miles left according to the sign, now we're starting to get excited! Over half way there.

The scenery on the trail just keeps getting better and better. We saw a few robins eggs along the way.

The rest of the hike was pretty mellow terrain wise.


We made it!

I haven't exactly perfected the surround shot but it's still cool!

The way back was tiring but there was some exciting things too... like this log!