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Brief Trail Description
The hike to Ptarmigan Tunnel from Swiftcurrent Motor Inn is just over
5 miles (a 10 mile round trip) with an elevation gain of about 2300 feet.
The tunnel itself is at an elevation of 7200 feet. The tail head is well
marked near the inn.
The trail is described as moderately strenuous, but
a few days of hiking in the park will get you in good
enough shape to reach the tunnel. The steepest part of the trail is the
ascent to the tunnel from Ptarmigan Lake, but it is a steady slope with
two switch backs and relatively easy to do.
Ptarmigan Tunnel Trail
Beargrass along the slopes of Mt. Henkel and Altyn Peak
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We began the Ptarmigan Tunnel trail at the north end of the Swiftcurrent
Motor Lodge complex, near the motor inn rooms. The trail begins with a
steep rise over several hundred yards. This is a spur trail connecting
with a trail that begins at Many Glacier Hotel. But starting from
Many Glacier adds another mile to the hike.
The initial climb is probably
the steepest part of the trail until the final ascent to Ptarmigan Tunnel.
After this steep section, the trail gradually rises as it bends around the
open south slopes of Mt. Henkel and Altyn Peak. The open area offers many
pleasant views to the west and south. Because we were at Glacier in mid-July,
the Beargrass was in full bloom.
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Wilbur Creek lies at the floor of the large U-shaped valley below the
trail. On the far side of the valley, the long, massive eastern tip of Mt.
Wilbur rises steeply. Like Mt. Grinnell, Mt. Wilbur has a long eastern
extension: Grinnell's is called Grinnell Point. Mountains like Wilbur and
Grinnell reminded me of large ocean tankers with their tall superstructures
and long bows.
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Mt. Wilbur from the southern slopes of Mt. Henkel
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Once the trail rounded the based of Mt. Henkel and took a more northerly
direction, we found ourselves in an open forest of pines trees. Here we
came face-to-face with a dear and fawn...they quickly disappeared into
the woods below the trail.
We noticed that they seemed to be eating
something along the trail. It turns out that they were eating beargrass.
They would cut off the upper part of the stem where the flower bloomed
and apparently ate that. We then noticed a lot of beargrass stems near
the trail. We also spotted a Lazuli Bunting and a Townsend Salitar.
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After about 2.5 miles of hiking, the trail crossed Ptarmigan Creek at
Ptarmigan Falls. The falls are impressive, but it is hard to get a clear
view all the way to the base of the falls because of the trees and extensive
foliage along the trail. We have pictures we tool 25 years ago of
Ptarmigan Falls that show almost no trees or foliage near the falls.
The falls make a pleasant resting spot...and there is
a pit-toilet nearby. Another 0.1 mile brought us to the junction of the
Iceberg Lake and the Ptarmigan Lake trails. The Ptarmigan Lake trail leads
off to the right, or north.
We were lucky in that we made it to the trail head at Swiftcurrent Motor Lodge
before a ranger naturalist began a nature walk. Even at our leisurely pace,
we made it to the falls before the large nature-walk group. We found that
there are two types of groups to avoid on the trails: humans and horses.
Both take away from the beauty of the moment and a bunch of humans tromping
along a narrow trail can only harm the fragile environment of Glacier's
mountain wilderness. Lucky for us the ranger's group hiked to Iceberg Lake.
I wonder if the Parks Service more or less sacrifices Iceberg Lake to the
roaming hordes, thus preserving Ptarmigan Lake.
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Ptarmigan Falls
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After the junction with the Iceberg Lake trail, the trail to Ptarmigan
Lake and Tunnel climbs steadily through open forests for nearly a mile.
It then levels off near the timberline, offering clear views of the gentle
slopes of Crowfeet Mountain and the deep, narrow canyon carved out of the
sedimentary rock by Ptarmigan Creek. When we neared the lake, we passes a
dozen water falls along Ptarmigan Creek on our right...some were very
impressive. Closer to the lake, we could see in the distance a tiny
dot on the Ptarmigan Wall...we could see the entrance to the tunnel!
North end of Ptarmigan Lake showing the switchbacks leading to Ptarmigan
Tunnel...above the isolated snow patch in the middle of the image. The
section of the trail going straight up is a short cut.
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Ptarmigan Lake lies in a barren cirque formed by the steep sides of the
Ptarmigan Wall to the west and north and the gentle slopes of Crowfeet
Mountain to the east. The lake was still partially frozen and a few
large icebergs floated at the head of the lake. Before hiking to
the tunnel, we had lunch on a stony beach at the foot of the lake and
watch other hikes trudge to the tunnel.
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The trail to the tunnel is amazingly clear from the lake. The trail climbs
via two switch backs; going right, then left, then right again.
From the lake, the tunnel
is another mile of hiking and a 600 foot ascent. The climb is not as
difficult as it looks and can be done in half an hour...we took a little longer.
The tunnel itself is nearly 200 feet long. It was blasted through rock in the
Ptarmigan Wall in 1931 as a shorter route between the Belly River Valley and
Many Glacier. Before the tunnel, hikers had to trek around
Apikuni Mountain and then to Redgap Pass to get to the Belly River.
Two hikers at the Ptarmigan Tunnel
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Mt. Wilbur (far right) and Ptarmigan Lake (center) from
Ptarmigan Tunnel. Upper and lower switchbacks to the tunnel
from the lake are visible at the bottom the image.
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We were almost too early to hike through the tunnel...it opened the day
before we hiked up. Apparently, there was a lot of snow around the north-door
that had to be blasted and then shoveled over the cliffs.
The view from the north-door of Elizabeth Lake and valley below is spectacular.
We continued along the trail until the rock retaining wall ends, about a quarter
of a mile farther. Here you can see Ahern Glacier and Hellen Lake to the south.
Along the trail here, you are right next to the stratified layers of the rock
formation along the Ptarmigan Wall. From Many Glacier or Elizabeth Lake, you
can see the light and dark bands, but here you can reach out and touch them!
Ahern Glacier
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View across the Belly River Valley and Elizabeth Lake
Steep cliffs of the Ptarmigan Wall
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The Highline Trail passes on the other side of Ahern Peak, shown in the
picture above left. If you hiked to Elizabeth Lake and then south along the
Belly River, you would reach Helen Lake at the base of Ahern Peak.
The cliffs on the north side of the Ptarmigan Wall are extremely
steep...they seem to drop straight down! We spent perhaps three quarters
of an hour along the trail just beyond the tunnel. We could have spent
much longer just taking in the views. We knew, however, that we had a
5 mile hike back.
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On the way back we stopped to photograph the glacier lilies in the snow
fields near the lake and shooting stars along the trail at lower
elevations. Glacier lilies were popping up everywhere the ice melted.
These are similar to the Trout Lily we find in South Carolina.
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Shooting Stars
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Glacier Lilly
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We also saw a small group of goats. They were actually along the trail up
to the tunnel, but we never saw them. We see them now in the pictures we took,
but they were so well camouflaged, we never noticed them while hiking.
Coming back, one of them stood directly in our path along the trail.
After a while, he grudgingly moved up the slope so we could get by. We saw
another small group later along the slopes below the Ptarmigan Wall.
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We were also lucky enough to see a bald eagle nest with its young, white eagle.
The nest was 30-50 feet above the trail in the rocks of
Ptarmigan Wall, across from Crowfeet Mountain. The two adults flew into
crevasses in the rock, like back doors to a house, as well as into the nest.
One of the adults flew just a few feet above us...probably checking us out
as we hung around there awhile!
From left to right are Mt. Wynn, Mt. Allen, and Grinnell Point.
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The hike back to Many Glacier offers magnificent views along
Swiftcurrent Valley and the sunlit rocky sides of Wynn and
Allen mountains and Grinnell Point.
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