We started day two of our June 2022 Glacier National Park trip heading north along Camas Road with plans to go to Polebridge and then on to Bowman Lake and eventually as far as Kintla Lake. It had been many years since I had been to Bowman Lake and even longer since I had been to Kintla. Unfortunately, we discovered that the road to Kintla Lake was closed due to flooding. So that will have to wait a little longer. We still made a stop at the Polebridge Mercantile and acquired some baked goods. You have to try the huckleberry bear claws if you ever get the chance. This year we also discovered they had a few savory items as well, we really enjoyed the baked pizza roll.
With our bellies filled, we got back on the dirt road and headed towards Bowman Lake. The road is dirt, but most of the time it is passable in a passenger car, although I would prefer something with a little more ground clearance. Once we got to the lake we spent a little time around the boat launch area and then took a short hike around the eastern shore over the bridge at the outlet of Bowman Creek and continued for another half a mile or so along the shore. We saw a lot of wildflowers, some deer and even a spruce grouse in the area.
The view of Bowman Lake from the bridge over the Bowman Creek outlet. My sister Melissa is admiring the view.
We were probably just a little early for the peak of wildflower season, but we still found a lot, including these Purple Clematis.
Fairy Slipper.
Glacier Lily.
Male Spruce Grouse.
Another shot of the male Spruce Grouse, he was not being a very cooperative subject.
Since we could not make it to Kintla Lake, we had to shift gears and come up with a plan B for the rest of the day. So after our curiosity was satisfied at Bowman, we decided to drive all the way around to the east side of the park and do some hiking. I had been wanting to see Saint Mary Falls and Virginia Falls, so we made a plan to do that. Since we were so late in the day at that point, we were not able to find parking where we wanted for the Saint Mary Falls hike. We ended up parking just down the road from Sunrift Gorge. This meant we could do a little longer hike and also see Baring Falls, so that is what we did. We hiked down Siyeh Pass to Baring Falls and then got on the Piegan Pass trail along Saint Mary Lake until we hit the Saint Mary Falls trail and then continued past the falls up to Virginia Falls, with some lesser falls along the way. If you enjoy waterfalls, I would really recommend this hike. I believe it’s a little over 5 miles round trip. There is a little bit of elevation coming and going, but it’s not too bad. On our way back we decided to hike up to the road and walk it back to where we parked since it was a more direct route then going around to Baring Falls again.
Baring Falls in Glacier National Park.
A view from the trail between Baring Falls and Saint Marry Falls with Saint Mary Lake and the mountains in the background. There is also evidence of the fires that went through this area several years go.
Saint Mary Falls.
A cascade along the trail between Saint Mary Falls and Virginia Falls.
Virginia Falls. Even from this far away you could still feel the mist on you. If you hike a little further there is an overlook closer to the falls.
On our way back of course we had to stop for some Wild Goose Island and Jackson Glacier pictures. With so much snow still left on the mountains, you could not really discern Jackson Glacier from the surrounding snow still on the mountains. We were hoping to maybe spot a bear on our way out too, as they often frequent the shores along Saint Mary Lake, but we did not see any this time. Even though it was getting late and it was a little rainy, we decided to pull into the Goat Lick Overlook. I am sure glad we did. We saw at least 15 mountain goats there that evening. They were primarily hanging out in three different areas visible from the overlook area. The rain and fog would kind of come and go, so it wasn’t great for photography, or at least not for what I was trying to do, but it was still awesome to see so many mountain goats in one spot. As the name implies, the goats were in the area licking the salts that leach out of the rocks/soil in the area. We stayed there until it was pretty much dark and then we finished the drive back to our hotel at Lake McDonald and called it a night.
Wild Goose Island on Saint Mary Lake with an incoming storm.
Three mountain goats in the Goat Lick Overlook area.
Near dark, a nanny mountain goat with her kid tucked in behind her on the cliffs at Goat Lick Overlook.