Glacier National – April

[Ed O]

I’m planning to extend a work trip in Helena, MT to wrap in a first time quick visit to Glacier, or other gotta-see wilderness in NW Montana. It’s quickly becoming overwhelming in attempting to identify what to do on a short timeline.

I’ll be grabbing my rental in Helena on Friday, April 14 – and returning for my flight back to Oregon on Monday the 17th. Not necessarily looking for epic (very) early season expeditions – but instead any fantastic places that can be accessed within that brief 3-night window.

Any NW Montanans have any advice…?

 

E

[John Klinepeter]

Since nobody else has responded yet I will give it a try.  Realize that I am more of a day hiker than a backpacker so it would be useful to know if you are looking for overnight back country activities or day hikes .  Backpacking in April in GNP before the campgrounds officially open can be tricky and in order to get a permit you have to give the rangers a convincing argument that you have a solid plan and are capable–at least that is my understanding.

I will concentrate on giving you day hike ideas.

The Apgar car campground (west side) is open all year as is the St. Mary car campground (east side).  There was last fall some entrance station construction at St. Mary which limited access to the campground; inquire before you go.  This is primitive camping, bring your own water.

A little background.  I often go day hiking with a loosely organized group.  We mostly do easy walks, we don’t like to get our feet wet or travel much on snow.  With these constraints it is not hard to imagine that we go crazy trying to find places with views, not trapped in the forest, to walk in mid-April in the Flathead Valley area.  (The Flathead Valley is on the other side of the mountains from Helena.)  To give you another perspective, it is not unusual for the golf courses in the Valley to open as late as mid-April as there are often patches of snow on the ground in early April, this being at ~3000 feet elevation.  Be ready for snow if you want to hike in the mountains.

I am more familiar with the western and southern parts of GNP in April than I am with the eastern parts.  One of the better activities that time of year is to rent a bike and ride from Apgar to the Flathead River and back.  This is a moderate ride, about 25 miles round trip, some decent views.  Vehicle activity on the Camas Road is fairly light even in mid-summer.  There is a good chance, but no guarantee, that the road will be bike-able by mid-April.  On the GNP website check the Road Status Report but the road may be passable to bikes even though the Report indicates the road is closed/gated.

Possible walks in the Lake McDonald area:

(1)  West shore of Lake McDonald.  Some nice views, mostly flat with a few modest rises and falls.  Usually there are lots of downed trees in the spring but not too bad to negotiate.  Refer to GNP’s Trail Status website for any of these walks.

(2)  Avalanche Lake.  If you can drive to the trail head this would be a good walk.  Great scenery at the lake.  Probably best to carry shoe traction aids and hiking poles.

(3)  Upper McDonald Creek.  Easy walk, nice views of the creek, some views of the mountains but don’t expect much.

(4)  Snyder Lake.  I have not walked there in the snow but it should be doable with snow shoes.  Good scenery the last mile into the lake.  More mileage and tougher than the first three walks.

One place to avoid would be the Boundary Trail near West Glacier  Scenic enough but too many ticks for me; yes, they are a problem even when the ground is mostly snow-covered.  Most of the other trails in the Lake McDonald area are pleasant enough as walks through the forest but they don’t yield many views.

On the east side of GNP two very scenic low “ish” elevation hikes (if the roads are open) would be the Dry Fork in the Two Medicine area and along Cut Bank Creek (Atlantic Creek area).  I find those two areas more scenic than the Belly River area;  I know, heresy, I should be shot :)  Maybe Mike M or some of the east side folks could add to the discussion.

If you are willing to explore areas outside the Park, south of Hwy. 2 you could walk up to the Garry Lookout site.  Excellent views of the Park.  It is a short walk but it can be extended by continuing uphill from the LO site (a few footings and anchors are all that remain).  There are several other gorgeous lakes south of Hwy. 2, including Skiumah and Stanton, but finding a place to park could take some effort, there could be considerable snow depth, and I will leave it to you to determine the safety and hazard factors.  I have two more words for you:  Buffalo Lakes.  I’m stingy, don’t want the word to get out regarding this area.  Shhhhh!  Do your own homework.

 

 

[Ed O]

AWESOME awesome! Thanks for the words of wisdom. I gathered some of that from the NPS website – but it’s helpful to have some first hand experience reports.

Given the short duration, time of year … I’m thinking of car camping at Apgar, and exploring from there.

Also open to any other action in/around Helena – not bound to GNP. Hot springs, day hikes, lookout towers, ghost towns, weird-must-sees…overall adventuring within 3-4 hours.

[Mike M]

Ed- mid-April ideas are going to be very dependent on the rest of winter and when we get spring- GNP recently got a 4’+ dump of snow, our snowpack here is above normal, but nothing too crazy- again hard to say at this point what the next two months bring (or don’t bring).

In and around Helena you have options in the Big Belt Mtns, Elkhorns and even the Crazies are too far off.  Other than foothills, there is a better than fair chance snowshoes or skis will be needed to penetrate much of the country.

Feel free to shoot me a pm when you’re in town, I’ll have a very good idea what conditions are locally.

As far as Glacier, all of my visits have been in August/September, but would guess that most trails would still be well snowed in.

 

Mike

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