It’s still winter(ish) up at Glen Lake, Bitterroot Mountains
February 1, 2021
Hiking
Seems like every year when the snow is finally coming off the high-country, we head up to Glen Lake, and its no-name sister lake high in the Bitterroot Mountains. The loop mostly travels among the skeletal remains of the Gash Creek Fire of 2006. On a July 24 afternoon, the fire erupted in the Gash Creek area when a teenage asshole from Bitterroot Valley thought it would be cool to light a few fires that day. The fire quickly grew to cover more than 8,500 acres, which included Glen Lake and the surrounding area of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area. While the scars of the wildfire are still very much evident, the ideal habitat was created for Mountain Bluebirds and Dusky Grouse, both species we saw on this day.
On this day, the clouds were threatening and they carried through on those threats with, well, it was hard to tell if it was rain, sleet, or snow, but it was wet and cold. Banks of clouds flowed over the ridges as we made our way to the first ridge and entered the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area. Slabs of snow defied what was supposed to be summer.
While Glen Lake is an attractive lake (seems like a weird fetish), the unnamed lake that sits above Glen. This shallow body of water seems to me to fit the definition of a tarn, a cartography term that I adore. A tarn is a usually shallow mountain lake formed in a cirque excavated by a glacier where a moraine may form a natural dam below a tarn.
After enjoying the views and digging on the stormy vibes, the skies decided to fully unleash, and despite rain gear, we were quickly soaked through and through with frigid hands. The solution…time to turn this hike into a trail run to White Buffalo at the trailhead.
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Hiking
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