Mountain Misfits

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Hiking on the Golden Needle trail to Lupine Lake, Flathead National Forest

Radd Icenoggle

November 23, 2021

Hiking 2021

What a beautiful day for a beautiful hike up to Lupine Lake, a place neither of us has ever been. Looking at the whole handy-dandy AllTrails, the hike is a quick and easy 5.7 mile out and back with about 1100 foot elevation gain.

Where’s the trailhead?
Where’s the trailhead?
That’s right…paved road from Marion to the trailhead
That’s right…paved road from Marion to the trailhead
And just like the Gunsight Lake hike in Glacier National Park, the trail starts with an immediate drop in elevation to the bottom of a picturesque small gorge. After this point, the rest of the hike a gently uphill. And this is where we walked on the Golden Needle trail as uncountable millions of western larch needles lay across the forest floor and trail.

We had enough heartbeats to feel rewarded once we got to the lake. Lupine Lake is a pretty little forested lake, a quiet place to catch our breath and take some pics and video (gotta save those memories, ya know). The margins of the lake were wearing a new sheet of thin ice, a sure sign that things

Embracing our inner Mediocre Amateur, we opted to run the trail out as we had a dinner with friends to get to. The trail was a perfect pitch for maintaining a comfortable pace until…we reached that little gorge and the uphill to the jeep. We had a heart-pumping half-mile (short, I know, but enough after a long day), and making it to the rig was a welcome sight.

Next stop, is the gas station in Marion for junk food and beer!

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Hiking 2021
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