Hiking the Dragon's Tail - Glacier National Park

Hiking the Dragon’s Tail – Glacier National Park

Radd Icenoggle

November 20, 2021

Hiking 2021

The screaming wind roared in our ears and shook our steps as we rounded Reynolds Mountain. There rose the narrow spine of the Dragon’s Tail from the pass we clung to. This would be our turnaround point as discretion is the better part of valor. We turned our backs on the Dragon’s Tail knowing we would be back…soon.

The Hike

One of the lesser-known gems in Glacier National Park, the hike to the Dragon’s Tail began from the Logan Pass parking lot (that’s right, the most crowded area in the park). We started out on Hidden Lake Nature Trail, which is initially paved, then a boardwalk, and, eventually, an actual trail.

A bit over a mile from the trailhead, we reached a small tarn, and an unmarked trail will branch off to the left. Someone had attempted to block the trail with old limbs as they mistakenly took this trail as a user trail. However, this side trail, called the Reynolds Route on some maps, was lined with rocks on both sides for the first little bit.

Even on this October day, there was a fair amount of people on the Hidden Lake trail, but quickly they receded into memory. Soon, we were crossing a pleasant alpine meadow that give way to talus slopes of so many hues and shades of Belt Formation rock. Ascending along this slope, we paused often to enjoy absolutely spectacular views of the Hanging Gardens in the valley below and the surrounding peaks of Logan Pass.

Two miles in and we reached the first pass on the route. And it was here that first encountered “real” wind, the type that is angry and violent. The gusts were definitely passing 50 miles per mile, but the views supplanted any notions of turning around and getting out of the gale. This saddle sits on a ridge of the loaming Reynolds Mountain, and from here we stood atop the Continental Divide overlooking Hidden Lake and Bearhat Mountain to the west. And to the east, Heavy Runner Mountain dominated the east-facing scene.

From the pass, the trail continued along the ridge for aways, and then began to sidehill along the flanks of Reynolds Mountain. This portion of the narrow trail crossed talus fields that told a geologic story 1.4 billion years in the making.

Belt Formation Mudcracks - 1.4 Billion Years in the Making

Many slabs of Belt Formation mudstones in Glacier National Park feature ancient mudcracks. This simple sedimentary structure is mesmerizing to look at but it is also a clue to understanding the Precambrian environment of 1.4 billion years ago (I know, my head hurts too). This steep and rocky terrain that we hiked through was once covered in a vast, shallow body of water called the Belt Sea. Tidal flats adjacent to the sea were intermittently covered in water. As the water receded, the mud would dry out and mudcracks would form. Occasionally a wash of additional would cover the cracks, and preserve them through deep time until now when they lay exposed at our feet.

Just shy of 3 miles in, we reached the second pass, which was the endpoint for this hike. This pass lies between Reynolds Mountain and the Dragon’s Trail. The panoramic views of Hidden Lake and the surrounding mountains held us dumbfounded as we both exclaimed our love of these mountains (really, we are both in love with these mountains).

Autumn on the Going-to-the-Sun Road

Returning back to the Logan Pass parking lot, we drove back down the mountain towards Apgar and the campground (our humble home from the evening in the rooftop tent). The autumn colors were simply mind-numbing with the intensity of the yellows and oranges in the leaves of alder, birch, and cottonwood.

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Hiking 2021