Pitamakan and Dawson Pass Loop

[Hockey Ref]

No water at all on the Dawson Pass side except very low down in the forest where there are a couple of streams. If you're going up the Dawson side, they will be near the beginning. After that, there's nothing, and if you are doing the full loop the next water won't be until you are well below Pitamakan Pass and just a couple of miles from the end of the hike.

[Seth]

Logistics question - if we were to stay at Rising Sun or St. Mary the night before Daw-Pit, how long would it take us to drive to the trailhead? We can stay in East Glacier the night before but that means another hotel switch (which we are already doing a number of times). Plus, if I have to drive from a hotel in East Glacier to the trailhead, I'm wondering how much longer it would take to just drive from St. Mary.

[Jen]

Logistics question - if we were to stay at Rising Sun or St. Mary the night before Daw-Pit, how long would it take us to drive to the trailhead? We can stay in East Glacier the night before but that means another hotel switch (which we are already doing a number of times). Plus, if I have to drive from a hotel in East Glacier to the trailhead, I'm wondering how much longer it would take to just drive from St. Mary.

You should be able to get to Two Medicine Lake in just under an hour from St. Mary and around 30 minutes from East Glacier. I would not change hotels if it were me. Besides, It is a beautiful drive along the looking glass highway.

[pitamakan]

I'd allow up to an hour from St. Mary, depending on how you drive. It's a very winding road, with open-range livestock, and slow-moving RVs that always seem to be right in front of you. It's a gorgeous drive, though, especially near sunrise and sunset.

Mark

[Tsmith]

Take Mark's advice as the free range cattle seemed to be a lot more of this past year than previous trips through there.