High line and iceberg closures

danlowery · Post by **danlowery** » Sun Aug 21, 2016 5:23 am

Ouch. Was hoping to do hockey ref hike two weeks from today. Was considering doing Altyn peak and iceberg lake on same day, August 31. Hopefully both will be options by that time. Anyone know what type of carcass was found on iceberg trail?

Dan

PeteE · Post by **PeteE** » Sun Aug 21, 2016 8:00 am

No, the rangers at Logan yesterday didn't know, or weren't saying, what the carcass was on the Highline.
PizzaBob did the hike across Piegan Pass to Many Glacier yesterday. Maybe he knows something.

I'm supposed to do ShangriLa with DayhikerScott on Tuesday.the 23rd.
So I hope the bears eat quickly!!!!!!!
This really sucks with three major trails closed.(Ptarmigan Tunnel is closed too)

Note to Rangers: Break out the dynamite please!

pete

teapot57 · Post by **teapot57** » Sun Aug 21, 2016 9:11 am

I stayed in Many Glacier Friday night, and did the short walk to Fishercap Lake after settling into my cabin, around 7:00 pm. As I'm sure you would guess, the Swiftcurrent Trail was posted saying Shangrila had to be done as an out and back. After leaving the parking lot, I saw about 30 people on that first bridge you come to, all with their cameras pointed. There was a grizzly directly across the river in the bushes. It move off and we all moved on. On my way back from the lake, the grizzly was foraging on the opposite side of the bridge, in the area between the river and the campground. So it had cross the trail or swam under the bridge to get there after all the people left.

Hungry Bears out there! I heard reports of people seeing up to 6 griz on the Grinnell Glacier hike this week, even after the brief closure of part of that trail, so maybe Iceberg/Ptarmigan will open up again soon.

PeteE · Post by **PeteE** » Sun Aug 21, 2016 9:24 am

teapot57 wrote:
Hungry Bears out there! I heard reports of people seeing up to 6 griz on the Grinnell Glacier hike this week, even after the brief closure of part of that trail, so maybe Iceberg/Ptarmigan will open up again soon.

LOL! Grinnell glacier and Angelwing is my plan B since Shangrila is closed.
And here some people were skeptical when I said:
"Bears are everywhere all the time"

Thanks for the update Tina

pete

Marmotman · Post by **Marmotman** » Mon Aug 22, 2016 1:02 pm

We climbed Mt. Jackson on Saturday staying Fri and Sat nights at Gunsight. Two of our friends day hiked into Gunsight on Saturday to see if they could spot us.While we were on top, the BIGGEST griz they have ever seen swam ashore and walked right through GUN camp. People were scrambling. Once we got back down to camp I spotted a scat pile with a very large diameter "exit". It must have been a big boy for sure. There were 3 more piles between Gunsight and REY. Rangers were heading into GUN when we stopped at REY for a break on Sunday.

teapot57 · Post by **teapot57** » Mon Aug 22, 2016 6:17 pm

Two of our friends day hiked into Gunsight on Saturday to see if they could spot us.While we were on top, the BIGGEST griz they have ever seen swam ashore and walked right through GUN camp. P

Interesting! Maybe it was a descendant of this legendary griz: http://www.ultimatemontana.com/newslett ... 92705.html

Thanks for sharing!

corntobewild · Post by **corntobewild** » Wed Aug 24, 2016 7:33 am

So Teapot57, when you mentioned that Shangri-la had to be done as an out and back does that mean that someone could go up to Shangri-la basin off of the swiftcurrent trail and then down the scree field to iceberg lake and then retrace your route back to the basin and swiftcurrent trail? I'm heading to Glacier next week and definitely want to see iceberg lake even if there are no icebergs left in it. I see the iceberg lake trail is still closed today. I'm thinking that iceberg lake may be off limits period. Anyone else know if this is doable?

PeteE · Post by **PeteE** » Wed Aug 24, 2016 8:07 am

corntobewild wrote:So Teapot57, when you mentioned that Shangri-la had to be done as an out and back does that mean that someone could go up to Shangri-la basin off of the swiftcurrent trail and then down the scree field to iceberg lake and then retrace your route back to the basin and swiftcurrent trail? I'm heading to Glacier next week and definitely want to see iceberg lake even if there are no icebergs left in it. I see the iceberg lake trail is still closed today. I'm thinking that iceberg lake may be off limits period. Anyone else know if this is doable?

DayhikerScott told me via email last night that Iceberg Lake may be opening in the next day or two.
He got that from a Ranger at Many Glacier. We were supposed to do it yesterday.
Hopefully we can do it Saturday, the 27th. That's the tentative plan. Anyone else doing it Saturday?
Teapot?

So doing ShangriLa as an "out and back" probably won't be necessary when you get here.
It's certainly possible to do ShangriLa as an out and back, but personally, I would not advise it.

pete

Jay w · Post by **Jay w** » Wed Aug 24, 2016 8:54 am

corntobewild wrote:So Teapot57, when you mentioned that Shangri-la had to be done as an out and back does that mean that someone could go up to Shangri-la basin off of the swiftcurrent trail and then down the scree field to iceberg lake and then retrace your route back to the basin and swiftcurrent trail? I'm heading to Glacier next week and definitely want to see iceberg lake even if there are no icebergs left in it. I see the iceberg lake trail is still closed today. I'm thinking that iceberg lake may be off limits period. Anyone else know if this is doable?

Hiking down to the lake and then turning around and hiking...man, a couple thousand feet up scree, and steep scree at that, is one hell of a hump. I'd definitely recommend NOT hiking down to the lake if you're doing an out and back.

The second thing is down climbing the band through the cliffs. Doable, particularly if you've done the hike a few times. I remember asking a ranger at Iceberg about doing Shangri-La backwards when I hadn't done it before. Like most rangers, he didn't give me any clear direction but made it sound somewhat difficult. Boy am I glad I didn't try it. Trying to find that band through the cliffs would be near impossible, and by that point, the pressure to continue forward would be really high. In truth, I wouldn't have made it up the scree even in the trees on the left. That's a lot of vertical.

Hoser

teapot57 · Post by **teapot57** » Wed Aug 24, 2016 5:11 pm

So Teapot57, when you mentioned that Shangri-la had to be done as an out and back does that mean that someone could go up to Shangri-la basin off of the swiftcurrent trail and then down the scree field to iceberg lake and then retrace your route back to the basin and swiftcurrent trail?

If I remember correctly, the posting specifically stated that you could only go to the Shangri La basin as an out and back from the Swiftcurrent Trail. You cannot go all the way down to Iceberg lake. Hopefully what DayhikerScott heard is true and it will longer be an issue.

Teapot?

I sure wish I could, but I won't be able to make it this Saturday. My son picked up a new sport-- football, and he has his first game on Saturday afternoon. Thanks for thinking of me, Pete!

PeteE · Post by **PeteE** » Wed Aug 24, 2016 9:35 pm

teapot57 wrote: I sure wish I could, but I won't be able to make it this Saturday. My son picked up a new sport-- football, and he has his first game on Saturday afternoon. Thanks for thinking of me, Pete!

That's Ok.We'll do something before the year is out.
Unfortunately, DayhikerScott is leaving before Saturday

Nobody to go with now....even if the trail opens.

pete

iagreewithjamie · Post by **iagreewithjamie** » Thu Aug 25, 2016 5:21 am

Just saw this in my Facebook feed.
Heading into the busiest week of the year (free admission to celebrate the centennial), lots of the majors are closed due to hungry bears.
http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-re ... d8315.html

Boulder Pass trail should be all clear - I'm pretty sure I ate all of the huckleberries on that trail.

teapot57 · Post by **teapot57** » Sun Aug 28, 2016 8:30 pm

Swiftcurrent Pass Trail is now closed and I can't say I'm surprised.

The night I was there (last Friday), I exchanged emails with a gal I met while observing the bear from the bridge that I described earlier. She had a great camera and offered to send me some photos. Anyway, she emailed me and explained how she and her husband walked to Red Rock Lake the next morning. They watched a bear swim in Red Rock Lake. The bear then came ashore quite close to them. As they headed back to the trail, they met a trail runner who encountered a sow grizzly with a cub near the top of the falls. A little spooked, they then decided to head back to the parking lot rather than proceed further up the trail. On the their way back, not once, but twice, they had a bear cross the trail while they headed back to the parking lot. Two separate bears at two different spots on the trail.

Lots of activity for a short jaunt to Red Rock Lake!

Glacier National Park Chat

High line and iceberg closures

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