Ptarmigan Tunnel

A portion of today's hike, 2.5 miles, is the same trail that we hiked when we went to Iceberg Lake on Saturday. Shortly after Ptarmigan Falls the trail splits - one trail going on to Iceberg Lake, and the other, heading up, to Ptarmigan Tunnel. The weather for the first half of the hike was perfect; blue skies, light breeze, temperatures in the 50s. By the time we started back down, some clouds had rolled in and it felt cold when the wind blew. But once we reached the shelter of some trees, all was well again and we were able to enjoy the fall colors all around us.

By-the-way, I think in Sunday's blog I said that it was the first day of fall. That was wrong, today is the first day of the fall season. You can always count on your fellow hikers to help set things right!

These are pictures from the first section of the hike, the same section that we hiked on Saturday, but today the sky is blue and...

the surrounding peaks are impressive.

Here's another picture of Ptarmigan Falls - you can compare this picture to the one on Saturday's blog. This picture shows sunlight and is a little closer to the falls.

After the split with the Iceberg Lake hike the trail gets steep and climbs through open woodland. When we emerged from the woods, close to Ptarmigan Lake, we had this look-back view.

Outlet creek and falls from Ptarmigan Lake and...

Ptarmigan Lake which lies in a gravelly, barren-looking cirque below the tunnel. From here we could see two switchbacks up on the slope to the tunnel and we knew that there was definitely more than a little work ahead of us.

We made it up to the tunnel and a nice woman who was already there asked if we would like our picture taken in front of the tunnel entrance.

Before we ate our lunch we passed through the tunnel to the other side. The tunnel was blasted through the solid rock of the Ptarmigan Wall in 1931. Someone told us that it was made high enough so that someone on horseback could pass through.

Coming out on the other side, the trail continues down into the valley below.

View of Lake Elizabeth and the Belly River Valley on the other side of the tunnel.

Natoas Peak rising above Lake Elizabeth. See its red top-knot?

To the right - with Lake Elizabeth at center left - is Mount Wilbur and its red rock.

Back on the south side, we ate our lunch beside the tunnel entrance with this view of Ptarmigan Lake, and yes, that's the trail on the right.

From above, looking down on one of the two switch-backs that we had climbed up. The total length of the switch-back climb was 0.7 of a mile from Ptarmigan Lake.

View on the way back, just past Ptarmigan Lake, before we reentered the woods. 

Back along the section of the trail that was a repeat of Saturday's hike, above the Wilbur Creek Valley of the Many Glaciers area, we were able to enjoy some fine fall scenery.

Orange and red at the base of Grinnell Point.

We got back to St. Mary about 5:30 pm, and just as we were turning off the main road to drive the 1/2 mile to our campground, we saw a bear scurrying off into the woods. We tried to get its picture, but this is the best we could do as it quickly moved into the surrounding woods.

Hike statistics:

Length - 10.9 miles

Elevation gain - 2,400 feet (241 floors on the Fitbit)

Duration - 5 hours, 30 minutes