This may seem like a really dumb question, but let me give you some background on me so you will understand why I am asking. I live in the Blue Ridge Mountains in the country and when we get a lot of snow that drifts, the road to my house is the last place it melts for miles around. Our road is not plowed because it is a private road. The drifts will be in the road and the fields around it will be completely clear. With all of that being said, I am really concerned about my upcoming trip to Glacier. Since there has been a lot of snow this year and I see they are just now in the process of clearing drifts from the road, does that mean even if the road is open, the trails will still be covered with drifts? Or do any of the trails melt before the road as it does at my home? Or is it just snowfall all over and no drifts? We will be there from July 3 to 11 and I fear we will be coming to see snow. Not exactly what I want to see. I want to see flowers and unfrozen lakes, etc. Thanks for you help. The Highline trail is one I was especially wanting to do the whole way. Thanks again,
Don't worry, by July 3 it will almost be summertime in the northern Rockies and you should be able to do the majority of the hikes you want to do. Yeah, there will be snow for you to look at and maybe even hike on for short segments and the streams and waterfalls should be flowing pretty good.
dorf wrote:Don't worry, by July 3 it will almost be summertime in the northern Rockies and you should be able to do the majority of the hikes you want to do. Yeah, there will be snow for you to look at and maybe even hike on for short segments and the streams and waterfalls should be flowing pretty good.
That and I'm thinking the wildflowers will be out in full force. There's going to be more than ample moisture from all of that melting snow.
That and I'm thinking the wildflowers will be out in full force.
This picture was taken on July 11, 2004 on the way back from the hidden Lake overlook. Not a great shot of flowers but they were certainly blooming---even after it started to sleet.
What about mosquitoes and biting flies. I've been to Glacier twice in mid June and many of the higher elevations were still snowed in and I've never been able to do the infamous Hockey Ref hike or go through Ptarmigan tunnell but never had any problems with flies or mosquitoes. Does this later thaw mean July 9-19 won't be so bad for bugs or should I still bring the bug stuff.
mtmzfan wrote:Here's a pic from our July 4th hike last year to Piegan Pass. Hard to believe the GTTS Road didn't open until July 1st...I think you should be fine.
Last years late opening of Going-to-the-Sun Road had nothing to do with snow melt. Plowing was all done and the road was clear sometime around the first week of June. The floods of November 2006 washed out a big section of the road near the east side tunnel and there was substantial damage on the west side of Logan Pass as well. Repairs including the installation of a temporary bridge over the washout is what delayed opening of the road in 2007.
I think it is always wise to carry bug repellant in your pack in case you encounter pesky bugs on your hike. I don't know what others do but I can't think of any time when we have put on bug repellant at the start of a hike. Instead we have put it on if we are bothered with bugs once on the trail.
I can't recall of any hike in Glacier where I have been bothered by bugs during the entire hike. It is my experience that pesky bugs hang out in certain locations. We were considerably bothered by bugs right at Iceberg Lake one evening in July 2001 but away from the lake they were not a problem. I have not been bothered by bugs there at other times. There was also a section of the Ptarmigan Tunnel trail in the woods between the Ptarmigan/Iceberg Jct. and Ptarmigan Lake where bugs were bad in mid July 2005 and an open section on the west end of the South Shore trail at Two Medicine in early June 2007. Once the South Shore trail re-entered the woods, there were no bugs.
Sometimes all you have to do is to hike through these sections. Perhaps there are more bug problems in backcountry campgrounds.
Bugs? Let me just say that I had to implement a Bug Irritation Factor (BIF) notation for the daily stats on my website for our 2004 mid-July trip. It was bad. It was really bad. It didn't matter where we were in the BC either. Most nights were spent inside the tent immediately after eating dinner to escape the little bastards.
dorf wrote:Bugs? Let me just say that I had to implement a Bug Irritation Factor (BIF) notation for the daily stats on my website for our 2004 mid-July trip. It was bad. It was really bad. It didn't matter where we were in the BC either. Most nights were spent inside the tent immediately after eating dinner to escape the little bastards.
I don't remember exactly the year, but 2004 sounds about right, that was extremely bad for mosquitos. I think there were petitions all over the county to spray for them. I remember playing softball and getting them in my eyes and mouth and hair..yuck! I don't remember a summer before or since then that's been as bad as that year...