During our Northwest Montana trip this year, we spent time on one of our all-time favorite trails – Triple Divide Pass. This trip, we wanted to explore spots new to us, including a day boating on Flathead Lake. In today’s post, I’ll share our impressions for this trail, as well as a brief overview of our other adventures this trip.
Triple Divide Pass
Snow and rainwater from the Triple Divide Pass flow in three different oceans – Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic, and Artic. A raindrop that falls here may become part of the Columbia, Mississippi, or Saskatchewan rivers systems. These waters will end up following three different directions towards the Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Hudson Bay. These converging watersheds encourage migration and dispersal of plants and animals in these vast areas within North America.
Two Medicine is your starting point for this 14.2 mile out and back trail, which has a elevation gain totaling 2,400 feet. You’ll start at the Cut Bank trailhead and walk through a stunningly beautiful wildflower field with towering peaks in the distance. The trail goes into the forest with frequent views of the North Fork Cut Bank Creek. Just pass the Medicine Grizzly trail junction, you will start climbing and the views will become increasing beautiful as you go up.
This remote and beautiful part of Glacier National Park was well worth the drive and effort it took to reach the top. After spending a crowded day on the Grinnell Glacier trail, we were extremely grateful to share this trail with two local guys and a small trail crew working towards the top of the summit. We were pretty tired and warm when we came upon locals, who kindly took the time to chat and encourage us to continue the additional three-quarter of a mile to the summit.
Be sure to bring plenty of water, as there were few water refilling opportunities on the way up to the pass. On the way down, snow melt from the warm day provided a few more opportunities to filter water for our trip down.
Home Away from Home
The VRBO cabin we booked in East Glacier provided a good starting place for our adventures during the second half of our trip. It was clean and quiet, but offered no internet, phone service or A/C. We were gone during the hottest part of the day and temperatures in the 50s at night, kept it cool enough to sleep comfortably. The bear-proof garbage worked to deter the black bear until we could scare it away from our cabin.
Trip Overview
Of course, the views are stunning, but we have also had a lot of luck seeing wildlife on the East side of Glacier. Make sure you plan to stay close to Many Glacier, Two Medicine or East Glacier during part of your visit to Glacier National Park. During this trip we saw the elusive Lynx, Moose, and two Black Bear. There are fewer amenities on this side of the park, so be sure to plan your trip early.
In a future post, I will share some of our other adventures, including new trails and boating on Flathead Lake. Be sure to subscribe below and let me know if you have any questions about planning your own trip to Glacier.
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