Boulder Pass Trail

Hike Name: Boulder Pass Trail Location: northwest MT Length: 32.4 Submitted by: Kristy Salm Date Submitted: 0/0/00 Rating:	more Montana trail reviews Montana national parks Montana state parks
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Description
Awesome trip. Saw very few other hikers on the first two days. Cold nights, warm days. Beautiful scenery.

August 10, 1997

Started at Lake McDonald. Two hour drive to Kintla Lake. Road was rough - good thing we rented the Explorer . We saw a grizzly on the way, stopped the car but it went behind a shrub before we could get a picture. We drove through a section of forest where there had been a forest fire, very interesting landscape. Set up camp by the lake & relaxed. Saw lots of fish jumping. Found out what "a bad year for misquotes" meant.

August 11, 1997

Hike - Day 1
Start: Kintla Lake Trailhead
Finish: Upper Kintla Lake Campground
Length: 11.6
Elevation Up: 400 ft.
Elevation Down: 0

Trail followed the shores of Kintla Lake and Upper Kintla lake. There were plenty of places to stop and eat huckleberries. Stopped for lunch at a food prep area at the end of Kintla Lake. After lunch we came to a beautiful prairie. There was a big rock for us to sit on and take in the dramatic scenery of Harris Glacier. We took a long break here and took many pictures.

Campground at Upper Kintla lake was very scenic. Tent area just a stones throw from the water.

August 12, 1997

Hike - Day 2
Start: Upper Kintla Lake Campground
Finish: Hole in the Wall Campground
Length: 10.1
Elevation Up: 3070 ft.
Elevation Down: 1090 ft.

Challenging trail. Long march up hill. Late melt this year so run off provided plenty of water stops. Lots of brush, good thing we wore long pants. There were some great views looking back at the lake. Lots of waterfalls and glacial scenery.

Boulder pass itself was incredible. Campsite at the top where we stopped for lunch. Views were amazing. The pain in getting here was definitely worth it! Took tons of pictures.

Crossing the mountain top was bizarre. We passed through an area of lava pools, and it looked like we were on the surface of the moon. There were a number of snow field and snow bridge crossings that required very careful footing. (Walking sticks were key.)
Started down to Hole in the Wall campsite, which is located on a Cirque about a 1000 feet below the top of the mountain. This is supposedly the most remote campsite in the park. The trail was very narrow with cliffs on one side and a very steep drop on the other side. One part of the trail was blocked by snow and we had a treacherous crossing that required going off of the trail. A mountain goat was climbing in this area and came within 10 feet of me.

Hole in the Wall is one of the most picturesque campgrounds I have ever experienced. We found out what "pesky wildlife" meant when a mule deer wandered right into our campsite and started snacking on a sweaty T-shirt we'd hung on a tree to dry. We had many opportunities to view mule deer and mountain goats in this area. Wish we could have stayed here longer!!

August 13, 1997

Hike - Day 3
Start: Hole in the Wall Campground
Finish: Goat Haunt Ranger Station
Length: 10.7
Elevation Up: 260 ft.
Elevation Down: 2440 ft.

We went over Brown pass and stopped for a rest at the continental divide. We passed by Lake Francis and continued on to Lake Janet for lunch. The trail descended gradually through forest with a lot of brush.

After lunch we continued on to Goat Haunt. The last mile of the trip was rather hellish as we had to walk through constant swarms of misquotes. We did get to cross another cool suspension bridge (one hiker at a time limit).

At Goat Haunt, we caught a ride on a tour boat to the Waterton townsite in Canada, where we stayed in the scenic Prince of Whales Lodge for a few days to recover!

This was an amazing hike. Very highly recommended. Please feel free to contact me if you'd like more information - kristin.e.salm@ac.com.

Directions to Hike
From West Glacier part entrance:

Camas Rd to Outside N. Fork Rd. North to Polebridge to Inside N. Fork Rd. North to Kintla Lake.

Contact Information
Glacier National Park
Off Hwy. 2
P.O. Box 128
West Glacier, MT 59936

406-888-5441

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