Many Glacier Day — Cracker Lake Hike 🏔️💙

Today was absoultely EPIC… one of those days that reminds me why I love exploring the mountains!

Originally, we planned to hike the Grinnell Glacier Trail, but since we had already done that hike on our last Glacier visit — and it was closed this time due to bear activity — we decided to take on something new: Cracker Lake!

We were up early and made our way to the Many Glacier area, arriving just after sunrise to grab a parking spot. After a quick breakfast sandwich, we hit the trail for our biggest hike of the trip — nearly 13 miles round trip (14 for me, of course! 😉).

The hike was incredible from start to finish. The trail took us through beautiful mountain scenery, past glacial streams and waterfalls, across several river crossings, and through fields filled with beautiful wildflowers. We spotted a few deer and some curious ground squirrels along the way, but despite recent bear sightings in the area, that was the extent of our wildlife encounters.

Reaching Cracker Lake was the ultimate reward. The turquoise-blue water, created by glacial rock flour suspended in the lake, looked almost unreal surrounded by towering peaks and dramatic cliffs.

We enjoyed lunch while taking in the views. Don found the perfect spot up on the rocks to soak it all in, while I explored a little farther along the shoreline (because you know I had to investigate! 😉). My extra adventure included walking down to the water’s edge, where I found an old mining boiler — a fascinating little piece of Cracker Lake’s mining history, abandoned there more than a century ago.

The views, the wildflowers, the adventure… Cracker Lake was absolutely worth every step! 💙🏔️Read more