Glacier's east side is spangled in Fall colors

 

Bright yellow dominates the lower end of trail at Two Med

The colors were really popping on the mountains above Two Med Lake

Katie enjoys a break below Scenic Point

The red ground cover thrilled us

Katie in the red

All sorts of color abounds

Above Midvale Creek with Dancing Lady Mountain above us

Glacier National Park's east side aspen, cottonwoods, bushes and ground cover are ablaze in autumnal splendor.

Yellows, oranges, reds and browns dominate the palette of the park's transition zone from high plains to high mountains.

One of my favorite hikes in the park is the 10-miles stretch of the Continental Divide Trail between the town of East Glacier Park and Two Medicine Lake.  This is a stretch that starts on the plains and climbs to the Scenic Point Mountain high point before descending on a steep alpine trail to the lake.  It gains and loses nearly 3,000 feet depending on which way it is hiked.

We decided to start Thursday from East Glacier Park, parking our car at the golf shack on the golf course.  It is about a half-mile walk on a road to the CDT trailhead that follows Midvale Creek and climbs below the Head and Bison mountains to Scenic Point.

It is mostly primitive road through the Blackfeet Reservation portion of the hike before narrowing to hiking trail.

Early in the park's history this was a much traveled horse trail for dudes getting off the train in East Glacier.  After the Going to the Sun Highway was built, the focus shifted to St. Mary and Many Glacier, and East Glacier became a spot favored by Montanans. 

The hike can be broken into two sections geologically.  From East Glacier it winds through deep forest and then climbs to the Scenic Point ridge line where it becomes alpine.  At Scenic Point it is alpine all the way.

I love this hike the best in the fall, past mid-September, when the colors are the best.

The part of the hike from East Glacier to Scenic Point is seldom hiked, except for CDT trekkers and there is copious evidence of the presence of grizzly and black bears.  Be prepared!

Most hikers start at Two Med and limit their trips to Scenic Point out and back.

They are only getting half the experience.