A return to the Grant Ridge Loop in the Great Bear

Camille Consolvo and Mike Dannels at Stanton Lake

Mike Dannels fights the Stanton Creek current

The Great Northern Mountain ridgeline

Stanton Glacier

The Middle Fork below us with St. Nick in the background

With Glacier Park's east side closed by the justifiably Covid-cautious Blackfeet, and the west side overwhelmed with people, the Great Bear Wilderness, within feet of the park across Highway 2 to the south, is a great alternative.

It's the same ecosystem and has alpine lakes, high peaks, glaciers and great hiking trails, but none of the vast crowds of the park.

So, that's where we turned Friday for the Grant Ridge Loop, a robust 12-miles (if you take the side trip to Stanton Lake as we did), and an elevation gain and loss of nearly 4,000 feet.

The lake, only a quarter to half mile off the Ridge trail is a must-see from the shore and offers a spectacular view of glaciated Great Northern Peak.  There is a challenging crossing of Stanton Creek not far from Stanton Lake after you rejoin the Grant Ridge Trail.

We did the hike counter-clockwise from the trailhead parking lot behind the Stanton Lodge.  It is a steady pull up to the top of a ridgeline beneath Grant Peak. The trail can be somewhat brushy and footing wobbly from a horse that pocked it up.  There were terrific views of Mount Jackson and the Harrison Glacier to the north.

Along the way we were treated to early huckleberries.

  It appears we're going to have a bumper crop.

The trail rounds the ridge and then tops out at scenic saddle that reveals the Middle Fork Flathead River valley below and mighty Mount St. Nicholas, Glacier's Matterhorn.

For the next mile or so there are amazing views of the Great Bear's mountains to the south, east and west as well as the park's alpine country along its southern border.

This part of the Great Bear doesn't get much traffic beyond the Stanton Lake area.

We met a party of four hikers traveling clockwise at the pass, and were caught by two hikers with their leashed dog at the very end of the hike.

That's not much for high summer in the Glacier Park area.