Backpack to Gunsight Pass, walking upstream in the Middle Fork Judith WSA

The alpine trail above Gunsight Lake

The greeting party in our camp was this billy

The sketchy snow crossing on the way to Gunsight Pass

The clouds lifted at the pass allowing a view of Lake Ellen Wilson on the south side

Goats on a ledge

Mount Logan is the regal presence above the Gunsight campsite

Epic wildflower displays

 Four of us did a two day backpack at Gunsight Lake in Glacier Park with a sidetrip to Gunsight Pass, experiencing what Gordon Whirry, one of our hikers, said is the, "best 3 miles of scenery in the park."

After experiencing the Iceberg Notch, Red Eagle Pass and the Norris Traverse and climbing the six Glacier 10,000 feet peaks, I'm not sure I agree, but it was a truly stunning hike.

While Gunsight Lake is an alpine gem set in a glacial cirque, the hike from the lake to the pass offers alpine hiking on a trail that drop off precipitously to the valley and lake below, the many colorful stripes of Fusilade Mountain to the west, and the flanks of Mount Jackson that shoots waterfalls and streams from the snowfields above.

Even a driving rainstorm as we descended back to camp from the pass didn't change our awe of the scenery. 

When we reached the pass, we were thrilled when a shroud of clouds lifted revealing Lake Ellen Wilson below to the south.

I think this was the fifth time I've hiked to the pass, the others being a climb of Mount Jackson 33 years ago, and through-hikes from the Jackson Overlook on the Going to the Sun Highway to Sperry Chalet and on to Lake McDonald.

This hike, though, was done at a slow elderly person's pace, and yielded a deeper appreciation of what was around us:  the copious water and many waterfalls, the stunning wildflower displays, evidence of grizzly diggings and scat, several mountain goats perched high on cliffs, the coloration of the rocks.

In the past I had just gone too fast to savor those things.

Speaking of which, we were astounded to see pack-less runners in shorts and singlets sans bear spray and water, running in the chilly, driving rain.  Runners have become a nuisance in Glacier Park, disturbing the serenity of the alpine experience.

I really enjoyed the Gunsight Lake campsite dominated by a view of Logan Peak, Almost a Dog Pass, Blackfoot and Jackson glaciers.

A side note as we exited the trail at the Jackson Overlook parking lot:  Glacier has become mobbed by tourists, many misbehaved

The past five years the crowds have become obnoxious, a sort of an American clutter in an otherwise pristine environment.

I no longer enjoy the park in the summer, and look forward to the late fall and winter to have the peace and quiet that nature provides.

Middle Fork of Judith River

The Middle Fork canyon

So many frigid crossings

We climbed through the cliffs above the Middle Fork

Mark Hertenstein, my regular hiking partner, had never experienced the Middle Fork of the Judith River's tight and lofty limestone canyon, so I took him in on a hot summer afternoon.

This is Wilderness Study Area, but the stream has been fouled by off-road vehicles and trucks that use its bed as a road and play thing.

The river's bed has been turned brown from the sediment, off-setting its normal green translucent color.

Local conservationists, the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department, the Forest Service  and conservationists have been working for more than 50 years to get the vehicles out of the river and have made great strides in blocking access through re-routing.

In the meantime, U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana, has been an enemy of wilderness designation for the area and has sponsored a bill that would remove wilderness study area designation and the designation's protections.

We walked up the river from the Judith Ranger Station a couple of miles to a large cave and then climbed a ridge off trail  to the north through high cliffs, completing a loop back to the ranger station.