Window of opportunity.
A late summer storm moved through Montana last week, pushing the smoke out, bringing beneficial rain, and providing ideal conditions for our 2-night backpacking trip to Turquoise Lake on September 21-23 (2024). It was my first adventure in the Mission Mountains since climbing East and West St. Marys Peaks near St. Ignatius five years ago.
Early bird.
The turn-off to Turquoise Lake is 23 miles northwest of Seeley Lake. From Highway 83 it’s an 11-mile drive on rough gravel to the trailhead. The parking lot was full when my friend Murray and I arrived around noon on Saturday (9/21/24) – mostly day-hikers out enjoying the last day of summer. The hike to our campsite above Turquoise Lake ended up being 6.3 miles with 2,700 feet of elevation gain on a nicely graded trail with great scenery all the way. The hike in took us about 3.5 hours. Upon arrival at the lake we claimed on of the few suitable tent sites. There were four or five groups (2-5 people/group) of backpackers staying at the lake that night, so some groups had to pitch their tents on the rocks. Murray and I were the only ones who spent Sunday night at the lake.
Do you believe in ghoats?
The trail was great and Turquoise Lake lived up to its name, but the highlight of the trip came at 1:30 am Sunday morning when our camp was visited by a mama mountain goat and her kid. The bright moon highlighted their silhouettes, giving them a ghostly appearance as they stood on the ledge above our tents. Turns out they crave the salts in our urine, so they were there to lick up our pee. Seems kinda gross but we sure enjoyed watching them! Four goats showed up at about the same time the next night to lick up their treat.
Exploration day.
Lakes are great destinations for backpack trips but it seems that no trip is complete without bagging a peak. So, on Sunday Murray and I set off to explore the south side of the lake with the goal of climbing up onto a ridge or mountain that would give us view of the greater area. We ended up climbing an un-named peak between the remnants of two glaciers. From there we had a nice view of the lake below and McDonald Peak in the distance. Although the hike was only 5.5 miles round trip, it was incredibly difficult – no trail, constant bush-whacking, scrambling up and down steep slopes all day, rock-hopping, and plenty of scree. I’m glad we did it, but I wouldn’t recommend it. If you have the need to explore, climb as far as you can on the north side of the lake. Now go enjoy the photo tour, and be sure to read the captions!
FYI – I have an Instagram account. I will try to post something interesting at least once a week. Check it out: rodbenson406
Below: This map marks hikes that have been featured on bigskywalker.com so far, including several in Glacier Park – Select full screen to expand, zoom in for more detail, or click on a marker for a link to the post.
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