The Amazing Cracker Lake in Glacier National Park

Glacier- you amaze me! Last year, Rachelle and I hiked to Iceberg Lake in Many Glacier, an area in East Glacier National Park. The lake was the most stunning alpine lake I had ever seen, and then today- Cracker Lake! We are so lucky to live so close to the mountains and days like today make me wish I could be out there every single day.

The trailhead starts off the parking lot of the Many Glacier hotel, which is in such a stunning location I plan to look at room prices for a potential weekend getaway.

The bear grass is blooming at the lower elevation and it is so beautiful!

I’m going to warn you now, the first couple of miles are a slight obstacle course; horse poop! They have trail riding on this trail and there is a loop for the horses to take so the poopy terrain is only the first couple o miles. Although in this heat, the smell combined with the piles of flies… ick!

A large chunk of this hike is in the tree line and you get peekaboo views of the lake, rivers, and meadows.

 

Rachelle and I haven’t gotten together in forever because I’ve been too laser focused and so we chatted the whole way up and down and had so much to catch up on.

We were both also pretty sore from previous workouts so the little bit of uphill was tough. Though this hike is long (6.5 miles each) it’s not too hard of a climb. We had one spot with a few switchbacks and other than that the ascent was gradual and hardly noticeable.

It was strange though because we didn’t come on many other hikers. When we did Iceberg, it was super crowded but we felt almost all alone out there with only an occasional couple or group sighting.

As we came out of the tree line and to meadows, the flowers were out in full force! I’m not much of a flowers person but they were blanketing the fields and looked so pretty with the dramatic rocky background.

By now we could see the mountain face that marked the end of the hike and we were tired and hungry. That was temporarily forgotten when we came up and got our first view of Cracker Lake- UNBELIEVABLE!

I was floored! I’ve seen photos of waters like this, but it was the first time I got to experience it. What an incredible gem so close to home!

We really wanted to go down to the water but the only natural approaching area was down past the backcountry camp sites  and on the very end of the lake.

We opted to sit on top of the large viewpoint and eat our lunch first as I was so hungry I was feeling nauseous. It was amazing, I could have sat and stared at that water all day long.

 

After a long rest, we did a mini photo shoot trying to capture this view as many times as possible.

We both opted to save our legs and skip going down and around to the waters edge. So we said our goodbyes and I envied the guy setting up his campsite at one of the three back country camping sites at the lake and headed back down.

Usually the way back down seems longer because you’re tired and want to get back but it went by really quickly as we continued to chat away. At one point, I had an epic trip. My left foot hit a rock and when my right foot came up to balance, it snagged on a twig. How I didn’t fall on my head I’ll never know.

When we finally made it, we changed out of our boots and headed to the Many Glacier hotel for dinner. The dining room wouldn’t open until 5 (it was 4:45 p.m.) but the Lounge was open with a lunge menu and that was perfect. We finished off burgers (sans bread for me) and fries and I swear I have never had a tastier burger.

Rachelle had me home by 7:20 meaning we did all that in 11 hours! Travelled to Glacier, hiked, and had supper. It was the PERFECT day!

Next up on our list is Grinell Glacier!