Colorado 2022 Day Two: Fishing and Hiking to Loch Vale, Lake of Glass, and Sky Pond in Rocky Mountain National Park

This was a hiking day that I had been looking forward to more than almost any other on our trip. However, it was not just excitement. A small element of trepidation had also snuck in. So why was I feeling so conflicted about this hike?

Preparing for Our Hike to Loch Vale, Lake of Glass, and Sky Pond

First, you should know that this is a hike I have wanted to do for a long time. While I should have knocked it out when I actually lived an hour away, those days are long gone, and you can't live on shoulda coulda. Fast forward to early 2022 when I first floated the idea of a Colorado trip to my wife. As I was researching different hikes to include on our trip, this one just seemed like a natural fit. Based on our prior adventures in Glacier National Park, I knew that some longer high elevation hikes were ideal for us. This is the type of hiking we love and largely why we enjoy traveling. Even for local hikes, we are just as likely to knock out a bunch of miles as we are to go for a short stroll. But, and this was the important part, the elevation difference between Glacier and Rocky Mountain National Park was significant. 

In Glacier, our highest hike was just over 8,000 feet above sea level while this particular hike in Colorado would start out above 9,000 feet and end just a touch shy of 11,000 feet above sea level. Leah had dealt with elevation sickness at the Medicine Wheel and this hike would get significantly higher than that. I had previously dealt with it as well at high altitude in Colorado some years ago on multiple occasions. On each occasion for both of us, the main common denominator had been that we had tried hiking at altitude too soon after arriving from the lowlands of the eastern US. As this was precisely what we would be doing on this trip, I was a little nervous. Oh, and did I mention I would be carrying a one year old and everything else that goes along with a baby, plus my camera, water and some Tenkara equipment? 

The actual distance didn't worry us. I've lugged the toddler around in her pack out to 15 or so miles. While tired afterwards, I could have gone more no problem. We have done 20 mile days, so something half of that or less isn't bad at all. The thin air would be our primary nemesis. Living on the Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee is slightly better than sea level, but we are still just a touch over 1,800 feet in elevation, much too low to have any benefit once we hit the Colorado Rocky Mountains. The absolute highest elevation hikes we can do in the Smokies are still essentially like hiking in the foothills in Colorado. When I say foothills, I mean at the foot of the foothills or nearly so.

Before our trip, we had both put in a little extra effort. This mostly involved doing everything in our power to boost our cardiovascular capacity. That is, we did some running, including mixing in at least a little interval training, and I had been backpacking on my now annual brook trout trip. Of course, we also spent some time out on the trails around home, particularly carrying the toddler around on my back at least occasionally to get my body used to the abuse. Thus, we were about as prepared as could be considering that we literally arrived in Colorado and then immediately headed out on one of the hardest hikes of our entire trip. In the end, that might have actually been a good idea for more reasons than we would realize for a while. 

The Morning of Our Hike to Loch Vale, Lake of Glass, and Sky Pond

Fast forward just a bit and we are in Colorado. We woke up to an absolutely perfect day. Knowing the chance of foul weather would sneak up on us the next day, we were intent on making the most of this day. After all, these big hikes are always the highlight of any trip we do. The sun was warm and the air promised a perfect day. I had to snap a quick picture of our Big Agnes tent nestled amongst the pines at the Moraine Park campground where we camped for our first three nights on this trip.

"Camping in our Big Agnes Tent in Moraine Park Campground" ©2022 David Knapp Photography

I think we had slightly underestimated the amount of work that it would be to care for a toddler on an extended camping trip. However, on this day, we mostly got going smoothly. Not quite early enough, unfortunately, but early enough to get this hike done during daylight hours. As with most particularly scenic and well known National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park has a problem of being loved to death. On the east side of the Park, this manifests itself as jam packed parking lots, much the same as we experienced in Glacier National Park. Thankfully, with COVID becoming more and more a thing of the past, the National Park Service operated hiker shuttle was operating. Once we determined that there was no parking at the Glacier Gorge trailhead, we quickly headed back down to the Park and Ride to have breakfast (a tradition we started in Glacier) and get ready for our hike.

The routine we established in Glacier National Park again served us well, although since we ended up on the shuttle it was probably not necessary. This ended up being the only time we used this routine on the Colorado trip, but for reasons you'll find out more on later. We had breakfast at our car at the Park and Ride and also fixed our lunch sandwiches and packed our backpacks. For me, that meant a DSLR camera, Tenkara gear, baby diapers, wipes, and a change of clothes, water, water filter, and a few "emergency" type items such as a couple of ways to start fire, bandaids, ace bandage, and don't forget some extra bags for carrying dirty diapers. Thankfully, my wife agreed to carry my lunch in addition to hers and the baby's since I would be carrying the little one. 

Once all of these tasks were complete and we changed diapers a time or two, we finally boarded the shuttle bus and headed up the mountain towards the Glacier Gorge trailhead. 

"Glacier Gorge trailhead map" ©2022 David Knapp Photography

Hiking to Alberta Falls From the Glacier Gorge Trailhead

A bonus on this hike to Sky Pond would be catching a glimpse of Alberta Falls. This beautiful waterfall is right alongside the trail and impossible to miss.

Timing for our trip largely centered around what we hoped would be a good amount of fall foliage. On this day, we started seeing some early signs of fall with plenty of golden aspen, but most trees were still either green or just barely starting to turn. We snapped a few pictures while we hiked, but mostly just kept our heads down and cranked out the miles. We hoped to eat lunch up at one of the high lakes that were our main goals for the hike.

"Hiking the Trail to Loch Vale in Rocky Mountain National Park" ©2022 David Knapp Photography

Alberta Falls was gorgeous, but the lighting was simply never good when we happened to be hiking by. With a heavy toddler that was starting to feel even chunkier than I remembered, keeping our rhythm hiking was more important than forcing some shots that I knew wouldn't turn out the way I wanted. Many people appeared to be stopping at the falls. We were just getting warmed up and set our sights higher.

Hiking to Loch Vale from Glacier Gorge Trailhead

The hike to Loch Vale (also known as The Loch) is fairly simple overall. There was really only one steeper section of switchbacks not too far below the lake itself. We made good time up to this point with the baby thankfully taking a morning nap. We enjoyed the occasional yellow aspen and kept cranking out the steps. If you start at the Glacier Gorge Trailhead as we did, it is between 2.5 and 3 miles to Loch Vale. While the trail is well travelled, it is still an easy trail if you ask me.

Thankfully we got there in good time and were able to relax, take pictures, let the little one down to run around and play, and of course, I got to do some fishing! I'll cover the fishing part later in this blog, but when we first came up to the lake, I saw fish everywhere which is always a good sign.

"Rising Trout" ©2022 David Knapp Photography

The scenery was the main draw of this hike and Loch Vale did not disappoint. Lying in a basin with two lakes up higher near the divide, we enjoyed the views and the sun was out as well. It was nice and warm. Little did we know that this would be one of the last truly warm days we would experience on the trip. All of us enjoyed this stop immensely! Notice the nice clear blue skies...

"Loch Vale in Rocky Mountain National Park" ©2022 David Knapp Photography

Looking up the lake, you can see the higher basin above that continues another couple of lakes. The forbidding nearly vertical rock wall that separates you from these lakes is quite the scramble as we would find out shortly. While we were enjoying all of this, little bit was enjoying exploring and playing in the dirt. In fact, I think playing in the dirt was the highlight of the trip for her. At minimum, she made plenty of time every day to do so and we had quite the challenge on our hands to try and keep her semi clean.

"Why enjoy the scenery when you can play in the dirt?" ©2022 Leah Knapp Photography

After a good break that also allowed time to filter some water (a filter is much lighter than 4 liters of water!), we were ready to continue on our hike. The trail follows the edge of Loch Vale all the way up to the inlet stream where it begins to slowly climb again. The inlet stream was FULL of fish as well. I was seriously wishing we had started just a little earlier, but at this point we needed to keep moving to finish before it was too late. My goal was to fish each of the lakes, and I would only accomplish this if we stayed more or less on schedule. 

Continuing On To Lake of Glass in Rocky Mountain National Park

The trail beyond Loch Vale continues upward, gently at first through a beautiful evergreen forest alongside a babbling brook. Icy Brook begins high in this drainage and feeds through each lake in turn. After initially being a gentle climb, the trail began to get steeper around the trail junction for Andrews Glacier. We didn't have time to climb up to that point on this day, so we continued on towards Lake of Glass. 

Shortly beyond the trail split, the climb increased significantly. We soon emerged from the forest into increasingly open terrain as we were closing in on treelined. This portion of the hike was easily the most intense as far as the climb goes. Ahead, we could see the bulk of rock that we had seen from Loch Vale. Up close, we could see Timberline Falls cascading down approximately 100 feet and the trail seemingly disappeared into the rock wall to the right of the falls. 

This was the make or break part of our hike. Having done some rock climbing in the past, I wasn't too worried about moving up and over the rock. Having a baby on my back would make me significantly slower and more cautious though. Leah had a slightly different perspective. In fact, I think each time the story is told she reports being slightly more frightened. If this story is told another few years, she'll probably be scared to death during this climb. She is not a fan of heights, so this part was one of the most challenging things she has ever done on any of our hikes. The situation was made worse because I couldn't help her much. Instead, I had to make sure I got the baby safely up the steep climb. Thankfully, we were soon up. The view looking back down towards Loch Vale was impressive. Do you see Loch Vale here?

"Looking Down To Loch Vale From Timberline Falls" ©2022 David Knapp Photography

We didn't linger at this view for long. I was hungry and Leah was hungry, so you know for sure that someone else was hungry. We quickly made our way up the last short climb to the Lake of Glass. On this day, we didn't see how in the world it had gotten that name. I think it would be amazing to be here when it is perfectly calm. The reflection of the surrounding mountains would be incredible. Still, the views were amazing even if the lake was a little choppy from the wind. Note the blue sky but with a hint of clouds just over the top of the ridge.

"Lake of Glass in Rocky Mountain National Park" ©2022 David Knapp Photography

We wanted to eat lunch. The wind was worse than it looks in this picture and we hoped to find some semblance of shelter. We turned to the left and crossed the lake's outlet to get into the semi shelter of a large rock outcropping along the left shore of the lake. Here, we got our packs off, the little one out to play and eat, and of course, I grabbed my fishing gear again. Our lunch spot view was perfect.

"Lunch with a few on Lake of Glass" ©2022 David Knapp Photography

Not long after this picture was taken, the clouds snuck over the ridge and the warm sun was gone just like that. We were thankful that we had enjoyed lunch with such nice conditions, but knew that we better hurry if we wanted to make it the last half mile or so to Sky Pond. The weather was clearly beginning to shift, and it doesn't pay to take the weather lightly at this high elevation. 

Finally, Sky Pond!

So, why hike all the way to Sky Pond? First of all, this is the last lake as you go up this particular gorge/basin. Sitting immediately below the peaks, it is an incredibly impressive setting. Second, if you have already climbed Timberline Falls, you have done all of the hard work. Since we were at Lake of Glass, it made sense to hike the last short distance onwards to Sky Pond.

I could easily say this whole hike was a hike to Sky Pond, but ultimately it is three different hikes to three different lakes that just happen to all be on the same route. Each lake is unique and beautiful enough to be a destination on its own. We were blessed to be able to snag three of these lakes on one trip. 

"Little Bit looking over her domains at Sky Pond" ©2022 Leah Knapp Photography

As an angler, the fishing was one of the main draws for me at Sky Pond as you'll see in a bit. Still, the fishing wasn't such a draw that I forgot to take some pictures. I didn't have my tripod with me to do things right, but I did take enough pictures to stitch together a reasonably decent panorama of the lake with the Sharkstooth on the right. 

"Sky Pond and the Sharkstooth" ©2022 David Knapp Photography

Notice the dramatic clouds that were swirling above the massive cliffs above the lake. We had a significant weather system due into the area overnight, and it was obvious that the leading edge was already approaching. We needed to finish enjoying Sky Pond and then start hiking down before any rain (or snow?!?!) caught up with us.

Fishing at Loch Vale, Lake of Glass, and Sky Pond in Rocky Mountain National Park

Of course, this post wouldn't be complete without mentioning the fishing or the fact that I caught fish at each lake. The cutthroat trout at Loch Vale were the most beautiful fish I caught on this hike, but the other lakes produced some memorable moments as well. 

When we first arrived at Loch Vale, I saw fish cruising everywhere. Of course, by the time I got my Tenkara rod out and rigged, they had seemingly disappeared. Never fear, however, because with cruising fish it won't be long before some more fish come along.

I was using my Tenkara USA Rhodo. This is an excellent packable rod option when I want different lengths that the rod can fish at. Most importantly, it was the lightest option since I was hauling a toddler on my back with all my other gear. I still don't know what I would have done with an actual fly rod. There were times on this hike that I wished for a full fly rod, but this wasn't specifically a fishing trip. I would more than gladly take whatever fishing I could scrounge up.

While a couple of fish quickly came over to look at my Parachute Adams, it quickly become apparent that they were too smart to eat it. Before long, I went to a small midge under the surface and that proved to be the ticket. For the rest of the entire trip, small midges or pheasant tails caught fish in mountain lakes when nothing else was working. I caught a few on dry flies from time to time as well, but definitely more and better fish subsurface.

After a fish or two, I was ready to put my gear away and head to the next lake. As I mentioned above, we were on a bit of a schedule, and that didn't allow for lingering too long with my rod to catch more fish. Here is one of the Loch Vale cutthroat. Talk about a beautiful fish!

"Cutthroat trout at Loch Vale" ©2022 David Knapp Photography

And another angle...I just couldn't get enough of those beautiful red cheeks!

"Another perspective of a native cutthroat trout at The Loch" ©2022 David Knapp Photography

Of course, I need some type of proof that I was really the one fishing and catching these fish! Thanks to my lovely wife Leah for running over to snap a picture or two in between wrangling a baby and taking pictures of her own. 

"Happy angler at Loch Vale" ©2022 Leah Knapp Photography

Not long after this picture, I was reminded that we probably should be moving on. I could have sat at this little spot all day trying to catch the beautiful cutthroat trout that swam in The Loch, but we had bigger goals for the day. We were soon packed and heading up the trail towards our next goal at Lake of Glass.

This was probably my shortest fishing experiment of the day. Lake of Glass was a great lunch spot, and I took at least a few moments to fish, but in between chasing a toddler over the landscape and eating, there just wasn't much time to fish. Thankfully, I met my goal of catching at least a fish at each lake. The cutthroat here were beautiful, but very different in coloration from their relatives below. My Tenkara rod continued to be the perfect solution that I could put together or break down in seconds. That meant more fishing time for me.

"Cutthroat trout caught at Lake of Glass" ©2022 David Knapp Photography

The neat part about this fish in particular is that I got it on the dry fly. In fact, there was a small hatch coming off. I saw some smaller dark stoneflies plus some mayflies that I didn't get a good look at. The fish were rising every time the wind died down a little. Our little corner of the lake was just sheltered enough to see fish coming to the surface every few minutes. It gave me hope for catching brook trout on dry flies at Sky Pond. Supposedly Lake of Glass has some brook trout as well, but all I caught here were cutthroat trout.

Sky Pond, on the other hand, only has brook trout from what I have gathered. That was definitely my experience. There are some really nice fish in this lake as well. I had the first issue with losing fish on the Tenkara rod here at Sky Pond. The light tippet I was using just didn't hold up to the ferocious hits the brook trout were producing. Finally, however, I got one to eat and stay hooked long enough to land. These high elevation brook trout are mighty hunters. Check out the mouth on this guy!

"Brook trout at Sky Pond in Rocky Mountain National Park" ©2022 David Knapp Photography

Perhaps the best part of fishing at Sky Pond is that the little one had been watching me the whole time, taking it all in. Eventually, she came over and wanted to climb into my lap from where she proceeded to take over the operation of the Tenkara rod. As it turns out, she was a natural caster, but didn't have the patience to leave the flies on the water long enough to catch anything. She loved the casting. It kept her occupied, and I'm not sure she really understood that there was more to it than casting. 

"Teaching the next generation to fly fish at Sky Pond" ©2022 Leah Knapp Photography

Hiking Back Down From Sky Pond 

Shortly after this, with the clouds getting darker and darker, we turned around and headed back down the trail. By now, you have probably noticed something that is noticeably absent. For all my worry about elevation sickness, we were doing great. Thankfully we never ended up dealing with this problem at all on our trip. As it turns out, we had done sufficient preparation to avoid the problem altogether other than just getting tired from the long hikes at high elevation.

Hiking back down was mostly routine with one notable exception. As we approached the big drop alongside Timberline Falls, my foot slipped a little on one of the wet rocks. Knowing that this was a warning, I decided to take things very slowly. Going down is always harder to me than going up, and this was doubly so with a heavy pack that had to get down the mountain in one piece with me. 

We worked our way carefully down, but finally reached a narrow ledge that requires a 4-5 foot drop to get to the next level near the bottom. I was trying to figure out how to get down without getting pushed off by the pack. Thankfully, at just the right moment, another group of hikers overtook us. I think they were wanting to go faster, but they were super gracious about the whole thing. In fact, the guy in the lead worked his way down the water course to our right and was soon below me where he offered to let me pass the little one down to him in the pack. It couldn't have been offered at a better time. Poor Leah was even more nervous than she was going up, so it enabled me to jump down, help her, and then get the baby carrier back on without risking the baby.

After getting below this drop, we really cruised. Our normal hiking speed, even with the kid carrier and a toddler, is usually somewhere around 3 miles an hour and level ground and often even more. In other words, it didn't take us too long to get back down. Sky Pond is probably 4.5 miles from the trailhead. With the extra looking around we did, we were still stretching it to get to 10 miles on the day.

The downhill miles flew by, and soon we were back waiting on the shuttle bus. It didn't take more than a few minutes before a bus stopped, and we were soon headed back to our car. From there, it was just a few more minutes down to our camp at Moraine Park. By this time, the weather was really starting to threaten, so we hurried with supper and got in our tent before the rain really got going. The next day would be damp, however. And thus would begin a trend that would just get stronger throughout our trip...

Glacier Day Two: Hiking and Fishing at Snyder Lake

Hitting Our Stride on the Trail to Snyder Lake 

On our first full day in Glacier National Park, we had learned some valuable lessons. Looking to put those lessons into practice, we began a routine on day two that would stick with us the rest of our time in Glacier with one notable exception. The first part of this routine involved getting up rather early. Since we had just come from Tennessee, our bodies were still wired to get up on Tennessee time so this wasn't as hard as you might think. On the other hand, neither me nor my wife are naturally morning people, so there was a strong urge to sleep just a little longer the first few mornings. As we began to reap the benefits of our early mornings, this urge was easier and easier to fight. 

The second part of this routine was to immediately leave camp for the trailhead as soon as we got out of bed. Breakfast and lunch prep could happen at the trailhead since our cooler and other meal items were always in the trunk of the car. We learned early on that getting to the trailhead first was of paramount importance, and we could do other parts of our morning routine once we got there. Parking was at a premium and we simply could not do hikes we had planned on if we didn't get an early start.

The plan for day two came together quickly. We wanted a medium length hike that would feature some elevation gain and loss to start warming up for bigger hikes ahead. The trail to Snyder Lake in Glacier National Park is supposed to be 4.4 miles from the trailhead to the backcountry campsite at the lake. We expected to cover a bit more ground than that with some extra exploring while we were there. 

The hike to Snyder Lake actually begins on the Gunsight Pass Trail. This trail connects the east and west sides of Glacier National Park, but on this day, we would only be covering a small portion of it. The first mile and a half or a little more of our day was on the Gunsight Pass Trail before the Snyder Lake Trail took off to the northeast. The trail climbed rapidly from Lake McDonald to the trail junction before continuing up to Snyder Lake. As far as climbs went, the steepest part was the early portion of the Gunsight Pass trail. While the Snyder Lake Trail is still climbing, it is a steady but gentle climb compared to others we would do in Glacier.

Early on in our hike, I was quickly distracted by the majestic forest we were traveling through. The hemlocks were recognizable to a traveler from East Tennessee although these were the western variety. Other evergreens grew in abundance as well. There is something magical about any forest, but to someone who is used to mostly deciduous forests, I always revel in evergreen forests more than any other.

On the forest floor, I was finding enough flowers to get quickly distracted. In fact, we were still almost within sight of the car when I was down on my knees taking pictures. The wintergreen or Pipsissewa was blooming profusely. Quickly realizing I couldn't photograph all of the flowers, I got back up and tried to stay focused on the uphill climb. There would be plenty more flowers ahead. 

Right around the trail junction where the Snyder Lake Trail took off from the Gunsight Pass Trail, we met some backpackers and exchanged pleasantries. They were heading out after a few days in the backcountry and warned us strongly about bears. I think I may have been too enthusiastic with my inquiries on the topic. As we were walking away, I heard one of them say something muffled to which another replied, "At least they have some bear spray." Needless to say, I think they were concerned for our safety. 

Bear Safety in Glacier National Park

Let's just take a moment now to cover some important information. First, if you ever meet me in the woods, I may come across as though I'm out looking for wildlife. That's not exactly true, but I'm definitely always interested in seeing it. Spotting wildlife is a highlight of every trip we take. You might even deduce that I'm a little too interested in finding grizzly bears. However, I probably respect them more than 99.9% of other people do. Yes, I would love to see one while out on the trail sometime, but I'm totally okay when that doesn't happen. In fact, I actively take measures to make sure they know I'm around which probably means I'm eliminating most opportunities to see one. 

While in the woods in grizzly country, I highly recommend keeping bear spray close and easy to hand. I also recommend making LOTS of noise, and I don't mean timid quiet noise. This is noise that alerts anything and everything around to your presence. You'll hear me talking loudly both to myself, my wife, and of course the bears. My favorite is the traditional "hey bear!!!" but I mix it up a lot as well. That gets boring after a little while. 

Some people choose to wear bear bells (say that five times fast). You've probably even heard the old joke about those bear bells. The first time I ever heard the joke was right before my first trip to Yellowstone. I wasn't sure how serious the joke was, but when I hit my first trail in Yellowstone solo and ran into other hikers with bells, it really hit me that I was out in the woods with something a little bigger and badder than me. Ever since, I've hiked a lot in grizzly country, and I've always made a lot of noise. I've even wore a bell a time or two, but honestly they don't make enough noise if you ask me. Your own voice is much better, you just need to remember to constantly use it.

I've never been attacked by a grizzly and hope never to have it happen. That's why I go to so much trouble to avoid any close encounters. If it did happen though, I hope I would follow the advice everyone should follow. In a nutshell, with a black bear, fight back. With a grizzly, play dead and try to cover your neck and the back of your head while you're at it. Grizzly bears will often come back when you start to "wake" up, so don't go that route too soon. Again, I can't overstate the importance of bear spray while hiking in bear country. Some people choose firearms as well, but that sounds like way more hassle than its worth, and if you don't hit the bear perfectly, it will still come get you. The bear spray is much more reliable. Anyway, enough about bears. Lets' get back to the hike...

Snyder Lake Trail in Glacier National Park

Shortly after turning onto the Snyder Lake Trail, I made the most amazing discovery. Before our trip, I had been hoping to find some huckleberries somewhere in Glacier or on part two of our trip in northern Idaho. Lots of research had me fairly comfortable with identifying them, but so far we had found some of the look alike plants but not the real thing. We had barely started onto the actual Snyder Lake Trail when I noticed some berries on low bushes along the trail. My first taste had me sold. Huckleberries are delicious! 

You might remember that I really like huckleberry ice cream and it is always a highlight of my trips to Yellowstone National Park. We were not sure if we would try any ice cream on this trip for a variety of reasons but mostly due to COVID. So, as a consolation, I had prepared for huckleberry pancakes. Unfortunately, when we discovered our first huckleberries, I wasn't ready to collect them. We would have to hope for another opportunity. After this first discovery, I would make sure I was prepared for huckleberries anytime I thought I might want to collect a few.

As you hike the Snyder Lake Trail, you will begin passing through areas affected by the Sprague Fire. This wildfire happened just a few years ago so the landscape still has that raw look. Because of how recently the landscape has been affected by fire, the trail begins to open up a bit sooner than it otherwise might. Through here, you will definitely be feeling the summer sun. Shade became more and more infrequent until we had mostly given up on finding it. Water breaks became more important as we were still adjusting to the dry western air. However, the sunlight was also helping many wildflowers grow that might otherwise not be there. I soon found some new ones for me including the streambank globemallow and the green false hellebore. 

In fact, I was finding so many flowers that I quickly decided I couldn't waste my whole day on them if we were going to enjoy Snyder Lake. We did manage to get a couple of selfies on the trail. I also took a few of my wife walking through wildflowers that were taller than she was! Glacier is extremely lush with lots of moisture coming off the hillsides to water the various wildflowers.

Eventually, the trail began to level out and we could sense that the lake was just ahead. Snyder Lake is nestled in a high basin at just under a mile in elevation. The lake is surrounded by Mt. Brown to the northwest, Edwards Mountain to the east, and the Little Matterhorn to the northeast. Just beyond Edwards Mountain lies the beautiful Sperry glacier and Comeau Pass, but we'll save that story for another day. The views at Snyder Lake are impressive, but not so much as when you get a bit higher in elevation. However, the reasonable distance from the trailhead and lovely hike make this a definite must for anyone who is serious about hiking in Glacier National Park. It is also a good fallback option when other parking lots have filled up as there is a decent amount of parking at the Sperry Chaley/Gunsight Pass trailhead.

The terrain is wide open leading up to the lake, but there are plenty of trees in the immediate vicinity of the lake that survived the Sprague Fire. Nestled among the trees on the east side of the lake is a backcountry campsite. While we often wished we could have been spending the night on some of our hikes, the bugs made you second guess whether that would actually be a good idea. Snyder Lake was nowhere close to being the worst for bugs though and we were able to enjoy a leisurely lunch. Here we found some wildlife beyond the birds we had spotted on the hike in. 

Ground squirrels and chipmunks are always some of our favorites when out hiking. Snyder Lake was no different. These bold little critters had clearly been fed from time to time by unscrupulous hikers. We had to keep a close eye on them and our backpacks. The golden mantled ground squirrels there would try climbing into our packs in search of edibles given the opportunity. My wife in particular enjoyed photographing them although I got a few pictures as well. It was good fun for her while I got in my first fishing in Glacier National Park. 

Fly Fishing Snyder Lake in Glacier National Park

You know I would eventually get around to doing some fly fishing. While the Glacier National Park portion of our trip was not really about fishing, I could not completely ignore the fishing either. The good news about fishing in Glacier National Park is that you do not need a fishing license with just a few small exceptions. Make sure to check the current fishing regulations to make sure you are familiar with those exceptions, but the lack of a license requirement actually made fishing here a no brainer. 

The waters of Glacier are largely very low on nutrients leading to rather small fish. There are definitely some exceptions, but as a whole, the fishing is not noteworthy in the least. Thus, the Park does not require a fishing license, but there are still some special regulations you should check into. Certain streams and lakes are permanently closed to fishing to protect native species. Others have seasonal closures. With only one or two exceptions, the Park requires fishing to be done with artificial flies or lures only. Anglers are limited to one rod in use. 

While the fishing in Glacier National Park might not normally produce the same trophy sized fish that anglers are accustomed to elsewhere in Montana, the fish are still hungry, willing, and plentiful if you find the right place. Snyder Lake is one of those places. The fish here are quite small, however. For someone used to fly fishing and guiding in the Smokies, this wasn't a problem. 

I had begun a habit that I would continue throughout our time in Glacier National Park. A Tenkara USA rod would accompany me on nearly every hike. For the most part, I did not do any fishing on our hikes. However, I was always prepared just in case. If you have ever found yourself miles from your vehicle without fishing gear and discovered lots of trout, you know how frustrating it is. I decided I wasn't going to find myself in that position. If the opportunity arose, I was prepared to fish. The rod that I brought on this trip was the Rhodo. This is the rod I reach for most often in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, but it proved to be excellent for my purposes in Glacier National Park as well. It is lightweight, so I don't really notice it in my pack. 

The small cutthroat trout of Snyder Lake were not at all picky. A small Parachute Adams seemed to be all I needed. Even my wife got in on the action and caught a few fish! The trout were cruising around looking for something to eat. If you got a good presentation without throwing a shadow over the fish, they would generally eat. Fly fishing with a Tenkara rod is interesting since you have a fixed length line. We would wait until a cutthroat trout would cruise into range and then present the fly. Here are a few of the fish we caught. 

Fly Fishing Snyder Lake Video

While fly fishing at Snyder lake with my Tenkara rod, I asked my wife to take a quick video. Here is the result. Oh, and while you're at it, subscribe to my YouTube channel please!

Hiking Back Out From Snyder Lake

All good things must come to an end. On this day in particular, we were changing campsites and needed to get settled in to our new place. The original trip plan was to spend a large chunk of our time at Many Glacier. Unfortunately, due to COVID, the entire east side of the Park was closed. We were left scrambling for alternative camping arrangements and stumbled upon the wonderful Glacier Campground in West Glacier. We wanted to be back before dark to get our campsite arranged and supper made. 

Before the hike back out, we made one side detour. There were some small waterfalls at the head of Snyder Lake. Water surges down a steep but short canyon from Upper Snyder Lake to Snyder Lake and we wanted to explore a bit. We worked our way across the rocks around the north side of Snyder Lake and to the inlet creek. On our way, we spotted a golden eagle soaring above but didn't get any decent pictures. Climbing up the hill, we eventually gained a good view of the first waterfall. Looking on up the canyon, I could see a fairly good route continuing towards Upper Snyder Lake, but it was getting late and we really needed to be going. A trip to Upper Snyder Lake will be in my future, but on this day we needed to head on. 

I also paused long enough to take some pictures of Snyder Lake from another angle. This day was amazingly calm which offered some beautiful reflections in the lake. Calm winds are a rarity out west, so we greatly enjoyed this fine summer day. 

Not too far down the trail, I began to get distracted by wildflowers again. Glacier National Park has incredible displays of wildflowers, and I was enjoying every new discovery and some old favorites. The colors of some of the flowers were almost fake they were so brilliant. The first is Alberta beardtongue (I think, please let me know if you have a better idea!) or some other penstemon and the second is one of my favorites from our trip, the purple monkeyflower. I'm a bit unclear on why it is the purple monkeyflower when the color is obviously pink, but then I'm not the one naming these things. 

The late day sunlight was filtering through the trees as we descended back towards Lake McDonald. When we arrived back at the car, we had covered 9.75 miles according to my wife's watch. We were tired but not sore. A good supper and a well deserved night's rest was all we needed or wanted. The next day's adventure would arrive soon enough and we wanted to be ready.