Lake of the Seven Winds

Figure 1. Lake of the Seven Winds, Glacier National Park, MT.

Hikers like to say the best scenery is off the road. This is not totally true, but it is in Glacier National Park. Although the Going-to-the-Sun Road offers spectacular views at many stops, the trails leading into backcountry are just even better.

While Two Medicine area is usually not the first choice in this park today, it still provides great opportunities to enjoy and views carved by glaciers. The Dawson-Pitamakan loop trail is considered one of the Top Ten trails in this park. The whole loop totals around 17 miles and it is usually finished by backpacking with stop at Oldman Lake or No Name Lake. For strong hikers, it is possible to finish it in one day, like me in 2013.

The best part of this loop trail is from Dawson Pass to Pitamakan Pass with roughly 2,500 feet elevation gain. The other part of the trail offers good opportunity for wildlife such as moose, beaver, bear and bighorn sheep. My favorite is the section around Pitamakan Pass where I can see Oldman LAke, Pitamakan Lake and Lake of the Seven Winds. Lake of the Seven Winds is a classic glacial cirque lake. The cirque wall is so high and the color of the lake is brilliant. If you want to know why people hike, this is an excellent answer.

Just like other high elevation trails in this park, this trail might not be attempted in early summer because of the snow hazard. Winds may pose another risk, especially for the 3 mile narrow section of the trail after Dawson Pass if you hike clockwise.