Like the coffee shop nearest my house, I wish Snyder Lake was just a little better.

Everyone knows that I am not a stranger to Snyder Lake. 

It’s not really my go-to hike except when I need something steep in a short amount of time.  Then, it fits the bill perfectly.  So, although I put it down and kick it like a rented mule way more often than I should, today was a little different.

Because it was a PERFECT spring day in Glacier Park, I thought I would share the love with dreary little Snyder.  It was named after the fellow who put the first hotel at the top of Lake McDonald, which would forever change the western gateway to what would become Glacier National Park.

The first couple of miles on this wonderful morning are perfect. As you climb up the drainage on a very well-beaten path, there is scattered shade. The temperature is in the 40s, but the heat is coming up quickly, as I didn’t get started until 8:30. 

Yep, I kept running into people from prior seasons before getting to the trailhead, and apparently, I’m good at making conversation. Or they were trying to remember if they knew me. I’m good either way.

When the trail broke into the burn for 2017, it really made you feel the miles and the gain. The burn gives you views that would otherwise be obscured. And today, with that hard azure sky and dazzling early spring snow, the contrast was jaw-dropping.

Hiking this early means no bugs, few people, and, best of all, no brush. All those little deciduous willow-like plants that swallow the trail and strip all of the skin off your shins are still in buds. Their sharp-edged, razor-toothed, little green claws and talons of evil have not come out yet. Plus, you can spot a bear well in advance.

But that comes at a cost. The NPS hasn’t been out to clear the trail yet, so I had to deal with the dozen and a half blowdowns (or clusters of blowdowns)—a lot more than on other trails—just because the fire left so much dead wood standing.

And then there is the trail. At best, it will be mud, but generally, it has turned into rushing streams fed by the melting snow fields. Some are just a puddle, and many more area couple of inches deep. So you better have your boots sealed and in order.

But there will always be snow. Again, this stuff is only a couple of weeks old. So, it’s not compact and frozen from the winter but soggy and full of air. So, depending on how you tread, you can expect to possibly sink up to your chin as you posthole along.

But so what? Synder looked incredible. It was not the buggy little tarn of green and ick swallowed up in brush that you see in mid-summer. It looked lonely, isolated, and pretty rugged and manly. Finally, I got to see the real face of this body of water I have relentlessly mocked over the years.

Rolling up to it, I stay high and pound out some steps to find a viewpoint of my own.  I figure (correctly) that others will follow me, and I don’t need people sitting five feet from me pretending I’m not there (like at Iceberg Lake).

I hear a little roar in the dead quiet of the valley.  I look to the other side of this tiny cirque that Snyder calls home and see a cute mini spring avalanche slide down the slope.  How pleasant.

Eventually, I needed to make my way back down the valley. By now, the snow was very soft under the noontime sun. I was pleased to find only two other parties had followed me up. It is very rare for this lake to have so few visitors (even for this time of year). Best of all, there was no smoke!

So, a hike I expected little from ended up surprising me a great deal. This Park always changes. I can always find something new in something old. I just need to take it.

Sometimes, you have to let nature take control of you, as seen in my videobelow.

I was also left with a question I never expected to have to try to answer: What would make someone abandon their hiking shorts in the middle of the trail? I’m afraid that one will haunt me forever. There are things a man should never know.

And I am proud to say on this hike, I even drew first blood. You have no idea how great that is to get out of the way before the season has even started!

GoatBoy out!