Lake McDonald Shore/Rocky Point/Fish Creek. Post-forest fire terrain and now prime bear country. Hours of scary if you are alone.

Original Post 7/10/21

Well, it was supposed to be zero elevation gain with only 12 miles roundtrip. Instead, I found myself starting at the wrong trailhead, weaving my way thru private inholdings and campgrounds, following vague trail signs that generally seemed to keep me going around the lake. The Lake McDonald Shore Trail is seldom used, mainly because it’s not a thru hike. It ends mid-way up the west side of the lake, where you must turn around and come back (or walk another 6 miles away from your car down a dirt road). When I did hit my turnaround trailhead, my watch told me I was a long way from home. I hoped I would remember which turns to take at the many trail intersections. I was still hours away from knowing if I would be late for work.

Most of the trail is in the open burned area of a couple of years back. That’s really been the theme here for most local hikes around the lake. As I have said before, what is coming back is prime bear habitat. Berry bushes are doing excellent in the brush, and it’s the perfect height to hide a bear but not stop one from charging. There are many miles of trail that are being completely consumed by this new forest vegetation, and if a concerted trail clearing effort does not hit in the next season or two, some areas will become impassable and eventually lost. We will see where the NPS will put their money. Right now it is in the ticket entry system, to limit people coming in the park. Hmmmm.

This section of trail along the lake didn’t get much use before the fire, and there is even a backcountry campsite along it. Sure, it is on the lake, but you will fry in the sun and get eaten by bugs constantly except for a couple hours at night. Sounds lovely. But the lake does shimmer with all of that sunlight bouncing off it.

I saw baby ptarmigan chicks on this trail. It was interesting. The mom jumped off the trail quickly and sat very quietly, but I could still see her. The chicks ran around and made noise acting like hawk bait. And then, ever so softly, the mother ptarmigan made a tiny coo you could barely hear. As if to say ‘hey, over here kids, but it’s ok if you don’t make it.’ Some went her way, others didn’t. I’m not accustomed to seeing this type of anti-mother protection for offspring in the wild. It was like a grizzly saying ‘hey, take junior here for a new floor rug while I finished up with this huckleberry bush.”

So for all of you mothers out there, if you get a Hallmark card on that special day in May featuring a beautiful ptarmigan on the cover, your kids are really saying they have abandonment issues, you are a horrible mother, and thanks for speaking up when danger is at the door. They were still pretty cute.

In the end, I didn’t particularly enjoy this hike. Not that it was a 16.8-mile day, but because for 13 of those miles I was constantly on the alert for bears. Staying that aware for so many hours in the thick brush drains a person more physically and mentally than the hike itself. Almost turned back twice. This is clearly the hike to do with a group and arrange a pickup, so you don’t have to backtrack all of those hours with mediocre views.