Shelf Lake, Solitude Lake, and beyond, 08/14/2010
Solitude Lake, 08-14-10
You can see the GPS tracks for this hike.
Because the Glacier Gorge parking lot was full, we started hiking from the Bear Lake parking area at 8:35, going down to the Glacier Gorge Trail. We took a cutoff trail after the 2nd creek crossing on the Glacier Gorge Trail, and after rejoining the trail, hiked past Mills Lake and Jewel Lake.
At a point on the Glacier Gorge Trail just west of Shelf Lake, we turned right with the odometer at 2.6 miles (approximate leave point on Glacier Gorge Trail: 40.2747023,-105.636806). Crossing Glacier Creek, we followed an unoffical trail that headed up the steep wooded slope to Shelf Lake.
From Shelf Lake, we continued on to Solitude Lake, getting there at 11:00. The way from Shelf Lake onwards is incredibly beautiful. From Solitude Lake, we continued up Shelf Creek, past two sucessively smaller ponds, and then to the last glacial berm, where we had a close-up view of the glacier on the east side of Powell Peak.
We returned the way we came, stopping for lunch at Shelf Lake, where we watched white-crowned sparrows snatching bugs from the surface of the lake. On the return, the odometer showed 8.5 miles.
- Richard Hollos and Stefan Hollos
| Place name | Elev [ft] | Accuracy [ft] | Lat/Lon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bear Lake parking area | 9484 | 20 | 40.31160,-105.64334 |
| High point at end of Shelf Creek | 11641 | 52 | 40.26844,-105.65881 |