Surprise Lake, Meade Glacier — Friday, Jul. 6, 2018

The lollipop loop to Surprise Lake kicks-off at Conrad Meadows, which is typically teeming with horses and their bipedal companions this time of year. That is not the case at the moment, as the road to the Meadows is washed out about 3/4 of a mile from the campground, rendering our trip out here a decidedly horse-free experience. Other than being sucked-dry by mosquitoes at the washout, it was not difficult to make it to the trailhead by foot.

The trip took place in three distinct legs:

1. Long, dusty meandering through a string of spectacular (and privately owned) meadows. The whole valley floor was bursting with corn lily and wilting lupine, but the real star of the show was the crickets. Lots of crickets. Biblical amounts of crickets. Masses off them swarming around us as we thundered through their mating grounds like gods --  making the whole experience feel vaguely apocalyptic. But it was all-in-all more amusing than a nuisance, and other than a handful of them flying into our faces and mouths, we all made it through unscathed. There are several ways to navigate the meadows, but so long as you keep walking West, you should be fine.
2. After leaving the last meadow behind, you have to cross a tilted and precarious bridge. The dogs bounded over the loose decking of the thing, but us humans took our sweet time, testing each plank, and made it across without any mishaps. Beyond this, you'll find yourself climbing switchbacks through pine forests broken up by occasional sightings of the distant and imposing Goat Rocks massif. There were numerous downed trees that we had to step, jump, and even crawl over. (NOTE: This was not the case on our way back, since by the time the second group of our party arrived the next morning, some vigilante lumber-person had taken a chainsaw to each and every one of the downed trees. Needless to say we were thankful, but a bit perplexed.) The climb ends at the shore of Surprise Lake, which was a welcomed -- and very pretty -- sight.
3. After a crisp night at Surprise Lake, we decided to day hike up toward Warm Lake and the alpine basins above Surprise Lake. As previous reporters have noted, this isn't the simplest of tasks. Thankfully, a kindly hiker going counterclockwise around the lollipop left us a small cairn to mark the junction (the trail indeed looks more like a dry stream bed than a trail). This trail is more-or-less well defined and very steep, essentially driving you straight up a ridge from sub-alpine to alpine in a matter of minutes.  Several marmots served as high-pitched cheerleaders as we sweated our way up. From here, the trail we'd been on continues onward toward what looks like Conrad Glacier. Half of the party decided to stop at a stream crossing about a quarter-mile in, taking in the views of high craggy peaks from the comforts of a luxuriant meadow. Three of us thought it wise to be more intrepid adventurists and march our way over to Warm Lake. Despite finding some game trails and a handful of footprints, there wan't an easy way to do this. I suppose if you turn immediately left from where the trail crests you could make your way over there, but we were having a tough time so we called it quits maybe 10 minutes from the lake. We had no regrets however, as the upper basin surrounding Warm Lake was monumental. I felt like we had been sucked through a wormhole from Washington to Glacier Natl. Park. After spending a few minutes in awe of our surroundings, we packed up our stuff and bid adieu to the high country -- quickly and easily making our way back to Surprise Lake for a much-needed swim and time with our friends. My guess is that finding your way to Warm Lake will be considerably easier in a couple of weeks.

Conclusion: If this trail were closer to Seattle it would be a parade, but since it is not, we had pristine alpine experiences all to ourselves. That in and of itself is worth it. While we never completed the loop, I was pleased with the variety of the trail and would urge folks to check out the Goat Rocks from whichever direction they can.