Cascade in Glacier National Park

After having visited Glacier National Park several times, I was finally able to bring my son with me in the summer of 2006. He was 14 at the time, and I took the greatest of pleasure in showing him all the scenic places I had discovered during my previous trips.

On July 7, we took Going-to-the-Sun Road westward to Logan Pass, and I decided to stop at the Lunch Creek cascade to take photos. As I did so, my son bounded over the rocks and was quickly out of sight.

He reappeared in a moment, pointing excitedly toward the massive stone shoulder of Piegan Mountain on the east side of the creek. “Let’s climb that mountain!” he begged.

We followed Lunch Creek toward Pollock Mountain, climbing stair-like rocks as the creek splashed down past us. Where the creek tumbles over a short cliff, we scrambled up a series of ledges that led away from the creek and toward the south face of Piegan Mountain.

Lunch Creek cascade, with Pollock Mountain as a backdrop

(To see this image in a larger view, click here.)

I was glad to have come up this far. From our vantage point, we could see the peaks of the Livingston Range to the west, and had a much grander view of the valley which sprawls in an emerald carpet from the foot of Reynolds Mountain eastward to St. Mary Lake. No way could we have seen it like this from Going-to-the-Sun Road two thousand feet below us.

This is the best way to see Montana, I realized—getting off the beaten path.

We turned back toward the cirque on the south face of Pollock Mountain. The downhill trek went faster than the upward climb. Before long, we found Lunch Creek and scrambled down alongside the falls till we were back at our SUV. We wasted no time in digging our lunch out of the cooler. Though we were both pretty hungry by then, I resisted the urge to inhale my sandwich, and took small bites while looking at the scenery and resting my tired legs.

“I just realized why they call this Lunch Creek,” I exclaimed as we ate. Corny, but it seemed funny at the time.