Ptarmigan Tunnel

On our last day in Glacier National Park, we hiked from the Many Glacier campground on the Ptarmigan Trail.  Passing through open meadows, we had great views of Iceberg Peak and Mount Wilbur.  We climbed past Ptarmigan Falls to Ptarmigan Lake where we could see the trail in front of us switchbacking up the Ptarmigan Wall. As we climbed, a female mountain sheep descended from above and walked a short distance on the trail in front of us, not really caring that we were there. At the top of the climb, we found the entrance to the Ptarmigan tunnel, which was about ten feet high with heavy metal doors that were open.  The tunnel was built in 1930 to allow guides and horses through the steep, rugged wall. We walked through the 250 foot, roughly carved tunnel to the spectacular views on the other side of the Belly River Valley, Elizabeth Lake and Natoas Peak across the valley. On our return, we hiked directly to the camp store and the cold beers that waited for us there.