The hike to Otokomi Lake stood out during our week in Glacier in more ways than one. Not only was it our longest hike of the week, but we hiked in solitude, had a first-ever encounter, and were rewarded with beautiful Yellowstone Cutthroat trout.
The trail to Otokomi Lake begins at Rose Creek Trailhead next to the Rising Sun Motor Inn. The roundtrip hike is just over 11 miles with 2400 feet of elevation gain, so it’s not terribly surprising that this hike was the most solitude we had in Glacier all week.
We were the first car parked at the trailhead around 7:30 am. The trail starts off by passing a few cabins along Rose Creek before switchbacking up a hill covered in berry bushes… As you can see – or actually can’t see – there are no photos of this part of the hike because we were pretty preoccupied with clapping our hands and yelling “HEY BEAR!!! CORNER!!!” at the top of our lungs every few seconds. It’s a good thing, because a few blind corners later, we were greeted by a small-ish cinnamon-colored black bear (at least we think it was a black bear). The boys immediately unlatched the safety on their bear sprays, while the girls internally panicked and slowly backed off. But after some more loud talking, the bear trotted off on its way.
The little bear may or may not have been little enough to still be hanging with mama, so we briskly walked up the trail before a bigger bear could make an appearance. This was our first close encounter with a bear on a trail, so suffice to say that the remaining four miles were some of the most stressful miles we’ve ever hiked. We kept our bear spray in hand from that point on and were on high bear alert (moose are also common in this area). Later on we realized we had walked by at least 3 piles of bear poop – one of them very fresh. Though the encounter was startling, it wasn’t entirely surprising as the trail to Otokomi Lake goes through prime bear habitat.
After reaching the top of the ridge, the trail began to traverse the side of steep Rose Creek Canyon. There were a couple view points down to the creek of some waterfalls, where we relaxed enough to finally whip out the camera. Keep your eyes peeled for a few side trails that lead to spots like this:
Eventually the trail dropped back down to the creek where there were some grassy meadows filled with wildflowers. The variety of colors and sheer number of flowers was insane!
At this point we entered the old burn area of the 2015 Reynolds Fire. It was shocking at how much the undergrowth had already filled in, especially the plentiful bear grass.
A couple more waterfalls for good measure.
The last two miles to the lake are the hardest because they are steeply uphill and at the highest elevation on the trail. We knew we were getting close to the lake when the trail popped out of the trees and started to traverse a scree field.
The last 100 yards of the trail follows the outlet creek right to the mouth of the lake. The view of the lake was pretty stunning. There were red rock cliffs plunging right into the lake.
One of the main reasons we opted to do the hike to Otokomi Lake is because it is one of the few lakes in Glacier National Park that holds fish. Otokomi means “yellow fish” in the Blackfeet language – a fitting name for a lake that’s home to Yellowstone Cutthroat trout.
Upon arriving at the lake, we dipped our fingers in the water to test the temperature: ICE cold. No doubt freshly melted. The fish were still active despite the cold water temperatures and we managed to catch a few on subsurface presentations.
Most of the fish we caught were in the 10-13″ range, but one managed to stretch the tape measure to a solid 17″. Best fish we caught in Glacier all week.
Otokomi Lake was a great reward after a long, stressful hike. And the fishing was a nice little bonus. Probably karma after the traumatizing bear encounter.
