Montana – Sapphire Lakes
Sunday, 02-Aug-2015
Tags: Hiking
This is not a trail guide. If you are planning to hike any of these trails refer to a real trail guide such as
(for the White Mountains) the
AMC White Mountain Guide.
We visited Leah (Samberg) and Brian Story in Missoula, Montana for a few days in August. They planned an overnight hiking and camping trip for us to Sapphire Lakes in the Swan Range about 75 miles northeast of Missoula in the Flathead National Forest. The total hike was about 15 miles. The sum of the numbers below seem a little higher (by about a mile) than our GPS recording.
We started out at Holland Lake about 11:30 am, planning to take the East Holland Connector Trail [415] to the Holland Gordon Trail [35], to Sapphire-Smoky Trail [120], to the spur to the (two) lakes. [Note that the distances on the map say 3.8 miles to [35], and the sign says 3 miles.]
The trail started out at 4100 feet and was a mild but steady ascent through the forest. At about 2 miles in, the trail briefly opened up with great views, showing Holland Lake and the Mission Mountains in the background (with snow on the peaks). At this point, we were at 4700 feet.
The trail followed Holland Creek up to Upper Holland Lake.
We reached the junction with the Holland Gordon Trail [35] a bit after 1 pm.
As we climbed higher out of the drainage, we were rewarded with beautiful views, with the Missions in the distance. At that point, we were at 5600 feet. We stopped not long after for lunch.
We crossed the water again at about 3:15 pm, with a pretty waterfall and a big drop-off into the creek.
We reached Upper Holland Lake at about 3:40 pm, about 6160 feet and 5.25 miles in.
After walking about a quarter mile around the north side of Upper Holland Lake, the route turned northwest onto the Sapphire-Smoky Trail [120]. At this point it got steeper.
We stopped for huckleberry picking (and eating) now and again.
Brian took this picture of us above Upper Holland Lake.
We got to the spur for Sapphire Lakes at about 5 pm. At that point we were about 7 miles in and at 7050 feet.
When we got to the lakes, we wandered about a bit before deciding where to put our tents. We tented at a nice spot on the east side of the larger lake that allowed us room for two tents spaced apart and a beautiful view for a cooking spot. Brian and Leah (our billy goats) could climb down a crevice in the rock wall on our side to get water as needed. We walked down to the lake on a easy path for a wash-up and relaxation break. While down at the beach, a trail crew staying at the lake told us to watch out for moose and also that there was a nice spring that ran into the lake.
After a dinner of mac and cheese and fresh vegetables, we sat and just watched as the sun went down.
At some point, Larry decided to relax in the tent. As he called out something to me and I responded, the sound must have frightened a nearby lady moose, who proceeded to stomp past us about 30 feet away and head down to the lake for a drink. It was pretty dark by then, and we could barely see her.
After a good night’s sleep, we were rewarded with the sight of a bull and lady moose at the lake. We watched them for an hour as we ate breakfast and prepared to leave a bit after 9 am.
We had two options for reaching the Holland Lookout Trail [42] from the lakes — one was to take Holland Sapphire Trail [48] and miss the summit of the Holland Lookout, or take an unnamed steep, switchback up to the lookout and then pick up [42a] which met the Holland Lookout Trail [42] further down at the junction with the Holland Sapphire Trail [48] .
First we had to come up from the lakes and go back onto the Sapphire-Smoky Trail [120] to the point where it reached the edge of the Bob Marshall Wilderness.
Pretty flowers (gentian and indian paint brush) along the way.
At this point, we chose not to do the Holland Sapphire Trail, but to continue on the Sapphire-Smoky Trail to the edge of the Bob Marshall Wilderness and do the steep, unnamed trail to the lookout.
Heading to the unnamed trail.
Looking back.
Close to the wilderness boundary, before taking a left hand turn up the mountain.
Brian took this shot as we headed up the unnamed trail. (Sapphire Lake where we camped is in the background).
So this trail was pretty scary for at least one of us in the party afraid of heights, as the path was narrow, filled with loose gravel, and was at lot steeper than it looks here. (You can tell by our forward lean that it is steep.)
But we did make it to the top of the path, and then headed up 30 feet or so to the lookout at 8000 feet.
A view from the lookout to the north along the ridge of the Swan range, Mt. Holland (which is the highest mountain in the range) with snow peeking through the cleft between the closer two peaks.
After we passed over the top (at the lookout) we could look down at Holland Lake. (Our starting point was at the end of the road that runs about half way along the north (right) side of the lake.)
The trail down was pretty steep, mostly wooded, some open areas, with long, long switchbacks. At some point, we walked past the junction with the Holland Sapphire Trail [48]. The hike from the lookout, which was the highest point, back down to the trailhead, lost 4000 feet of elevation over a little over 4 miles. We finally got to the junction back to the East Holland Trail [415] at about 1:30 pm.
Then we hiked the remaining mile or so back to the car, finishing up sometime after 2 pm, stopped at the lake for a dip, and headed home. What a great trip!
Here is our hike in Google Earth, rotated a bit. Our hike went counter-clockwise around the loop.
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Larry and Eileen Samberg
