A jewel of a hike to Jewel Basin

It was a hot day, and we wanted to avoid the crowds in Glacier, so on a tip from Amber, we took a hike to Birch Lake, in Jewel Basin. Jewel Basin is south of GNP, and east of Flathead Lake. There are 36 lakes you can visit in the basin. It's designated for hikers only, and lots of backpackers frequent the area. Our trip took us to a pretty little lake, only 3 miles one way, plus another 1.8 miles if you want to go all the way around it, which we did.

Our trail has lots of scenery to look at along the way.

The view along the trail is breathtaking!

We must be getting close.....

Birch Lake is one of 36 lakes nestled in Jewel Basin, a hiker's paradise.

We arrive at Birch Lake

The ranger at the trailhead said we might see mountain goats coming down to the lake, but all we saw was a little evidence of them passing through.

This is a pretty little stream that runs into the lake, where we had our lunch.

Not sure what kind of moths or butterflies these are.

Darrell finds the most interesting things to photograph.