Elizabeth Lake, Cosley Lake, Glenns Lake, Mokowanis Lake
General location: The Belly River drains the northeast
section of the Park. The river flows north into Canada. The closest community
is Babb, which is nine miles north of the Saint Mary Entrance. Overnight
camping requires a permit. Elizabeth Lake is the most popular backcountry
destination both for its beauty and fishing opportunities. For this reason
hikers are restricted to only one night at Elizabeth Lake.
Trailhead access: The trailhead is easy to locate as it is
next to the Chief Mountain Custom Office on the border. The parking lot is
large and includes a hitching rail and designated parking for stock trailers.
Take Highway 89 from Saint Mary. About four miles north of the community of
Babb, turn left on Route 17, the Chief
Mountain International Highway.
Hiking conditions: From the parking lot high up on a
ridge-line, the trail drops straight down a couple of miles to the Belly River.
All of the trails to the above lakes are rated easy to moderate, with the
exception of the two-mile drop to the Belly River. Except for the trail that
follows the Belly River to the Ranger Station Campground, most of the time
hikers are in and out of shade, which along with numerous little creek
crossings makes the hikes very pleasant in warmer weather. The scenery is
breathtaking.
Fishing species: The drainage contains rainbow trout,
brook trout, lake trout, arctic grayling and whitefish.
Belly River
The Belly River
flows through a lush, narrow valley until it reaches the Ranger Station and
Gable Creek Campground. The jagged, snowcapped pinnacles provide a panoramic
sweep of the valley's promise as the trail winds in and out of spruce,
lodgepole and quaking aspen. Grass and wildflowers sway kneehigh, providing abundant
forage for elk, deer and other wildlife. Just above the Belly River Ranger
Station, the river splits with one fork leading to Elizabeth Lake and the other
fork leading to Cosley Lake. As it is glacierfed, this little river rips up the
streambed during spring run-off. In spite of the abundant insect presence
during the summer, the river's cold rushing waters do not provide the best
habitat. Fishing is reported to be fair, although it is good in its diversity
of species offerings.
When the river
drops in late summer in time for hopper fishing, the meadow sections reportedly
fish well. I must confess that I did not fish it. I was just too pooped to fish
when I reached Gable Creek Campground. Every backcountry angler I queried said
the same thing: a day hike down to the Belly River would provide incredible
scenery, absolute solitude and fair to good fishing for rainbow trout, brook
trout and arctic grayling. From the trailhead to the Belly River Ranger Station
and campground is 6.1 miles and offers a number of campsites as well as a stock
area. Into this garden of paradise, pesky flies and mosquitoes greet hikers. Be
prepared. Bring plenty of repellant during early summer. I found that a
mosquito net over my head was perfect for those short trail naps!
Cosley Lake, Glenns Lake and Mokowanis River
Traveling 6.1
miles to the Belly River Ranger Station and Gable Creek Campground, the trail
splits. From the ranger station to Elizabeth Lake is 3.5 miles. From this point
to Cosley Lake is two miles, plus another six-tenths to the campground, a total
of 8.7 miles from the trailhead. Just behind the campground, the trail crosses
the Belly River via a one-person suspension bridge. A ford is marked just below
the bridge. The trail climbs up the slope, eventually following the Mokowanis
River. Just before the trail crests, hikers are treated with a view of the Gros
Ventre Falls plunging 100 feet into a cauldron of foam and a deep green pool.
Cosley Lake is beautiful, and campers are treated to their own beachfront campsites.
Directly across the lake is the colorful and rugged Cosley Ridge. At the head
of the lake towards Mokowanis Lake, Mount Merritt and Pyramid Peak provide huge
patches of snow, along with cascading falls for picture-perfect photographs of
Glacier grandeur.
Although Cosley
Lake has a few trout, it is basically barren with the exception of some lake
trout patrolling the bottom. The outlet of Cosley Lake and the Mokowanis River
above the falls were equally disappointing. I talked to one Park biologist who
was studying the lynx population, and he told me that all of the lakes
connecting the Mokowanis River were either near barren or disappointing in fish
counts and frequency of catches. The inlet to Cosley Lake provides the best
fishing, but it has now been closed to protect nesting eagles. Glenns Lake,
just above Cosley Lake, is also rated poor fishing. Mokowanis Lake, the last
lake in this string of lakes, offers fair to good fishing for small brook
trout. So, what does a hiker who is eager to catch some high-elevation trout
do? Simple solution! From the foot of Cosley Lake, hikers may cross the outlet
at the cable crossing and hike 3.7 miles to Elizabeth Lake.
Along the way
you will be treated to another spectacular photo opportunity, Dawn Mist Falls.
Elizabeth Lake
In addition to
the Big Hole River and a few other spots in Montana, Elizabeth Lake is one of
just a few places in the lower 48 states where anglers can catch both rainbow
trout and arctic grayling, and big ones at that! The lake is quite large, and
most anglers concentrate at the foot of the lake and the inlet. The trout and
the grayling cruise along the shelf where the clear, shallow water meets the
impenetrable green-blue line of water, which is produced by glacial silt.
Grayling and trout reaching 14 to 16 inches and larger ones are not uncommon.
In addition to the mayfly hatch, I saw lots of caddis and stoneflies enticing
lots of fish midday, in spite of the heavy winds. Look for some protected coves
along the eastern side of the lake.
The western
side of the lake may be reached from a suspension bridge. Looking down into the
water from the bridge, anglers will observe four or five really large rainbows
sipping on midges. They, of course, are quite aware of human presence as well
and are very wary, not to mention irritated that they have to constantly slide
over to the other side of the pool each time an excited angler discovers them.
(Yes, I couldn't resist and made a couple of foolish casts from the swinging
bridge. They nonchalantly ignored my offerings.)
Pauline and I
packed up our two donkeys and met her son Dennis on the way up to the Park. I
had secured a reservation early in the spring for one night at Gable Creek and
two nights at Cosley Lake. Although I had asked for Elizabeth Lake, I was
pleased to get so close to this most popular fishing lake. For the most part
the donkeys behaved quite well. Because we had not stayed the night at Saint
Mary or Babb, we reached the trailhead late, despite hitting the road at 6 am.
This kept me from fishing the Belly River section by the campground that
evening. If you are not a healthy, strong backpacker, I most certainly
recommend staying the first night at Gable Creek Campground, which is only 6.1
miles from the trailhead. In retrospect, I would prefer to stay two nights at
Gable Creek Campground and do a day hike to Elizabeth if I couldn't get a
campsite the second day at Elizabeth Lake.
When Dennis and
I reached Elizabeth Lake from our campground at Cosley Lake, the wind was
blowing hard, producing small, choppy waves. Wading out into shallow water
about 20 yards, I faced squarely into the wind. Having recently had
arthroscopic shoulder surgery, I gave up after a few futile casts and retreated
to a piece of shade. I was too tired to brood over our bad luck on facing hot
dry winds, which thrashed the surface of the lake. Dennis looked at me
sympathetically and went off exploring. (I am sure he made a silent vow not to
be so out of shape at 55.) Dennis disdains all forms of fishing elitism and prefers
to carry a two-foot Snoopy rod and reel. About a half-hour later he came back
and said, "Sorry to disturb your nap, Dave, but I think you had better grab
your rod and follow me. I found a spot where there are tons of fish. They
follow my lure all the way in until they see me, but I can't get them to hit."
I was instantly
awake to the possibilities. Sore shoulders and blistered feet vanished. Dennis
led me over to the first cove on the eastern shoreline, a quarter of a mile in
sight of the campground at the outlet. Before I had even made my first cast,
Dennis pointed out the cruisers swimming along the line where shallow water
meets the deep blue. I had already had a Goddard Caddis on my line with a
beadhead dropper. Within two or three casts I had caught a very large grayling
on the nymph.
I quickly
changed Dennis's Snoopy rig and put on a beadhead Prince nymph with two strike
indicators and a swivel to add a little weight. Dennis began making 20-foot
casts and caught both rainbows and grayling. After catching a number of fish, I
offered Dennis my fly rod, as he had never used one before. His second cast
along the shoreline threw a size 16 yellow Wulff pattern into the shallow
water. The 16-inch rainbow shot right out of the shallows no more than six feet
from the shoreline and snatched Dennis' offering. After Dennis released this
beauty, my generosity and sharing quickly dissolved when I saw the size of his
fish. I deftly snatched back my fly rod and went on to catch a lot of small and
large fish before we had to head back down the trail. Dennis did quite well
with his Snoopy outfit until the reel broke. The last fish he landed he brought
in hand-over-hand. His only comment: "They don't make Snoopy rods like they
used to."
