Skiumah Lake

The popular misconception is one has to plan a multi-day outing to enjoy Northwest Montana's wilderness. Nothing could be further from the truth. Access into the wilderness, particularly the Great Bear Wilderness, can be had in a day hike, even an afternoon hike.

One such hike is the quick two-mile run up to Skiumah Lake. The word Skiumah, for what it's worth, means victory, and has been used as the University of Minnesota's rugby chant for the past 130 years, playing off a Sioux battle cry.

The hike to the lake is a mini-victory. The trailhead is tucked off into the woods just off U.S. Highway 2 near Nyack. There's a Forest Service sign that marks the turnoff, but not the trailhead itself. The trail rises steeply through the woods, crosses Skiumah Creek and enters the wilderness about halfway up. The hike to the lake is just short of two miles. The route is deeply forested, but still offers nice views of Glacier National Park to the north, including Mounts Stimson and Pinchot sprouting up from the Nyack Valley across the way.

What's really interesting is the old growth trees that live right along the trail, including cedar, larch, spruce and Douglas fir.

Skiumah Lake isn't the most attractive. It's full of downed logs and the brush goes right to the shoreline. You could, however, climb Mount Penrose from here, though it looks to involve a rather nasty bushwhack along the lake.

Another interesting facet of the hike is slugs. The trail is home to Chocolate Arions, a big black slug that was introduced from Europe and only lives near the Continental Divide in the U.S.

- Chris Peterson