Dead cows caused trail closures in Cut Bank. Avalanche Lake Trail reopens. Trail status pages back online

Hungry Horse News

Dead cows caused the Pitamakan Pass Trail in Glacier National Park’s Cut Bank Valley to close for weeks this spring and early summer.

Bears and other scavengers had been feeding on dead cows that perished over the winter months, park spokeswoman Gina Kerzman confirmed recently.

Most of the trails reopened over the weekend, though a section of the Dawson Pass Trail was closed due to bear activity.

The cows and calves, about a dozen total, wandered into the park last fall and winter from the neighboring Blackfeet Reservation and couldn’t get out due to deep snow.

They didn’t survive the winter. Ranchers tried to get them out, with no success.

In the Bob Marshall Wilderness, dead stock can also be a problem, as horses and mules are prone to accidents. Forest Service crews have been known in the past to use explosives to essentially evaporate dead animals on heavily used trails in order to reopen areas.

Dead cows weren’t the only problem in Cut Bank, however. The primitive auto campground won’t open this summer season due to lack of staffing, Kerzman noted.

In other Glacier Park trail news, after more than a week of work by trail crews, the popular Avalanche Lake Trail has reopened.

Heavy rains flooded the trail earlier this month, closing it for a couple of weeks. The trail was washed out in some places and inundated by floodwaters in others.

Glacier Park trails in general are muddy and in some places, still under water. Folks are urged to wear waterproof boots and avoid going around mud rather than through it.

Going around mudholes just makes them wider and causes trail damage, Kerzman noted.

Almost all the trails in Glacier are muddy this spring. Up high, folks should expect snow. Most mountain passes still have deep snow, which can be almost impossible to cross with regular footwear and a challenge even with an ice ax and crampons.

Glacier’s trail status web pages are now back up and running as is the walk-in availability page for backcountry campsites.

Both sites were down earlier this month and in the beginning of the season.

Kerzman said in the next year or so, the pages will be reprogrammed, as the park updates its website. Some pages were written in code that is no longer used by the Park Service.

The trail status pages are at: https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/trailstatusreports.htm

This story has been updated to reflect the trails reopening.