Stop #2: The Switchbacks through the Forest.

 

At the beginning of the trail you will ascend a series of switchbacks surrounded by spruce and fir trees that lead into the Crypt Valley. As you ascend through the shaded forest into the hanging valley, its a great time to brush up on some of the areas ecology. Keep your whits about you, as the Crypt Lake Trail is home to both black and grizzly bears, as well as Bighorn Sheep, Moose, Mountain Goat, Mule Deer, and White-Tailed Deer. If you are an adventurous fisherman, Crypt Lake is stocked with Cutthroat trout. This is trail is an excellent place to observe the rare species of vegetation called Beargrass. This plant has a unmistakeable tufts of small white flowers that only bloom once every seven years (per each plant), and is the unofficial symbol of the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. When you reach the end of the switchbacks that climb through the forest you will notice there will be proportionally less shade.