Distinctly Montana Magazine

W W W. D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA NA . C O M 15 UPPER HOLLAND LAKE LOOP e larch-fronted shores of popular Holland Lake in the Seeley-Swan valley north of Missoula are the departure point for a classic 12-mile backpacking loop high into the Swan Crest. e six-mile hike to Upper Holland Lake parallels the crooks and cascades of Holland Creek; back- ward glances reveal Holland Lake below and the snow-clad panorama of the Mission Mountains to the west. Upper Holland Lake is a miniature version of its low-elevation kin, a wooded pool with a moose-friendly marsh at the inlet. But the star is Sapphire Lake, actually a pair of pretty infinity-pool tarns perched on stacked bedrock benches a mile or so of climbing beyond Upper Holland Lake. e lakes mirror the layer-cake pyramid of Little Carmine Peak directly across the Holland Creek drainage; to the east unfurl the endless bastions of the Bob Marshall Wilder- ness. A popular horse-packing portal into the Bob Marshall Wilderness, the Upper Holland Lake loop can get crowded on summer weekends. Autumn, when the crowds have thinned and the western larch put on their golden show, is the time to go. Be aware that snow stacks up in the Swans beginning in early autumn; bring waterproof boots and plan for minor route-finding challenges on the leeward side of the Crest. GETTING THERE From MT 83 20 miles north of Seeley Lake (just past milepost 35), turn east on Holland Lake Road. Drive this good gravel 3.9 miles, past the Holland Lake day-use area and Holland Lake Lodge, to the road's end and trailhead (elev. 4060 feet). INSPIRATION POINT Survey the snow-covered shoulders of Swan Peak from this former lookout site on the tundra-clad hummocks of the Swan Crest. Although you may be inspired to choose this hike for its high- elevation trailhead, be warned: Inspiration Point manages to sneak in the Swan Range climbing quota between the beginning and end of its 12.4 mile round-trip distance. Fortunately, the scenery accompanying the trail's capricious gains and losses in elevation is uniformly spectacular, from the early-summer color of glacier lilies on the wildflower-spangled Napa Ridge to old-growth spruce in the sheltered drainages of the Swan Crest. A former lookout site, 7628-foot Inspiration Point surveys the western Bob Marshall Wilderness and the White River Syncline to the east. Inspiration Pass is the ingress for a south-to-north ridge run along the Swan Crest Trail, which continues all the way to Columbia Mountain past charming wooded tarns and flower-draped slopes. GETTING THERE From Montana Highway 83, 13 miles south of Swan Lake (between mileposts 58 and 59), turn left (east) onto Goat Creek Road (Forest Road 554). Drive 3.6 miles, keeping left at a signed junction at 1.6 miles, then turn left onto Napa Point Road (FR 554). Continue 1 mile, then turn right onto FR 10505 and drive 6.9 switchbacking, occasionally rough miles to the road's end at Napa Point and trailhead (elev. 6423 feet). 4 5 AUTUMN, WHEN CROWDS HAVE THINNED AND THE WESTERN LARCH PUTS ON THEIR GOLDEN SHOW, IS THE TIME TO GO. CONTINUED

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