The “Walton Ranger Station” and Scalplock Mountain trail is 27 miles east of West Glacier, Montana and a 1 mile “hop” from Essex, Montana. It is amazing to see black-and-white images of the valley below Scalplock Mountain taken in 1935. In the pictures from 1935, there is nothing in the valley but burnt tree stumps thanks the devastating forest fires of 1910 & 1931.
Scalplock Mountain (elevation 6919 ft / 2109 m) was named so, according to Glacier Administrative History, for a small tuft of trees resembling a Native American warrior’s scalplock that remained on it’s summit following a fire that destroyed the remaining timber.
A “scalplock” is defined as follows: a long lock of hair left on the top of the shaven head of certain Native American warriors. The hike sounds “Macho,” but it’s not. The neighboring mountain to the east is called: “Running Rabbit.” (elevation 7,674 ft / 2339 m).
Our destination, Scalplock Lookout, was built in 1931 and re-habbed in 1999. From there, we should see some great views of Glacier Park’s Mount Saint Nicholas (9070 ft / 2765 m) to the north and the mountains of the “Great Bear Wilderness” to the south.
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