It is 2.8 miles from the point where the trail leaves the Iceberg trail and begins to climb to the Ptarmigan tunnel. Its about 1500 feet or so of climb up to the tunnel. This is a more strenous route than the Iceberg Lake hike, which is why we decide to go here first, and then continue on to the lake.
As soon as you leave the Iceberg Trail, the Ptarmigan Tunnel trail starts climbing. Not so steeply that you are climbing switchbacks, but it does go up. We walked alongside the Ptarmigan Wall. When we stopped for a rest, we could look back on Mount Wilbur. Eventually the trail levels out a bit. We saw some cascades for the Ptarmigan Creek. Then we reach Ptarmigan Lake. This is a small lake below the tunnel entrance. I am not sure what feeds the lake, other than melting snow - there was still some ice floating in the water when we saw it in July.
As we got closer to the rock wall, we could see the trail climbing steeply in three big switchbacks, but we had a hard time spotting the tunnel entrance on the rock face. The tunnel is further to the right than I expected, and there is a wall in front of it, so only the tunnel top is visible from the trail. It is a steep climb, but not really that far - it doesn't take that long to ascend.
When you get to the top, there is a fine view of the Swiftcurrent Valley, Mount Wilbur and the Ptarmigan Wall. The tunnel 183 feet long, and quite large - it is carved so that a man can ride through it on horseback. There are big doors at each end of the tunnel, I believe they are shut at the end of each fall season, and not reopened until spring. You can see all the way through the tunnel without needing flashlights. On more than one instance, hikers have met bears coming through the tunnel in the opposite direction! We didn't see any bears, but there was a large marmot at the south entrance.
On the north side of the tunnel is a stupendous view of Elizabeth Lake. We walked perhaps a quarter mile beyond the tunnel to get a better view of the area. We could see Mt Merrit and Ahern Peak, with a waterfall pouring off the melting Ahern Glacier. Melanie had brought along the binoculars so we could scan the distant landscape. The trail continues down from the tunnel all the way to Elizabeth Lake. We watched some hikers climbing slowly up towards us. When we looked back on the trail, it is an impressive piece of civil engineering. The north end of the tunnel is about 800 feet above a sheer cliff. They must have blasted away at the mountain side to carve out the trail. The rocks are red and white argellite - it looks like giant crystals. It is an impressive thing to see. I am glad we made this hike. I took lots of photos because it was such a nice place.
Click here for a panorama of the vista from the Northern side of the tunnel.
Click here for a panorama of the vista from the Southern side of the tunnel.
Click on any thumbnail to open photo in new window. My favorite photos have blue frames
