Kintla Lake, Glacier NP

Hiking Glacier National Park
Aug 2005

Mule Deer

Index:

Aug 10	Aug 11	Aug 12	Aug 13	Aug 14
Aug 15	Aug 16	Aug 17	Aug 18	Aug 19
Aug 20	Links

 

Quote of the trip: "I'm Dave, I'm a guide"

 

I put this page together to share our experience on a trip to Glacier National Park. Hope you enjoy it. If you are researching information on the web, for a future hike, I hope it provides you with some useful information. Feel free to contact me at tom@tomcentral.com

Wednesday Aug 10th

Getting up at 4:00am for my 6:46 flight, I flew Northwest Airlines to Detroit. There I connected to a flight to Minneapolis and then, finally, my flight to Kalispell, MT. which services Glacier NP. Arriving in Kalispell, a half hour late, I nervously waited to collect my bags from a 3 connection flight. I watched as each bag poked through the conveyer opening. Many bags spewed from the room behind the wall, with a thud, but none were mine. Was this going to be another adventure before the adventure vacation? No, alas my bag finally appear as one of the last to come out. I grabbed it, proceeding to Exit #4, where I was told my taxi would be waiting. I looked around the small airport and spied a guy talking to the security guard like he was a regular. Sure enough, when he saw me he came over. He was the driver from Flathead Glacier Transportation. As I stood beside a sign with my name on it, I said: "I'm Tom". He grabbed my bags and we loaded them in a small van. Pulling out onto the highway we headed towards West Glacier.

After about 40 minutes we turned off Route 2 and onto the "Going to the Sun Road". Passing beneath the railroad tracks the gift shop, grocery store, bar and restaurant came into view. The West Glacier Motel, where I was staying, came next. I had made my reservations back in April for the night before the trip and the night after. We pulled into the little motel that looked like something out of a 1940's road atlas and walked into the little office. I gave them my name and immediately the guy said "oh, the man with two first names". Yeah, I've been hearing that all my life.

This was definitely a "mom and pop" type establishment. The man and women running the place would not have looked out of place in San Francisco in the 60's. He gave me my key and the van driver pulled around to unload my baggage. I thanked him and paid the $40 dollars for the ride ($34+tip). As he pulled away I walked into the room and felt like I was entering a motel museum. It was clean and well maintained but obviously built in the 40's or 50's. The paneling and pink tile in the bathroom gave it away. :-) For some reason the sink was low and the shower head was at my chest. I felt like I was in a room for short people. :-) The size of the room was very small also, and two people would definitely be running into each other, but it was fine for my purpose. As I scanned the room the first thing I noticed was that there was no phone. The second was that the TV had rabbit ears! Only one station, CBS, came in well enough to watch. Just like before cable TV. :-) Gee and all this for a mere $80 a night! Welcome to a National Park in high season :-)

As I unpacked my duffle I arranged my gear. It was then I realized that I forgot my Nalgene water bottle. I could have kicked myself since I already have several at home. I went over to the small shops nearby but none had Nalgene bottles. One clerk told me that "up the road" there was an outdoor store. So I was forced to walk a 1/2 mile up Route 2 to buy one for $13. What a rip, I get these at home for $8.50! Welcome to a National Park in high season, or did I already say that? :-)

Soon after I arrived back at the room I heard thunder. The sky darkened and it began to rain hard. A little hail fell. This was a short lived, however, and the storm passed. Soon the sun started shining and the pavement began to steam.

Packed and ready to go I was getting hungry. It was getting to be dinner time so I walked across the street to the West Glacier Restaurant. The place could best be described as an establishment with "good eats". It was like an old diner with counter seating as well as tables. I decided to sit at the counter. Again, the smallness struck me. The chairs at the counter were so close to the counter that my knees hit it! Strange. Anyway, the waitresses were pleasant and the food good for the price. I had chicken parmesan. Before you think this was something fancy, let me tell you it was basically grilled chicken with spaghetti sauce poured over it. Like I said "good eats". For desert I had some mint chocolate chip ice cream from their dairy bar. I had to have my fix before ten days on the trail. :-)

I paid the check and walked over to my room. With a bit of jet lag, I struggled to stay awake until 9:30, when I decided to crash.

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Thursday Aug 11th (Kintla Lake, 6.3mi, 0 elevation gain)

I awoke (yes I actually slept) to a glimpse of light streaming through the window. It was 6:00am and time to get up. After showering I waited for the restaurant to open at 7:00am. I was the first one in and ordered a mushroom omelet with wheat toast, coffee and orange juice. I dug in and enjoyed my last breakfast before the trail. Slowly others trickled in and the place began to fill. After about 20 minutes I downed the last bit of coffee and paid the check. Stepping out into the morning, I headed back across the street to the motel.

I did some last minute packing and kicked back, waiting for the shuttle pick up. Sherry arrived at 8:15 to take me to the Glacier Wilderness Guides satellite office from where we were departing. It was a short drive of only about a 1/2 mile. As we pulled in I saw some people on the deck and figured they were my tripmates and guide. I got out of the van and walked up and to meet everyone.

Colleen & Chris

Dan & Trish

Dave

Jack

Jim

Tom

We all then proceeded into the building to make our lunch and get snacks for the trip. After that we grabbed some community bags, fuel etc... and distributed it between ourselves. Once packed and ready, we were required to watch a video on park regulations and wildlife. It talked about bears (oh my!) and what to do in certain situations. The infamous Grizzly was, of course, mentioned.

After this we boarded the shuttle van for our ride to the trailhead. Starting out on the smooth highway, it wasn't long however, before the paved road ended and the bumpy dirt road began. As we proceeded down it, we came upon a crew grading it. They were obviously slow, so we needed to pass. However, there was a line of dirt in the middle of the road built up by the grader. Sherry took the van over it anyway. Passeing them, we found the reason they were grading. The road in front was really bumpy and pot hole strewn. :-( We were moving a lot faster, however. After that bit of excitement (never passed an actual road grading crew before) we eventually turned and came to a small hamlet called Polebridge. This place had a general store which sold excellent baked goods. I bought some kind of roll with sundried tomato and garlic on it. mmmmmm :-)

My motto is "never pass up a bathroom", so I headed over to the outhouse. I opened the door and thought, "these people must spend a lot of time in here", because there was practically a library of novels lining the walls. :-) Not exactly a pleasant smelling place to read, however. :-(

After a short stay (at the outhouse and polebridge), we continued down the road to another Glacier National Park gate. We had actually passed out of the park and back in during this drive. After the gate, we wound down the narrow road and noticed a couple cars stopped in front of us. Looking left I saw a moose. Next to it was a deer. Dave, our guide, saw the deer but not the moose. I said "look at the moose". He thought, I thought that the deer was a moose. OK, I may be from the city, but I know a moose when I see one. :-) In any event, I guess since earlier I saw a squirrel, I now had seen "moose and squirrel" Now all I needed to do was sight Boris and Natasha. :-)

After about an hour after leaving the office, we arrived at a car camping camp ground on Kintla Lake. This was our starting point for the Boulder Pass Trail. We went down to the shore and stared out at the lake. It was the beginning of what would be many beautiful lakes along the way. We grabbed our lunches and sat on the shoreline. There were some families fishing.

After lunching we prepared to go. We took the proverbial "before" photo of the trek , then said good-bye to Sherry, and civilization for 10 days. Starting down the path, after a brief period, we came across a note on the trail. Reading it, it said that there were bees ahead that had stung the people who wrote the note, 7 times! We decided not to temp them again and bush whacked around that part of the trail. :-)

Arriving at the Kintla Lake campground, which was right on the lake, took us about 4 hours. A couple canoeing was already there.

Glacier NP is very strict on camping and we had to camp in the designated areas. Doing as we had been instructed, we unloaded the food bags in the designated "food preparation area" at the campsite. Dave then guarded the food while we went to find a site to setup our tents. This would be the drill going forward. We never took food near our campsites. While bears are not aggressive, there is no reason to tempt them into coming in to eat where you sleep.

After dinner I took the opportunity to go down to shore and check out this beautiful lake. The view was incredible on the edge it. It stretched to the "V" shape of the mountains. . I sat with my feet dangling in the water with nothing but the lapping and the wind in my ears. Across the pristine lake sat one of the highest mountains (Kintla, 10,000+) in the park, rising up from the shore.

I took a sponge bath and then wandered over to the dinner area. We had rice, zucchini and mushrooms followed by peanut butter and chocolate cake (the no-bake kind). It was really good. Afterwards I went back down to the lake to watch the fish jumping. I wished I had brought my rod because they would have been easy to catch!

We then skipped stones and enjoyed the evening as the water was calm. It was so peaceful. The sun, getting lower in the sky, lit up Kintla . As it began to set the alpineglow shown on the mountain side . A few minutes later the clouds turned pink and then darkness rolled in.

The chill began to set upon us and we were all tired, so we retired to our tents. We were set up in two areas and it was a tight fit, but we managed. The wind was picking up and I could hear it in the treetops as I fell off to sleep.

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Friday Aug 12th (Kintla Lake to Upper Kintla Lake, 5.3mi, 400' elevation gain)

The wind was howling as I wandered over to the pit toilet around 12:30am. It appeared we were in for some weather as I made my way through the brush to the tent. I listened to the wind ruffle the leaves as I crawled back into the bag. I fell back to sleep quickly as I was enveloped by the warmth.

Waking up, I heard the the sound of rain on the tent. Oh well, part of the experience I guess. :-( I prepared myself for a wet departure getting on my rain coat. I heard some people up over by the food area. As I made my way down the path I realized that there was a tree across the way that was not there last night. The wind had blown it down. :-(

I arrived to find several people drinking coffee and joined in. For breakfast we had powdered eggs. As we ate, the couple, in the canoe, departed and paddled out onto the lake, heading home. We, however, were going the other direction for 9 more days! Reminded of this, we fueled up on the grub.

The routine then began. Packing up camp we left late, at about 11:00am. We were not quick to get out of camp. As we hiked out we climbed about 200 feet following Kintla creek. The couple from the canoe had mentioned a bear was up the trail a ways, and sure enough, we saw a small black bear in a meadow. It was far off on a rock and hard to see without binoculars. Chris let me look through his big zoom lens.

After that bit of excitement, with a light rain spitting on and off, we continued on in our rain gear. As we walked we picked Thimble Berries (which are like raspberries) and Service berries (which are like blueberries). The pleasure of eating fresh fruit was tempered by the intense wind. As we reached Upper Kintla Lake, coming out of the woods, we stepped onto the shoreline and were slammed in the face by it. It was so strong, whitecaps were breaking on the lake. With no sunshine and low clouds it made for a cold day. This attributed to our short stay on the shoreline as we retreated into the woods for a break from the wind.

After trekking in the woods a while, we arrived at Upper Kintla Lake campground in the early afternoon. We set up our tents as Dave made lunch. I knew lunch was going to be trouble since it was humus. I like humus but it doesn't like me. :-( Yikes! As I ate it I tried to dampen the effect with beano. However, that didn't work as my tripmates can attest to. :-) I spent the better part of the next day being propelled down the trail. Oh well.

Upper Kintla Lake is a large campground. It has a firepit so we gathered wood and lit one. The shining sun made washing up in the lake fairly pleasant. As I did I took in the beautiful site. Afterwards I sat scanning the shoreline, with my binoculars, in search of wildlife. This proved fruitless, so recalling that we had passed a patch of thimble berries on the way in, I hiked back to that spot and gathered some. I returned to camp with berry stained hands which would be a common occurrence throughout the trip. :-)

The sun and rain were fighting a battle the whole day. A front seemed as though it was going to move in, but somehow it stayed to our North. As the sun shined from the South, it made for the most magnificent rainbow I have ever seen. The colors were amazing and this picture does not do it justice.

Unfortunately, this campground, will be most notable in my memory, for it's nasty pit toilet. It was time to dig a new one, I think. It stunk so bad, I came up with a solution of wearing my bandana rubbed with hand sanitizer, to inhibit the gag reflex. :-( Thereafter known as the "Tom" method.

As the sun got low in the sky, the evening got quite cool. We used the fire to warm up. Dave made pasta for dinner. We sat around hungrily eyeing it up. That's when we had a slight mishap. Colleen was handing the pot to someone and dropped it. As it hit the ground, out spilled dinner. :-( Not good. Chris and her were quick to salvage as much as they could, however, out of the dirt. Bummer, but we all had some to eat at least. Alas, desert made up for any lost pasta, as we had cheese cake with freshly picked thimble berries. :-) I think we licked the plate.

Afterwards the evening routine of storing the food occurred. These area's sometimes have a cable between trees, poles, bear boxes or a combination to store the food. At Upper Kintla, we had a cable and poles. We chose the poles . It's not an easy task to load your food on the poles. You have to use a long pole with a hook on it to place a bag on a hook about 15 feet up. With that in mind, Chris helped out by climbing the pole and placing the bags on the hooks!

After that chore, we sat on the lake and watched the sun set on the mountains. Being away from camp, I was happy, as I just listened to the lapping of the water on the shoreline. It reminded me of the reason I came, for moments like that. As darkness enveloped us, we retired to or tents. As I lay there falling off, I was hoping the weather would improve slightly, since we were going up to Boulder Pass in the morning.

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Saturday Aug 13th. (Upper Kintla Lake to Bolder Pass, 5.6mi, 2880' elevation gain)

Woke up to a cold, frosty morning. Oatmeal and coffee greeted us at the food area. The lake water was warmer than the air temp and a mist rose off the surface as we looked at fresh snow on the peaks. We took our now usual time to get going and didn't pack up and find the trail until 10:30am.

Starting through the woods, along the lakes edge, we eventually came to the creek with a suspension bridge. The limit on these was 1 hiker at a time, and I found out why, as I bounced up and down as I crossed. Trish and Colleen came next. Once we were all across we continued on the gradual climb, coming upon a grouse in the middle of the trail. We got surprisingly close before it saw us and flew up into a tree.

At the camp the night before, we spotted the trail from a distance, breaking out of the trees. We now reached that area and began to climb it. Starting up a steep section we saw a group of hikers coming down towards us. As we intersected we realized they were another party from the same guide company who were on their way out. They had spent the night on Boulder Pass. They told us they were just thawing out as it was really cold up there and they had been snowed on. I guess we were lucky to have spent the night low on the lake the night before. We said good-bye and continued up as the sun shined through the trees warming up the day. We stopped a couple more times, then I asked Dave if he'd mind if I went ahead. Once I start going up a hill, I really don't like to stop much. It throws me out of my rhythm especially when I'm climbing serious elevation. He said no problem and I went ahead with Trish and Dan. We alternated between woods, open areas and heavy shrubs. In the shrub area's I kept shouting "hey bear!" to alert any out there. I didn't want to surprise a bear. That would be bad news. :-( We switched back and forth up the mountainside. Since the elevation was over a short distance there were a lot of these switchbacks. I got ahead of Trish and Dan but could occasionally see them below me on the path. At one point I stopped to remove my rain pants, which I had on to protect from the soaking wet brush we were walking through. Dan and Trish then caught up to me as I was leaving. That was the last I saw of anyone until camp. I kept a slow but methodic rhythm up the mountain. As I continued to climb I ate Gorp and GU for energy. A peak to my right was getting more and more level with my view. I used this to gauge the elevation and knew I was rising up near the top. I looked back at Kintla Lakes and they began to appear small.

As I entered a wooded area, I noticed some bear scat. Then, a short time later, I saw a well defined fresh paw print. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know a bear was in the area. I got more cautious and increased my calls to scare it away.

Continuing on the climb, I periodically accessed the terrain, trying to determine where the pass was. At one point I thought I was going to have to traverse below the ridge, far to the right. It appeared that the wall in front of me was impassable. As I pondered this I stood in the sun which was getting high and hot. I checked my water supply. I only had what was in my containers even though there was a plentiful water supply in the area. I didn't have the filter, Dave did. I looked at my watch and it was after 1:00. I figured the crew had stopped for lunch. So to keep going I would have to watch my water and eat my Gorp.

Where the top of a climb is, can always turn into a bit of a mirage. When I thought I was almost there, another false summit would go by. Eventually however, I was right and I topped out. The pass opened up and I dropped my pack by a large cairn. I got out the snacks and basked in the sun. It felt good to be done with the climb. I gazed across at a mountain, that earlier seemed so high from Kintla Lake campground. It was right in front of me now at 6800 feet.

I laid back and relaxed on the rocks. I figured I'd wait there for everyone. What I didn't realize is how close I was to camp or I would have set up my tent! I took a nap and then read a little. An hour and a half went by, then I heard Dave, Dan and Trish. They topped out and came over to where I was. It was then that Dave pointed out the camp. I couldn't believe I had been so close. :-( I told him I was going to go down to it then. As I hoisted my pack he said, wait! Bear! Looking down at the camp we saw a Grizzly sow and her cub walk right by where our tents would be eventually set up. Damn, if I had been down there the view would have been incredible. As it was I wasn't complaining though. I got out my binoculars and enjoyed the brief glimpse of the legendary bear. We waited until they rounded a bend and were out of site to proceed to camp. I went down first and set up my tent. The rest of the gang soon followed and we got settled in for what was going to be a two day stay. The water was not close so I walked a bit to get to it. The food prep area was small and was a tight fit for all of us to place our food and ourselves.

Taking care of the necessities, I got cleaned up, or as a past guide told me once "managed the funk". After that I washed some clothes and dried them on a line I set up between two trees. With the mountain breeze, they dried quickly. Dave gave me the lunch that I missed earlier, which consisted of a bagel and peanut butter. That hit the spot after just eating Gorp all day. :-)

A while later, dinner was being prepared, and I went over to the stream and Chris handed me the water filter. I started to pump it and suddenly heard a psssst! Followed by water spewing all over the place. I looked at it and noticed the "O" ring, sealing the pump, had blown. I figured I had to unscrew the thing to get to the ring so I tried. It wouldn't budge. The ring had jammed the threads. I walked, with pump in hand, over to the food area. Everyone was now gathered for dinner. As I approached I announced "Dave we have a problem". He looked at me and then at the pump. As I explained what had happened he knew we could have a major problem on our hands. We had only one pump. While some people had Iodine, there was not enough to go around. The other alternative would mean boiling all our water for the rest of the trip. That would cause a fuel problem, and then we would be eating cold food!

As they continued to prepare dinner, my surgery on the pump began. Using my nail clipper cleaner hook, and my Swiss Army knife I went to work. After about a 1/2 hour of trying, I snagged the "O" ring with the knife. I yelled to Chris to grab it with the hook. He got it but it was still too stuck to unscrew. Chris then decided to hold one part of it while I turned the other. With our combined strength we got it loose. :-) It came apart with the "O" ring in tact. Using the silicone, from the stove kit, we then re-seated it. Success, we now had water again!

After that we settled in to eat our Cajun rice dinner and cookies for desert. We sat and discussed the day and the hike up. Jim and Colleen were having blister problems so they were busy with the medical kit. Nature called and I ventured over to the best view of any Pit toilet in North America (so voted by Backpacker Magazine I was told). No walls, nothing, just you an nature.

As the sun set, we hung the food . We then sat and watched it, as it slowly began to fade behind a mountain . As it's rays left us a chill began to descend from the slopes driving us into the tents and bags. It wasn't hard to sleep after a tough day.

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Sunday Aug 14th. (Boulder Pass layover, dayhike Boulder Peak elevation gain 1300')

We got up around 7:00am to sun shining on our tents. The warmth felt good after a cold night as I got out and stretched. As I spread my arms in a yawn, I looked up and saw a mountain goat about 10 feet away from me! He wandered in-between the tents as I told everyone that he was out here The closeness to this animal surprised me. I thought it was an amazing thing to happen, however we would come to find out, it was not uncommon. These animals would not go away! They continued to graze all around us as if we were normal animals in their environment. We watched them for a while until our own hunger drove us over to the food area to graze ourselves. :-)

I got my coffee as usual. This morning ritual involved placing a coffee filter in a wire holder and filling it with grounds. The hot water was then poured into it to strain through. The process took about 10 minutes to make a cup. As we talked around breakfast, Dave mentioned he had chased away a "lemur" like rodent during the night that was trying to get inside his tent. We had to be careful with all our clothes around here. We didn't want them munched on.

The temp began to rise as we ate pancakes again. After breakfast we did some things around camp and planned our day. Dave, Dan, Trish, Chris and myself decided to hike up boulder peak, while Jack, Jim and Colleen decided to hike into the valley between the peaks.

After taking care of some necessities, packing small daypacks with lunch, water, jacket etc... we headed toward the peak. As we looked up for a route I saw what seemed to be access to the ramp to the ridge on the right. Hiking over that way, we found an opening in the treeline. We climbed up through some pines and found an exit into the base of the scree field. Looking up, it appeared to be a steep grade, but nothing too difficult. As we ascended some marmots popped up from their hiding spots. They squealed in a form that sounded the alarm we were coming. I watched them in my binoculars as they scrambled into their dens. Continuing up the slope sometimes walking and sometimes climbing, I saw a shining object to our right. Going over to investigate, we found a pair of sunglasses and picked them up.

The ground switched from small loose rock, to dirt, to large rocks. After about 45 minutes of this, we made it to the top (about 8100 feet). There, we found a shelter that had been built to protect against the wind. Since it was about lunch time, and this seemed the perfect spot, we all settled in for some sausage, cheese and crackers. As we ate we looked over to the left where there was a second summit about 100 feet below and a1/4 mile over. After eating, Dave, Chris and I went over there to check out the view. The peak was a bit narrow and dropped off into the beautiful valley below. Of course I had to stand on the edge. :-)

The hike over was worth it. The view was amazing. We stayed a bit to take it in.   Since there was smoke in the area, the viewing was a bit hazy, however. This obscured some of the features of the mountains. Looking down into one valley, towards camp, we then spotted Jack, Jim and Colleen. As they were headed back to camp, we decided it was time to descend, after having spent an hour up there. We retraced our path, going down the way we came. Arriving back in camp about mid afternoon, we laid around and rested the remaining part of the day. This was our 4th day on the trail so I washed my hair using the buckets. It was a bit cold, but very much needed. It felt great to get rid of the itching. :-) Tired and clean, I then retired to my tent for a nap.

I awoke around 5:00 and went over to the food area because I heard voices. I was surprised, however, to find people I didn't know. We had been joined by three other guys. Apparently, they were on their way out of the backcountry. They said they were leaving really early, the next day, to try and hike out 19 miles! No thanks. :-(

We soon prepared dinner and ate. Afterwards I asked for my usual hot cider. For some reason no one knew I had been drinking that. They were surprised to hear we even had some. OOPS, I guess I let the "secret" out. :-) Chris wanted some too, so he joined me. It was quite hot and he was having trouble with the cup. He burned his tongue. :-(

As the sun was getting low in the sky, the goats came back. They continued to pester us because they wanted our salt, no matter what form. When we pee'd they would go over and lap it up for the sodium. If we left clothing out they would lick it for the stuff. They followed us around. Natures call sent me to the pit toilet again. As I was sitting admiring the view :-) , I felt something behind me. It was a goat, on a big rock behind me, looking down upon me. Talk about no privacy! :-(

We watched the sun slip behind a ridge in the distance . The chill set in and we retired to our tents.

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Monday Aug 15th (Boulder Pass to Brown Pass, 5.6mi, 190' elevation gain, 1220' elevation lost)

Getting up in the dark I stumbled out into the night. My headlamp reflected off a set of eyes. The goats were still around. As I went over to a rock for natures calling one of them stood nearby waiting. It was 12:30am and I had a goat following me around! As I went about my business I shouted "it's not an udder"! :-) I wandered back to the tent and quickly fell back asleep.

At 7:00am I rolled out of the tent for good and noticed the 3 guys were packed up and gone. With the long day they had planned an early start was necessary.

For breakfast we had potato pancakes. They were good and the kind of stuff that really "sticks to your ribs". :-)

Starting out, at are usual time after 10:00, we walked across a treeless rocky landscape. Gaining a small amount of elevation got the blood flowing, before what would be a big drop in elevation this day. Glacier National park geologically was once glacial lake Missoula and evidence of it's sandy bottom was all around us. At 8000 feet there were rocks with fossilized ripples of the ancient seabed before it was uplifted.

Stopping on a rock to rest, we took in the view. Walking again, a ptarmigan flew up to it's perch as we walked by. We stopped again to rest at the beginning of the downward switchbacks. I wanted to keep going so I continued on my own. As I wound down the path I took in he view of the valley opening up in front of me. Occasionally I'd look behind me, to see where the group was coming down the barren terrain. Eventually, however, the vegetation sprung up and I lost sight of them. Coming to a sign, for the Hole in the Wall Campground, I saw a warning that indicated there was bear activity. Fortunately we weren't going there. :-(

As I continued walking through the thick brush I shouted "hey bear" loudly . I didn't want to run into them in the area. The sun was shining and it was another beautiful day as I scanned the valley to my right. Approaching a pass between the mountains, I continued down a well worn path to another sign which pointed to brown pass. Making a right, I followed the access path which ended at a sign detailing the campground. These signs were at each campground we visited. They indicated where the camping sites were, the food prep area, the pit toilet and the water.

I sat in the food area contemplating what to do first. Since I carry a bit of parachute cord, I hung my food so I could scout around. First I went looking for the water. A small trail led out of the side of the campground crossing a dry creek bed into the brush. It was a ways down before I came to a very small spring coming out of the side of the hill. It was not what I'd call plentiful. I looked into the thick coverage and saw no easy access to a good pool of water. Venturing a little bit farther, to see if there was more, I found none. However, I did find a beautiful view of the valley behind this pass.

Returning to camp, I set up my tent. One thing was apparent right away. The bugs were very bad there. Even though we were in the woods, for some reason, the fly's were everywhere. I found a spot under a hemlock that was soft and flat. I erected the dome that had provide shelter for the last few days, once again. As I was finishing setting up, I heard voices. The others had arrived. Jim and Jack came walking down the trail and I waved to them. They set up next to me and the others in the area next to ours.

Returning to the food area, for lunch, Dave had prepared tuna fish again. We ate it on some nasty, rubbery, tortilla's. :-( Hunger overrode being picky and I ate it all. That is usually the case, as I'll eat anything on the trail. :-) Another hiker came down the trail as we were eating He had a huge pack and fishing gear. When he saw us he started talking immediately. He was a real jabberjaw and it became apparent a "know it all" type also. Unsolicited, he was telling us how experienced he was in the park, and how he hiked alone at night, and how he carried steaks in his pack etc... You know, one of those annoying people. :-) After a bit, Chris couldn't stand him anymore and had to leave. I looked at Dave as he just bit his tongue, not wishing to verbally spar with this guy. Anyway, this guy said he was going to hike up to where we had come from and leave his pack here to pick it up before going to the next campground where he had a permit. After he finally left we agreed he would probably be sleeping next to the food area here in the morning since he would get back so late. :-) The fact that he didn't have a permit here didn't matter. No ranger was coming as late as he would arrive.

After lunch another group arrived from the same guide service. There were two clients and Alden, the guide. They joined us and prepared their lunch also. We talked about what we were going to do the remainder of the day. Alden mentioned that his client Jay and himself where going up to Thunderbird Glacier. He asked if anyone wanted to join them. Chris and myself decided to. There was no trail up there so we had to bushwhack up the ridge. To start, we went down the trail a few hundred feet, then, turned into the thick vegetation and trees. We quickly came to a slope and the angle increased. As we made our way up it, through the brush, we made a lot of noise so we wouldn't surprise a bear. It was so thick we would have been on top of each other before we knew it. As it turned out a couple hikers had a bear encounter here a couple weeks later. We were soon on steep parts which required that we climb, grabbing onto trees and vegetation. After about 45 minutes we broke out of this stuff, into a meadow. From there we crossed and climbed an open steep slope, up to the basin of the glacier. We crossed the carved out area with large rocks strewn about. Veins of marble sliced through the sedimentary layers, showing the geology of the past. Waterfalls streamed off the ice, continuing the process of eroding the mountain, forming a stream that stepped it's way down . I walked out onto the edge about 5 feet before the huge drop to the abyss below. I was careful, as the rocks were a bit slippery, so I didn't venture much farther. Ahh, nothing like living on the edge. :-)

After spending about 45 minutes up there, we started back down retracing our path. We arrived in camp around 8:00pm, right when we said we would. Settling in, we had dinner as a buck wandered around camp . We found it amusing since, little did we know, we needed to keep an eye on him. :-( After eating, I headed over to my tent to get some warmer clothes. That was when I found him dragging my pack, with the straps in his mouth! He was trying to get the salt (from my sweat)! I yelled and chased him away. I reported back to the food area that my gear had been "slimed" so the others went to secure their stuff. Jack proceeded over and, sure enough, the buck had his pack. :-( He tried to shoo him away like I did, but the deer wouldn't let go. Jack picked up a stick and whacked it across the antlers. That, apparently, woke him up and he released it. :-) Geez, the deer were worse than rodents!

After that bit of excitement the sun began to set. We all went over to an open area to watch it disappear beneath the mountains again. I never get sick of watching that.

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Tuesday Aug 16th (Brown Pass to Lake Francis, 2.3mi, 995' elevation lost)

We had a short day this day, so we were in no hurry to get out of camp. The deer continued to be pests as we made breakfast. Alden, having come from the direction we were going, mentioned yesterday, there was a large stretch of huckleberries on the trail. When we were climbing up to the glacier, some of the group had went and picked some. We now had these mixed in our pancakes for breakfast. They were really good. :-)

After stuffing ourselves with cakes we packed up and headed towards Lake Francis. We backtracked to the sign that had sent us to Brown Pass Campground and started down the trail from which Alden and his group had come. As we wound our way down we soon came upon "huckleberry heaven". Letting everyone pass me, I had to stop. I then set out to collect a mugfull of these great things. As the entire group soon was out of sight, I picked and kept talking to myself. I didn't want to turn around and find myself competing with a bear for his food. :-(. I figured with all these berries, this must be one of their favorite places. As I carried on this conversation with myself, I managed to eat as many as I picked. My hands were purple. :-)

After about a 1/2 hour I headed down the trail to try and catch up. As I came out of the brush into an opening, I looked up at Thunderbird Glacier Falls. It was hard to believe I was standing on the edge of these the day before :-(

Continuing down the trail, a small lake came into view. On the opposite shore, I could see the last person in my group entering the brush. As I rounded a bend, I came upon a ranger, walking towards me. Having stopped and talked to my group, she said to me: "you must be the one behind eating all the berries". I had to laugh, I was getting a reputation. :-)

I then quickened my pace, as I wanted to catch up to everyone. At Hawksville camp I finally did and we stopped, resting for a moment. We didn't spend long there and were soon back on the path. Surprisingly, it wasn't much longer before we came upon Lake Francis. Following the path to the right, off the main trail, we descended towards it. We went down a bit, knowing we would have to climb out of this the next day. I noticed some thimbleberries on the way and marked them for picking. :-) Arriving, we went through the usual routine of setting up camp. Then, being early in the afternoon, we went down to the beach. :-) As I popped out of the vegetation onto the shoreline, wow, what a beautiful site. A pristine glacial lake, with a waterfall cascading into it.

We all settled in to lay on the beach for a while. After a bit, having been six days since my last shower, I decided a bath was in order. I didn't bring a suit, so I went around the bend, out of view. I removed my clothes and put my toe in the ice cold glacial water. Gritting my teeth I plunged in. The initial shock took my breath away! :-( Soon, however, I became used to it and man did it feel good! I stayed in for about 15 minutes, then climbed out, and was immediately struck by how warm air was! Refreshed, I headed back over to the beach ready to have lunch.

As Dave took the food out of the bag, unfortunately, humus was on the menu again. :-( It had taken me two days to clear my system of the stuff and here it came again! Food is food, however, and on the trail you don't pass it up. My tripmates would have to suffer. :-)

As we ate I stared at the waterfall across the lake. Four of us decided to hike over to it. We started out to our right as I tried to hug the lakeshore, reducing the need to walk through the water or brush. As I went, sometimes I was forced up and over rocks by the terrain. At points it was a little precarious stepping and climbing around rocks. :-( However, after a 1/2 hour we made it over. I was up higher than Dave, Dan and Trish who had taken a lower route. I waved to them but could not hear over the roar of the falls. I turned to look up at the misty water dropping over the side with the rumble of the stream next to my feet. Looking down at the lake, Dave, Dan and Trish stood where the falls fed the lake.

The fresh moist air awakened the senses and we spent about 15 minutes taking it in before heading back to the beach.

Arriving back I was warm and decided to go swimming again. Letting the others pass around the bend, I skinny dipped again. When I eventually hiked back to the beach, Dave and Chris were in the water. They were trying to coax Trish in. She was wading but wouldn't commit. She kept getting closer and closer and, finally, took the plunge. She didn't stay in long, however, as she was cold.

A doe was hanging around and we had to keep an eye on her. The ranger had warned Dave to have us keep everything inside our tents. Jack must have forgot, however, about his socks. I went up to the tent area to get something and found Chris laughing. He pointed in-between the tents. Man, the doe had "slimed" Jacks socks. :-( It wasn't a pretty sight. I think he retired them for good!

As it got later in the day it clouded up and got cooler. We put on more layers. Trout began to jump in the lake. It was very serene. An Osprey flew around scouting dinner.  It finally landed, in a tree on the shoreline, that opened up to the valley behind. As I looked in that direction, Dave pointed out a mountain in the distance, he said, that had the largest vertical rise in the US at 4000'.

As we looked over, admiring this, the Osprey suddenly dove from it's perch. Soaring quickly towards the water, it slammed into the surface, skipping of like a stone, with a fish in it's talons! It was one of those amazing, "Discovery Channel" moments. :-) After that bit of excitement, the sun fell behind the mountains. It started to get chilly so we decided to leave the beach and have dinner.

Once back up in camp, we sat around the food area. Vegetarian chile was on the menu. I didn't know there was such a thing since I always equate chile with meat. It was quite different but good. Desert, however, was even better! Dave melted Hershey bars, for fondue. We used marshmallows, fruit slices, cookies and some of my fresh huckleberries to dip into the chocolate. Mmmmm. As usual, Chris and I took turns cleaning the pot. :-)

After cleaning the dishes, full of chocolate with the night setting in, we retired to our tents. It was around 9:30, so I read a little, then fell off to sleep.

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Wednesday Aug 17th (Lake Francis to Goat Haunt to Kootenai Lake, 9.1mi, 200' elevation gain, 1055' elevation lost)

l slept terrible and was up most of the night.. :-( Dave got me up at 6:30, and after packing up, we went over to the food area. Cuscoos was on the menu for breakfast. I put some of the fresh huckleberries in it to try and liven it up. It was kind of like a really thick cream of wheat.

We got out of camp sooner this morning. We had to, since it was going to be a long day. Climbing out of the campground, we walked through forest mostly and it was rather uneventful. It was a bit cloudy. At one point we broke into the open. There we could see Waterton Lake, and the place we were we going to, in the distance. It was apparent it was still a ways off.

The opening was short lived and we plunged back into the forest. Eventually we reached a sign at a trail junction. Having gone 5.8 miles, we were getting close to our destination. Goat Haunt, our resupply point, was only a mile away. This was a good stopping point so we took off our packs and snacked. Jim caught up but decided to keep going, since his feet hurt more when he stopped. As we ate some GORP we began to feel spits of rain. Putting on our raingear and covering our packs, little did we know how long we would keep them on. :-( We saddled up and started off, as the rain picked up. Coming to another bridge, we crossed to where the trail opened up. This wide path lead us to the ranger station at Waterton Lake.

It was now raining steady and socked in. The openness of the lake surrounded by mountains funneled the wind. At 50 degrees and damp it felt really cold. The pavilion, was relatively open and provided little shelter. We all dug into our packs to put on extra layers. We had made too good of time. It was 11:30 and the boat didn't come until 2:00! We had a long wait in this nasty weather.

About a 1/4 mile away, around the bend of the lake, was the main boat dock. This was where a "Peace Park" honoring Canadian and American friendship and cooperation had been built. There was a shelter with a fireplace and real flush toilets! Of course we couldn't pass those up! :-)The walk to this area took a few minutes.

Returning to the first shelter. I unpacked all my food bags so I was ready for the resupply. Dan, Trish and I then played 500 rummy with my backpacking mini cards. It was windy and the cards kept blowing around. As the time passed slowly, Dan was ahead when the boat pulled in. Chris and Dave went to greet the boat and our resupply guy. Soon they were walking over with coolers and bags of food. Wow, we weren't expecting what we got. A picnic feast!. Beer and Wine! We grabbed plates and dove in. If the weather hadn't been so bad we probably would have really enjoyed it. However, we were just focused on eating as much as possible, in the shortest amount of time and getting out of this weather.

Once we were finished eating, we divvied up the remaining 3 days supply and packed our bags. We then headed over to the boat dock where the fireplace had been started for some much needed heat. As we warmed, a group of about 30 people arrived. They were waiting for the boat back to Canada. So we talked and hung out with them.

It was getting late so we decided it was time to go the next 2 miles to Kootenai Lake. The rain was steady and unabating. We had a problem since Jack didn't have rain pants. Dave, the resupply guide, fortunately lent his to Jack. It was lucky that they were the same size since, in this rain, he would have been soaked, cold and possibly hypothermic. :-(

We started on the trail, with heads down, on a mission. About an hour later we arrived at the lake. Setting up in the rain is not fun and we tried to do it with minimal wetness to the inside our tents. The goal was to keep our core stuff dry. Sleeping bag, clothes etc... We were under some hemlocks which helped me manage to do that. However, I still got things a bit damp. Luckily though I have a synthetic bag, not down, so I didn't have to worry about it getting it a little wet.

When I was done I went over to the food area. Dave and I set up the tarp over the sitting logs. Two other hikers then came into camp. We all huddled under the tarp. Chris and Jack had brought 9 beers with them, from the resupply picnic. They started drinking and having a good time while I was just trying to stay warm! Dave gave we a chemical hand warmer. Wow, the little things. Man did it really heat me up. I put it in my chest pocket and it worked well. :-)

For dinner, we had shrimp, rice and vegetables for dinner. Any other time, it would have been a great meal. As it was, however, we couldn't really enjoy it. We all just wanted to eat and get in our tents. :-(

As we were cleaning up after dinner, Jim saw some moose in the lake. A few people went to check them out. This lake is known for them.

All packed up, we got into our tents, getting out of the miserable continuous rain. I used my vestibule to place my wet gear in. In my small one man tent, keeping the inside dry while I took my stuff off, was a challenge. I used a small sponge to soak up the wetness. Reasonably dry and in the bag, of course, I then realized I left something in my pack outside! Bummer. :-( So, I had to put my Teva's on and scoot out into the rain. I grabbed what I needed quickly and dove back in. :-)

Reading for awhile, I then fell off to sleep, to the pitter patter of rain on the fly.

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Thursday Aug 18th. (Kootenai Lake to Fifty Mountain Meadow, 8.3mi, 2280' elevation gain)

Woke up to rain. Bummer. :-( It was 6:30 and I wasn't sure when we were supposed to get up so I laid there until 8:00. No reason to get out and stand in it. Forcing myself up, finally, I got into my damp raingear and popped out into the weather. Putting on cold wet clothes after being in a warm bag is always a shock. Going over to the food area I found Dave, Dan and Trish having hot drinks. The water was a bit cold so I fired up the stove to warm myself some. Bland oatmeal was on the menu for today. I sat there and ate it thinking this is still better than work. What does that say? :-) Looking up at the sky, I hoped for a break in the weather.

Packing up slowly, blue patches of sky began to appear. The sun peaked through the clouds. Yeah! The rain was ending, with better weather moving in. At around 11:00 it stopped altogether. What had started 23 hours earlier, had finally ended.

We started on our way, in our rain gear, since the dense foliage was still quite wet. Getting this late start, we knew we had to move as we had a long day and a bit of a climb. Stopping a couple times, in the wooded area, I asked Dave if he'd mind if I kept going. He said no, so I continued on with Dan and Trish. The brush, being dense and thick in parts, kept me yelling "hey bear". Soon, I found myself hiking solo as we climbed the switchbacks. At one point, I saw Dan and Trish below me winding up the mountain. The exertion along with the sun high in the sky was making me hot. I stopped to remove my rain gear. As I was leaving Dan and Trish caught up to me. I left them and continued winding up, in and out of the woods. As I looked down at the trail I noticed some bear scat. Then a bear print. I increase my calls to make my presence known.

As I broke into a clearing I saw some movement up ahead in the distance. It was the guys, who were in our camp, the night before. They went out of sight and as I passed a spring, pausing to take in the view. Dave shouting my name caught my attention then. I looked below me, on the trail, and saw him. He yelled they were stopping for lunch. I told him that was OK but I was going to keep trekking. He said fine. I was alright with eating gorp. Continuing up the log slope, I began to hear voices up ahead again. I figured I was getting close to catching the other hikers. The landscape started to thin out as I approached the summit crest. I then came around a bend and found the two guys taking a break. I said hi but kept walking, not wanting to break my pace. I downed another tube of GU, and just kept the legs churning. As the treeline broke, out I spilled into a meadow. I saw some movement and realized it was a fox running into its den. Looking around the flat area. I saw the snow dusting the peaks from yesterdays weather. I guess we had it easy with just rain. :-)

Looking across the large meadow, I thought I was almost there but was wrong! There was still about 3/4 of a mile to camp. The last stretch is always the hardest. :-( I walked and stopped, scanning the landscape with my binoculars, looking for wildlife. I saw some movement but it turned out to be other hikers coming towards me. I had hoped to see another bear but no such luck. Eventually the other hikers, a guy and a girl, passed me. I asked them about camp and they said I was almost there. They told me that they stayed there the night before and were snowed on. :-(

I continued through the meadow and entered the trees on the other side. I heard voices, then saw the sign for Fifty Mountain Meadow Campground. Yeah! :-) It was 3:30pm as I looked around and started to walk toward one of the sites. Suddenly, two young guys came walking out and immediately started telling me how crazy it was up there the night before. How they got snowed on etc... They were wet and a bit animated ready to hike out.

Going farther up the path on a plateau, I found a good site and set up my tent . I was finally able to start to dry out. I wanted to take advantage of the shining sun and the breeze so I put everything out on the branches also.

The guys I had passed came into camp shortly thereafter. I napped in my tent for a while, then went down to the food area. I got out some gorp and realized I also had some wine left. So I kicked back and ate peanuts and wine for "lunch". :-)

I went back up to the tent and passed the time turning my stuff in the sun and reading. I was waiting a long time and no one else had showed up. I was wondering if something had happened. Finally around 6:15 Dan and Trish arrived. Apparently Jack had run into some difficulty and they had to offload him of some of his stuff. The others arrived shortly thereafter (except for Jack). After a bit, concerned, Chris went out looking for him. He found Jack almost at camp and carried his pack in. So by 7:15 we had everyone in accounted for.

They all set up and we got ready for dinner. Bow tie pasta was on the menu and it was really good. We sat around eating and talking to the other people, then went through our after dinner routine. It was getting late and the sun started it's descent below the peaks. We checked it out as usual . Afterwards everyone was very tired from the climb and most went to sleep.

Chris, Trish and I, however, waited for the moonrise since it was to be a full moon that night. When it came up, we were glad we did. It was so bright a headlight wasn't needed. . Chris set up his tripod to take a picture. He had brought some really nice camera gear. I can't believe he carried all that weight!

As cool a sight as it was, the chill began to roll off the peaks, descending into the meadow. That drove me to the warmth of my sleeping bag. After such a strenuous day it was not hard falling off to sleep.

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Friday August 19th. ( Fifty Mountain Meadow to Flattop, 6.4mi, 565' elevation gain, 945' elevation lost)

I awoke up to a chilly morning again. Wandering down to the food area, as usual, I made some coffee. Hash browns were on the menu. I guess I snored the night before and everyone let me know that. :-)

Breaking camp about 10:30, we crossed a meadow into the woods. After a short distance we began a 500 foot climb to the top of Flattop Mountain. That got the blood going as it was a relatively steep ascent. Dan, Trish and Dave passed me on the way. I passed some other people coming down the hill. Eventually it flattened out and became a long high plateau through sparse woods. The sun was out and it was a bit hot.

Eventually, I came upon Dan, Trish and Dave as they were taking a break. I didn't stop and continued on as the terrain started to descend. A group of people came up from the other direction. One guy was carrying a pack without a shirt. Like I said it was hot but I'm not sure I'd want to do that.

Once the descent was over, I arrived in a vast meadow. It was impressive, to look back, beneath where we had camped the night before. I passed a family coming the other direction and asked how far camp was. They said about an hour. It was a slight uphill from there, followed by a long gradual downhill. Trish and Dan caught up and the three of us stopped at a stream to snack and get water. After that, we hiked into a burnt out area, which was the result of the 2003 fires. Earlier than we expected, the sign to camp appeared. We followed the trail back among the charcoal trees and timbers. There we found some small sites and the food area. Hanging our food, we then went to set up our tents in the designated area's.

The others arrived a little later and we split up, as usual, between two sites. Dave, Jim and myself had one site near the creek.

Having some time before dinner, Chris and I decided to bushwhack up to the ridge across from camp. We hoped the view into the valley, on the other side, would be good. Starting down the trail, after a short distance, we jumped into the scrub off the trail. The grass and vegetation was high, as we maneuvered around deadfall from the forest fire. Parts of the climb were steep forcing us to hang onto roots and vines as we climbed. After about 45 minutes we topped out. We saw that the ridge was wooded and wide. We hiked over to the other side and realized a good view was not to be found. We decided to walk the ridgeline a bit. After about 10 minutes, we stopped and sat on a rock outcropping. A flash in the distance caught my eye. We deduced it was the "Going to the Sun Road" and Logan pass in front of us. To our left, was the view across the valley, where the Flattop Camp was located. From this vantage point, we could see the vegetation reclaiming the burnt landscape.

After about 45 minutes we headed back down. We came out hitting the trail above camp. We went left thinking we were below camp. Shortly afterward, we realized we were going back towards Fifty Mountain. Turning around, it wasn't long before we saw the Flattop Campground sign. We started down the trail and saw several deer. One was a huge buck that must have been 14 points! He seemed to not be bothered by us and content to munch away on the grass. As the night wore on, he came very close and actually became a bit of a pest. Knowing they were around, we put everything in our tents. However, Chris forgot his bandana and it got "slimed" really bad. He washed it out in the stream because it was really gross. :-)

We gathered for dinner and were joined by two women from Canada. They were just starting out, as it was Friday, and heading up to Fifty Mountain for the weekend. They asked us our names and I guess Dave responded: "Dave, I'm a guide". We never let him live that down the rest of the trip. Ooooh, your a guide :-)

We didn't stay up much after the sun went down and retired for what would be our coldest night.

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Saturday August 20th. (Flattop to Packers Roost Trailhead, 5.8mi, 2640' elevation lost)

Well we woke up to a frosty morning. Fitting for our last night on the trail. Wandering over to the food area, we gathered for the last time for breakfast. The women from Canada were there also. We talked to them over breakfast and wished them a good hike as they set out.

Afterwards we broke camp and headed back towards civilization. Bummer! It was a long way down this day loosing a lot of elevation. We were spilt up again, and I was nearest to Dan and Trish, who were in front of me. I stopped and ate thimbleberries, as usual, which were plentiful along this section of the trail. The creek which had run by our campground, was running parallel to us and carving waterfalls as the elevation dropped.

The frosty morning was warming up into a hot day. Along the way I passed a couple. They told me to ignore a fleece top and bear spray canister on the trail. They had ditched that stuff earlier, not wanting to carry it and would get it on the way down.

The trail switchbacked down and eventually flattened out, crossing, what would be our last suspension bridge across a creek. Arriving on the other side, I came upon Jim, Dan, Trish and Dave. Jack, Chris and Colleen were still behind us. The flatness of the terrain, from there on out, had us walking at a brisk pace. We were on a mission now. Not too long thereafter, we came to a fork in the trail with a sign telling us it was one more mile. Always a bittersweet moment. You want to be at your destination :-) but you don't want the trek to be over. :-( Dave, Dan, Trish and I stopped, waiting for the others to catch up. As we did, a few people passed us going on day hikes. After about 30 minutes the rest of our group caught up. We then continued on for the last mile. Hearing civilization, from the Going to the Sun Road, we knew we were getting close. The trail then started to widen, and the parking lot came into view. Oh well, back to reality. :-(

There, next to van, was Sherry. She had dropped us off 10 days earlier and was there to greet us. A nice picnic spread was setup. We said hi and then dove into the food like we had never seen such abundance before! :-) It was really good. Happy and full we hung out in the lot for the group "after" shot.

Leaving Packers Roost, we drove down the Going to the Sun road to Apgar Village. There we did some souvenir shopping by Thompson Lake. From there, it was back to the office to depart. We unloaded and said our good-byes, ending a great trip and fun 10 days.

 

Thanks to Dave, our guide, for being so easy going and letting me do my own thing. Thanks to my hiking partners who were a great group, fun to be around, and laugh around, camp with. :-)

-Tom