Day 5: Driving from Many Glacier to Waterton (August 19, 2009)

Today would be another moving day for us. We packed up our stuff, said goodbye to the Swiftcurrent Valley, and headed for Canada. On the way out of the valley, we stopped for a view of Lake Sherburne (photo on left). It was a calm, beautiful day, and the water was like glass. Further along the road, we could see something swimming out in the lake, so we stopped to check it out. All we could tell for sure was that a fuzzy brown head was about halfway across the lake. We waited for it to reach the far side, then we could see the swimmer was a grizzly bear! On our way out of the park, we finally stopped for the ubiquitous photo with the park sign (photo on right).

We took the Chief Mountain International Highway north into Canada then into Waterton Lakes National Park. Once again we stopped for a park sign photo op (on left). Waterton is essential an extension of Glacier on the Canadian side of the border. The two parks combined make up the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. The heart of Waterton is the Waterton Townsite on the shore of Upper Waterton Lake (on right). Mary and I checked into our hotel in Waterton, Bear Mountain Motel, while the girls went to look for a friend at the Prince of Wales lodge.

Maggie and Molly decided to join their friend for a long hike across Carthew-Alderson while Mary and I opted for a shorter hike up Bear’s Hump. Bear’s Hump is right at the edge of Waterton Townsite, starting at the visitor center. It’s only 1.7 miles round trip, but it’s a pretty steep climb. From the top there are great views of the lakes, town and mountains (photo on left). It was a pretty warm day, so we worked up quite a sweat on the short climb. There was a nice breeze at the top so we stopped for a quick snack as we took in the views.

After the short hike, we cleaned up then headed into town for a late lunch. The town is pretty nice. It doesn’t cover much more than a dozen blocks, but there are some nice places to eat and a number of lodges. We ended up eating at a place called Zum’s Eatery. It had a fairly good selection and the food is tasty. After lunch we took a stroll around town and along the lake. There are deer everywhere, including a number of fawns. They seem pretty fond of the clover in the lawns, though they seem just as happy with ice cream cones that some of the tourists were feeding them.

Later, we took a drive up the Red Rock Parkway. This is supposed to be a great area to find bears, and sure enough we saw one along the road. It was in some bushes and there were a lot of cars around, so we decided to keep moving. At the end of the road is Red Rock Canyon. We pulled into the parking area and saw a female bighorn sheep with a young lamb. It seems the sheep here have learned to lick salts off the undercarriages of cars. It’s pretty bizarre to see (photo on left).

After watching the sheep for a bit, we took a short (0.4 mile) stroll along the canyon (photo on right). The red layers in the canyon get their color from iron oxidation. Apparently this is some of the oldest exposed rock in the world, having been created some billion years ago at the bottom of the ancient Belt Sea. In addition to the loop around the small canyon, we decided to hike out to Blakiston Falls (photo on left), a 1.2 miles round trip. The hike meanders through a lovely forest to the falls. At the falls, there are a number of platforms for your viewing pleasure.

On the drive back out along the Red Rock Parkway we saw two more bears. In both cases the bears were happily munching on berries not far from the road. We were able to pull off and watch them from the safety of the car. They seemed to be doing a great job of fattening up for the coming winter.

Maggie and Molly weren’t back yet, so Mary and I headed into town for dinner. We decided on Pizza of Waterton. After dinner we met up with the girls. They had a great hike, making it to the top of Mt. Alderson. Since the hike was a one way trip, I gave Maggie a ride back to the car while Mary went with Molly to pick up some dinner for her and Mags. Sadly, in the morning we would be going our separate ways.

More pictures from Day 5.

Day 6: Hiking to Crypt Lake (August 20, 2009)

We all had to get an early start today. Maggie and Molly would be heading back to Lake McDonald while Mary and I were to catch a boat across the lake to the Crypt Lake Trailhead. After saying our farewells to the girls (we would see them again soon), Mary and I walked to the boat dock. We would be taking a 10-15 minute boat ride across the lake where we would begin our 11.2 mile round trip hike. Crypt Lake has been voted the best hike in Canada in years past.

The hike starts at the lakeside and quickly climbs through a wooded hillside. There was a whole boat-load of people and the trail isn’t very wide, so this part was slow going as we worked our way through the group. As the trail climbs above the trees, the views open up across Hellroaring Creek Valley (right). The trail follows along the north side of the valley, the starts to climb up some rocky switchbacks. At this point, Crypt Falls come into view at the head of the valley (left).

After a sweaty climb up the switchbacks, it looked like we were headed for a dead-end at the headwall. Just when it seemed we would have to turn back, we could see an iron ladder leading up to a 4-foot high tunnel. Mary took the lead up the ladder and into the tunnel (right). This was our second experience with a hiking trail passing through a tunnel. In this case, the reasons were a bit more obvious. There just didn’t seem to be any safe way around to the other side.

I had a bit more trouble squeezing through the tunnel than Mary (photo on left). I was just barely able to squat through the middle without having to go on hands and knees or take off my pack. For me, this was the hardest part of the hike. Fortunately, the tunnel is only 20 feet or so. On the far side of the tunnel a narrow trail traverses the remaining cliff face. From here there are great views of the falls as well as back down the valley toward Upper Waterton Lake. There’s a steel cable bolted to the wall for additional safety (photo on right).

After a couple hundred yards of cable, we were back on solid ground. We were back in the trees and soon passed a pretty nice camping area. A short side trail led to the creek which feeds the falls. The top of the falls are just barely visible, but I wasn’t interested in maneuvering along along the cliff to get a better view.

After one last climb the trail entered into the cirque which contains Crypt Lake (photo on left). A few people had reached the lake before us, but there was still plenty of space for us to stake a claim. We picked a spot along the northeast side of the lake to drop our packs and relax. Just past the south end of the lake lies the US-Canada border. We soaked our feet and ate lunch as more groups arrived. One large group changed into swim suits (and in the case of one older woman - a birthday suit) and braved the icy water. We enjoyed the lake for nearly an hour before heading back down the trail.

We made pretty good time back to the lake, stopping only to pick and eat the occasional thimbleberry. We were the first to arrive at the landing and waited on the dock for about 30 minutes for our ride to arrive (photo on right). All in all, it’s a nice hike. There’s a variety of terrain and the ladder and tunnel make for an interesting twist. I would definitely recommend this hike, but I’m not completely sure it ranks at the top of all the hikes in Canada, though I don’t have much to compare it with.

After getting back to Watertown Townsite, we jumped in the car and drove the Akamina Parkway to Cameron Lake (photo on left). We scanned the lake shore for wildlife, spotting a deer but not much else. Wanting to see some wildlife, we hopped back in the car and made for Red Rock Parkway. Not to disappoint, Red Rock quickly yielded us a couple more bear sightings. In addition, we encountered a ptarmigan strutting across the road (photo on right).

Back in town we grabbed dinner at Zum’s and enjoyed an evening stroll around the town before turning in at the end of yet another fantastic day.

More pictures from Day 6.

Day 3: Driving from West Glacier to Many Glacier (August 17, 2009)

We checked out of the Glacier Highland Resort to move to another area of the park. We picked up some huckleberry muffins from the Glacier Highland and espresso at the coffee truck in West Glacier and headed to the Lake McDonald Lodge to meet the girls. The huckleberry muffins were awesome: sweet, tart and tasty! Maggie and Molly had the next 3 days off and would be joining us in the Many Glacier/Swiftcurrent Valley and subsequently Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada. First on the agenda would be traversing the Going-to-the-Sun Road across Logan Pass and down to St. Mary.

Since the girls had to be back to work in a few days, we had to take separate cars. It was still a bit overcast as we drove up to the pass. At the Logan Pass Visitor Center, we took the 3 mile round trip trail to the Hidden Lake Overlook. True to its name, the lake was quite hidden (photo on left). There were a few breaks in the clouds allowing us to catch brief glimpses of the waters below. The boardwalk out to the lake and back was engulfed in fog.

On the drive down the East side of the road, we stopped at a few different view points. One of the stops included a 3.6 mile hike to St. Mary and Virginia Falls. The short hike was nicely forested and we were able to sample some berries along the way. There’s a short of the girls (Maggie, Molly and Mary) at one of the falls on the right. Another stop we made was at the Wild Goose Island Overlook. Wild Goose Island it a tiny dot of land in the midst of St. Mary Lake (photo on left).

Before exiting the park on the East, we stopped at the St. Mary Visitor Center. This is where we talked to a ranger and deduced that it was in fact a wolverine we had spotted on the Highline Trail the previous day. We were pleasantly surprised to see an active osprey nest next to the parking lot. There were at least 2 nearly grown juveniles in the nest, and I caught one of the adults hovering at the edge of the nest (photo on right).

Just outside the East entrance of the park is the town of St. Mary. It’s a small town but has a highly recommended restaurant called Park Cafe. We stopped there for lunch. The menu is a bit eclectic with various international wraps and sandwiches, but they are known for their pie. We all enjoyed our meals and each sampled a slice of pie.

Driving North from St. Mary, we headed for the Swiftcurrent Valley. This area of the park has its own entrance and 7 miles of road into the valley. The Many Glacier Lodge and Swiftcurrent Motor Inn are located in this valley. This area of the park is known as Many Glacier due to the lodge and its proximity to a number of the park’s glaciers.We checked in to the Swiftcurrent and relaxed a bit while the girls tried to track down a couple friends.

After the break, we took a short 3.6 mile stroll to Red Rock Lake (on left) and Falls (on right). After the stroll, we drove back out of the park looking for wildlife ,and eventually made our way to the Two Sisters Cafe for dinner. We had a nice relaxing dinner to top off a nice relaxing day.

More pictures from Day 3.

Day 4: Hiking to Ptarmigan Tunnel and Iceberg Lake (August 18, 2009)

We had been planning to hike to Grinnell Glacier, but the trail was closed due to bear activity. Instead, we decided on hiking to Ptarmigan Tunnel and Iceberg Lake, a 14.6 mile journey. We had a quick breakfast of bagels and a few items the girls foraged from the employee dining room (EDR). One nice thing about staying at the Swiftcurrent Motor Inn was that the trailhead was just outside our door. We were on the trial by 9:40am.

This was really 2 different hikes that started at the same trailhead. The trails share a couple miles climbing out of the Swiftcurrent Valley (picture on left) then fork in two different directions. We took the fork to Ptarmigan Tunnel first, since it was the harder hike. We were looking a a climb of a couple thousand feet over the next few miles. It would remain to be seen if we would still have the energy for Iceberg Lake on our return.

The hike to Ptarmigan Tunnel started climbing for about a mile, then leveled out a bit. There we many wildflowers along the trail, including some late season bear grass (tall flowers in picture on right). We reached Ptarmigan Lake around 11:30am. From there we had to ascend a few long, steep switchbacks to reach the tunnel high on the surrounding cliffs. At the top of the climb we had our picture taken (photo on left: Molly, Maggie, Mary and Ed). You can see a bit of Ptarmigan Lake behind us.

Ptarmigan Tunnel (on right) was built for hiking and horseback access to the Belly River Vally on the other side of the crest. It is tall enough for a person to ride through on horseback. I’m not sure why they didn’t just add another switchback or two to reach to cross over the crest rather than going through. Perhaps the rock was too unstable above. We did see a family of bighorn sheep bounding around up there. From the other end of the tunnel we had a beautiful view of the Belly River Valley and Lake Elizabeth (on left).

After enjoying the view and climbing around on the rocks a bit (mainly Maggie), we headed back through the tunnel and down the switchbacks to the lake where we stopped for lunch. There were a number of other people on the trail, especially since the Grinnell Glacier trail was closed. There were even a few backpackers heading for Lake Elizabeth. One guy, looking a bit worse for the wear, asked us if it was worth hiking to the tunnel. He said it was only worth it if the view was spectacular. None of us were ready to lay such a claim. I’m not sure if he ended up going to the top or not.

After lunch we retraced our steps back to the fork in the trail. As we were deciding wheter or not to continue up to Iceberg Lake, another group was deciding if they wanted to go to Ptarmigan Tunnel. We talked them into it. We were still feeling pretty good, so we headed up the trail to Iceberg Lake. We were excited to hear that a moose with a calf had been spotted along the trail. By the time we reached the area where the moose was spotted, it had moved. Fortunately it and the calf were still visible from the trail (photo on right). This was Molly’s first moose siting, and we were happy to be there to share it with her.

Iceberg Lake, as the name implies, fills with large chunks of ice as the spring thaw starts to break down the ice and snow on the cliffs above. Along with the ice comes a fine silt of ground rock which clouds up the water. The cloudy water, called glacier milk, produces an amazing milky blue color. By mid-August there wasn’t much ice left in the lake, though the water was plenty icy. We had another snack, posed for a few pictures, watched the squirrels and chipmunks scurry around looking for leftovers, then headed back down the trail. The last couple miles seemed to drag on forever, but eventually we made it. We were back at our room by 5 or 5:30pm. This would turn out to be our longest single hike of the trip.

After showering and resting a bit, Mary and I had dinner at the Swiftcurrent while the girls hit the EDR. After dinner, we decided to take another drive along the road looking for wildlife. We stopped at a pullout not far from the Many Glacier Lodge and Maggie yells out “bear!” We’re all looking across the river from where we’re parked thinking there’s no way she spotted a bear when we all realize a black bear is only about 15 feet away from the car. We watched it eat berries until it eventually wandered off in the fading light. Yet another great end to a great day!

More pictures from Day 4.

Day 2: Hiking the Highline Trail (August 16, 2009)

We awoke at our hotel in West Glacier to an overcast sky. Undaunted by the weather, we packed our rain gear in the car and headed into the park. We drove up the Going-to-the-Sun Road as far as The Loop, then caught the park shuttle (photo on right) to Logan Pass. We were planning to hike the Highline Trail from Logan Pass to the Granite Park Chalet, then down to The Loop. The hike is 11.6 miles.

When we arrived at Logan Pass around 10:30am, we were in a blanket of fog. There was a chance of thunderstorms in the forecast, so we stopped at the visitor center to ask a ranger is we should be concerned. The ranger said that we should be fine, though he did recommend we carry pepper spray in the event we encounter a hostile bear. We purchased a canister, donned our rain shells and hit the trail.

The Highline Trail starts just across the road from the Logan Pass information sign. It proceeds below the face of the Garden Wall (photo on right). We we still in the fog, but it wasn’t raining at that time. One short section of the trail has a steep drop-off, so they have installed a cable along the wall to hold on to for extra security. In the fog, we couldn’t even tell there was much of a drop.

One nice thing about the weather is that there was running water everywhere. Most of this took the form of cascading falls (photo on left). There were also many different wildflowers in the various pockets of vegetation. We encountered a lot of wildlife along the trail as well, including bighorn sheep (on right), marmot, pikas, deer, mountain goats and even a wolverine. We weren’t sure about the wolverine until we discussed it with a ranger the following day.

It was still foggy when we encountered the mountain goat pictured on the left. It was with a really cute goat kid. The kid seemed to have so much energy, hopping and running around. It’s amazing how easily they navigate the rocky cliffs. It was fun to watch.

It started to rain while we as we were nearing the chalet. Even with the fog and the rain, we had some beautiful views (Lake McDonald on the right). The rain was coming down pretty good by the time we reached the chalet, so we decided to stop for lunch and wait it out. We ate our sandwiches on the porch of the chalet (it was actually too hot inside). We chatted with some other hikers while we waited. Eventually, the rain subsided and we even saw a bit of sun.

We only had about 4 more miles down to the Loop. Most of this section of the trail was forested. There were berried everywhere. We sampled some of the berries. The thimbleberries are quite tasty. They look like a flatter, bowl-shaped raspberry. They taste similar too, sort of a more intense raspberry. We also tried what we thought were huckleberries, but turned out to be service berries (or Saskatoons). They are ok, but a little bland.

It turns out we were not the only ones enjoying the berries. We ran across a grizzly eating berries on the trail (photo on right). Fortunately we were had run across a few hikers a short time before, so we were not alone. We made some noise so the bear would be aware of us, but it was fairly indifferent. Eventually it had picked-clean the bush near the trail and ambled off down the slope. We made it to the Loop and our car a short time later. It turns out none of the groups that finished the hike shortly after us even saw the bear.

It was after 6pm by the time we were heading back down the Going-to-the-Sun Road. We stopped for a quick stroll around the Trail of the Cedars (photo on left). This trail is less than a mile, mainly on a boardwalk.The trees and the ferns are quite nice. After our stroll we headed to the Lake McDonald Lodge, where we encountered another bear (photo on right).

We had dinner with Maggie at Jammer Joe’s Grill at the lodge. Molly had to work the front desk until 11pm. Fortunately, the girls would have the next three days off. Mary and I headed back to our hotel to sleep. We would be back in the morning to pick up the girls and head to the Many Glaciers area in the Swiftcurrent Valley.

More pictures from Day 2.

On August 15-23, Mary and I went on a trip to Glacier National Park (with a side trip to Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada). The primary motivation for the trip was to visit with my nieces, Maggie and Molly, who were working at the Lake McDonald Lodge for the summer. Over the course of the trip we drove nearly 700 miles and hiked for 70 miles. We saw lots of wildlife, great views and a generally awesome trip. We really enjoyed visiting and hiking with Molly and Maggie. I’m really glad they inspired us to visit. This is the start of the blog for the trip. A full set of photos are in the gallery.

We started our trip early Saturday morning, catching a flight from San Jose to Seattle to Kalispell, MT. The flight from Seattle to Kalispell was on a Bombardier Q400 turboprop airplane operated by Horizon. It’s one of the larger prop planes I have been on. While landing in Kalispell, we could already see the Rocky Mountains of the park to the northeast. It was a cool, overcast day, but we were excited to finally arrive. We picked up our rental car from Alamo (a Nissan Rogue) and headed for West Glacier.

West Glacier is a small town just outside the park on the southwest side. We checked into our hotel, the Glacier Highland Resort. From there we drove into the park. Our first stop was the Lake McDonald shore (picture on right). From there we drove to the lodge to see Maggie and Molly. They were finishing up with their shifts for the day, so we waited at the lodge. Once they both got off, we headed up to Logan Pass along the Going-to-the-Sun Road. We stopped at a pull-off for McDonald Creek (photo on left) along the way.

The Going-to-the-Sun Road passes through the heart of Glacier National Park, crossing the Continental Divide at Logan Pass. Part way up to the pass, there’s a sharp turn in the road, simply called The Loop. From there the road crosses the face of a range known as the Garden Wall (see picture at the top of this  post). There are waterfalls and creek crossing all along the road. At one point called the Weeping Wall, the water spill directly from the rock. Though it was cloudy, the views were spectacular.

At Logan Pass, there are carpets of wildflowers in an area known as the Hanging Garden (picture on right).We walked around a bit near the visitor center. The wind was icy cold so we decided not to venture too far. On the ride back down to Lake McDonald, we saw some mountain goats along the road and stopped for some snapshots (on left). We had a nice dinner at Eddie’s Cafe in Apgar (Almost Everyone Eats Here) then dropped the girls off at LMD. Back at our room, we tried to get some sleep, anticipating our first hike at Glacier.

More pictures from Day 1.

To be continued…

This past weekend (August 8-9) Mary and I went backpacking with a group of 12 in the Mokelumne Wilderness. The Mokelumne Wilderness is located in the Stanislaus National Forest between Yosemite and Tahoe in the Sierra-Nevada Range. Matthieu had found us a nice trail to Wheeler Lake. The trail started out from Sandy Meadow Trailhead along highway CA-4. We arrived there by 10:30am on Saturday and set out on the 4.8 mile hike to Wheeler Lake.

The trail wasn’t too steep with about 550 feet of gain and 600 feet of loss. We stopped for lunch along the way. At some point we weren’t sure if we were on the main trail or a side trail. We were beginning to look for a way to cross back to the main trail when all of the sudden we arrived at Wheeler Lake (picture on left). It was a pleasant surprise to arrive at the lake before anyone had expected to.

The group was a lot of fun. There were 12 in all: Matthieu, Ashley, Mary, Ed, Roch-Philippe, Anne-Sophie, Luc, Diana, Coco, Patrick, Karen and their baby Nicola. After arriving at the lake we set up camp near the West shore. We relaxed by the lake and a few people went for a swim in the chilly, brown water. Mary and I went for a walk around the lake, then it was time for dinner. Everyone was having a good time, even Nicola (on left).

Matthieu started a nice campfire (on right), which was very welcome as the evening chill set in. After dinner an intense card game ensued. As the night grew colder and the fire burned down, we all settled into our tents and sleeping bags.

In the morning we all had breakfast together, then the group split in two. Half headed back to the cars, and half went on a short hike up the ridge along the Frog Lake trail. Mary and I were in the latter group, joined by Matthieu, Ashley, Luc and Diana. The hike was about 1.5 miles to the top of the ridge. It was fairly steep at times, especially the last half mile or so. There’s a nice view of the Sierras from the ridge (picture on the left).

After a short time at the ridge, we headed back towards camp, stopping for a quick lunch. Back at camp we finished packing up and hit the trail again. The hike out was fairly uneventful, though the climbs seemed a little tougher than the previous day. Maybe it had to do with the extra 3 mile side hike we did up the ridge toward Frog Lake. We made it back to the cars by 4pm, then started the 4 hour drive back home.

Mary and I had a nice time. We really enjoyed meeting everyone, and hope to get another backpacking trip in before the summer is over. We also really liked hiking in the high Sierras without all the crowds we normally encounter in the National Parks this time of year.Maybe we’ll check out some other parts of the Sierras.

For a full set of pictures from this trip, check out my Gallery. You can see Luc’s photos on Flickr. Patrick has posted a slide-show.