I left early Wednesday morning from Jackson Glacier Overlook. After returning to my car to retrieve a forgotten hiking pole (five minutes down the trail), I was off. The weather started out perfectly but as I neared Jackson Glacier it clouded up so I wasn't able to see it well. (Just an excuse to return as far as I am concerned)
As I approached Gunsight Lake I was disappointed to see the mountain covered by clouds. However, slowly it cleared. While having a snack and taking photos I met a couple of guys from Seattle. I walked over Gunsight Pass with them. It was very cloudy and there weren't views from the top. It also started raining but lucky for us there is a shelter at the top and we took a break there waiting for the storm to clear. A little while later the rain stopped but the clouds remained. We descended from the pass to Lake Ellen Wilson campground. The guys headed on from there and I set up camp. The campground was on the edge of the lake and surrounded by huge boulders. The cooking area was below a huge angled boulder. There were both goats and deer at the site. It was a very nice place to camp.
The next day I went over another pass to Sperry Chalet. It was a comparatively short day (3 miles). I then walked up the Sperry Glacier Trail to the bottom of Sperry Glacier. After going up, up, up, I came to the Comeau Pass which is a staircase blasted into rock. It was crazy. Overall the hike was fantastic - lots of waterfalls, pika, goats, snow, mountains, glaciers. It certainly was one of the best that I have done.
On the way back to the Chalet I saw a goat with two kids. This was kind of unusual because all the rest seemed to have one kid. The goat family was walking right down the trail. When they got to a trail crew working, the mother went off to the right and the kids went left. Then they started bleating for their mother. It was so funny. I talked a bit to the trail crew and they told me they had seen a female grizzly with two cubs on the trail in the morning. It came face to face with a goat. There was a confrontation and then the goat took off up the hill. The grizzly followed but was too slow. What an amazing thing to have seen!
Back at the campground I found that my flip flops had become a snack for the goats. They must not have liked them too much as they are still wearable. Below is a photo showing their nibbling on one shoe.
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| From Gunsight Sperry Backpack |
Since for me backpacks are synonymous with rain, it rained cats and dogs during the night. I stayed dry but had to pack out my very wet tent. The trail was wide so I wasn't drenched by water off the vegetation on the way out. However, I was very nervous coming down a I found that I was following very recent bear tracks. I called out often and didn't encounter the bear which was good. The photo below compares the bear tracks to my foot.
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| From Gunsight Sperry Backpack |
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