Siyeh and Piegan Pass Hike

For my last day I found someone to hike with.  It was nice to have company along the trail.  We decided to do the Siyeh Pass from the lower trailhead (Sunrift gorge).  I had been given advice that this was the best way to hike it and had not tried to do it that way before.  I have to say that I very much enjoyed this as the point of origin.  The views up to Siyeh pass were so pretty.   We saw a ptarmigan hen and her chicks on the way up.  We had great views of the glacier and the waterfall coming from it as well.  I forgot to look for the rare tiny blue columbine that grows in this area.

Of course, no hike that I do is without mishap.  I stumbled on one of the snow fields.  My water bottle jumped from my pack due to it momentum.  It then hit the snow and slid way down the snow field.  While I was glad that this wasn't me, I was too much of a cheap skate to let it go.  I was lucky that it didn't go over the cliff.  I made may way across the snow field and then carefully climbed down to rescue my water bottle at the bottom of the snow field.  This was probably the same water bottle that tried to escape on the Two Medicine Pass hike.  Maybe I need to get a leash for it???

The top of the pass was pretty cold and windy but the views of the surrounding lakes and mountainsides were so lovely.  We walked down the other side of the pass.  We rock hopped across a stream and walked through meadow after meadow of glacier lilies.

When we got down to the junction up to Piegan Pass we decided to hike up to that pass as well.  It was pretty cloudy so I wasn't sure that we would get views.  However, we were really lucky and the clouds cleared as we reached the pass.  We were able to see the lakes down the next valley and the glaciers hanging on the granite mountains around us.  The pass was a marmot playground.  They were rambunctiously running around everywhere.

Although tempted to head down into Many Glacier we return back to the Going to the Sun Road at Siyeh Bend.  It was a mellow hike back.  We caught the shuttle back to our car.  It was a great hike to conclude my time in at Glacier National Park 2016.

Siyeh and Piegan Pass Hike

For my last day I found someone to hike with.  It was nice to have company along the trail.  We decided to do the Siyeh Pass from the lower trailhead (Sunrift gorge).  I had been given advice that this was the best way to hike it and had not tried to do it that way before.  I have to say that I very much enjoyed this as the point of origin.  The views up to Siyeh pass were so pretty.   We saw a ptarmigan hen and her chicks on the way up.  We had great views of the glacier and the waterfall coming from it as well.  I forgot to look for the rare tiny blue columbine that grows in this area.

Of course, no hike that I do is without mishap.  I stumbled on one of the snow fields.  My water bottle jumped from my pack due to it momentum.  It then hit the snow and slid way down the snow field.  While I was glad that this wasn't me, I was too much of a cheap skate to let it go.  I was lucky that it didn't go over the cliff.  I made may way across the snow field and then carefully climbed down to rescue my water bottle at the bottom of the snow field.  This was probably the same water bottle that tried to escape on the Two Medicine Pass hike.  Maybe I need to get a leash for it???

The top of the pass was pretty cold and windy but the views of the surrounding lakes and mountainsides were so lovely.  We walked down the other side of the pass.  We rock hopped across a stream and walked through meadow after meadow of glacier lilies.

When we got down to the junction up to Piegan Pass we decided to hike up to that pass as well.  It was pretty cloudy so I wasn't sure that we would get views.  However, we were really lucky and the clouds cleared as we reached the pass.  We were able to see the lakes down the next valley and the glaciers hanging on the granite mountains around us.  The pass was a marmot playground.  They were rambunctiously running around everywhere.

Although tempted to head down into Many Glacier we return back to the Going to the Sun Road at Siyeh Bend.  It was a mellow hike back.  We caught the shuttle back to our car.  It was a great hike to conclude my time in at Glacier National Park 2016.

Wildlife

Glacier is awesome for wildlife.   One day I went up to Logan Pass and I really lucked out.  In the parking lot were several rams.  They were battling over something on the ground of the parking lot.  It was pretty cool to see.  The ranger told me that it could have been something that someone spilled or antifreeze.  I had heard from my Bakersfield friends that marmots like antifreeze and they will bit into your hoses to get at it.  In fact I was so paranoid that I bought coyote urine to put around my car so that didn't happen to me.  I wonder what ever happened to that coyote urine.  I also saw the above goat on the trail.  It was being observed by someone from the University of Montana.  He was writing down what it was doing.  He also counted the number of breaths that the mountain goat took.  They were collecting this data for a climate change study to determine how the goat deal with less snowpack each year.

The next day I hiked Two Medicine Pass with Jane.  We saw a moose on the way back.  It was walking through a pond eating.  It would put its head into the water and grab some algae to eat.  That was a very cool experience.  When I was at the Grand Teton National Park, I found out that moose can actually dive down to the bottom of the pond to get a meal.  They can dive down 16ft.  To me that is amazing.  However, when you consider that seal, sea lions, whales and dolphins evolved from land creatures, I guess it is not so amazing.

Yesterday I bumped into a bear scratching its back on a tree.    (See yesterday's blog post at http://thereisonlyonetoday.blogspot.com/2016/07/what-day.html )

Today I thought that I wasn't going to see much in the way of wildlife but I was wrong.  I had hiked out the Highline Trail from Logan Pass to the Garden Wall Overlook.  The clouds came in and there was low visibility.  I saw several marmots but no goats or sheep.  In the last half mile back where the trail narrows to a small ledge with a steep dropoff (people have died falling from it) a small group of people gathered in front of me.  Then I hear the word bear.  Yes in the worse place possible there is a bear on the trail.  We can't get off the trail and neither can the bear.  The bear and its cub head towards us.  We make a rapid retreat picking up other hikers along the way.  After about 10 minutes we get to a place where we can get off the trail.  We group up and make lots of noise.  At this point I can see the bear.  It is a grizzly.  The hump on it back is clearly visible.  It has a cub.  Luckily it makes the good choice and leave the trail and heads up the mountain across from us.  Once it is past we hightail it out of there.  Then we hear the ranger loud speaker telling us a bear is on the trail.  Shortly after that we see a ranger with a big orange gun.  I am not sure if this gun shoot bean bags (a tactic that the rangers sometimes use), bullets or something else.  I may check tomorrow.  Turns out that they had closed the trail at the trailhead and there was a group of rangers and people very interested in our experiences.  

What a Day

This morning I left with the intention of hiking the Highline Trail. When I got to Logan Pass it became apparent that was not a good idea due to rain. For some crazy reason I headed down to Apgar where it was also raining. I drove out towards the Huckleberry Lookout trailhead but decided against that hike and returned to East Glacier. By then I needed gas. I headed up to Two Medicine. I decided to stop by the Ranger station and ask them if anyone had turned in the water bottle that I lost yesterday. Some trail angel had found it and turned it in. Thank you Unknown Trail  Angel. I headed up the North Shore Trail with no real destination. I bumped into the CDT hiker that I met the other day. Then I bumped into Lou and Bill, friends of Janes, at Upper Two Medicine Lake. On my return trip I was being safe and calling out when a noise drew my attention. It was a bear scratching it's back on a tree right next to the trail in front of me and too close. To add to that it appeared to be small. It could be a cub and where is mama?  I immediately backed up quite a ways. I contemplated my options. I could take the south shore trail but a bear had been frequenting that trail so I ruled that out. In a worse case I could take the boat back. I decided to clap my hands and make lots of noise. After awhile I took out my bear spray and kept yelling out and took slow steps along the path scanning and listening for any bear activity. There was none. I walked out without problem. Like I said. "What a Day!"

Swiftcurrent Lookout

An early morning start and I was off to the top of Swiftcurrent Mountain where there is a fire lookout and an amazing view.  The mountain is the one on the right in the image above and the lookout is at the very, very top.  The climb up to the pass was steep but pretty.  At the pass I had to make a decision - return or hike another 1.5 miles to the lookout.  These last miles would be the steepest.  This trail is 16 miles and 3400 ft elevation gain (absolute not accumulated) I looked at the weather (some dark clouds) and decided to chance it.  It was a steep climb up through a burned dwarf forest and then I was above the treeline.  It was so very windy.  The lookout sits atop the mountain and it tied down with cables to ensure that it doesn't blow off the mountain.  It is very tiny and has prayer flags whipping in the wind from it.  I took a few quick photos of the Swiftcurrent Valley and the surrounding mountains.  There was an incredible 360 degree view.  Then I was quite chilled and headed down.

I met a young guy who is hiking the Continental Divide Trail.  He had already done the PCT and the AT.  He was pretty interesting.  He had met a grizzly photographer on the mountain earlier in the day.  It must be nice to be able to hike all those long trails.  I would like to do that someday.  I might be 70 by the time that I have the time and resources.   I hope that I would be physically able to do it then.

Scenic Point, Ptarmigan Tunnel and Iceberg Lake

Returning to Glacier National Park is like coming home.  Not only is my very good friend, Jane, here but also many friends at Brownies and in the Park.  It seems to have been a very strange snow year here.  There is no snow is some places where there has been snow in other years and other places are closed due to too much snow.

I drove in to dark, dark clouds so I amended my Plan B (Plan A was to hike down to Hidden Lake which was closed).  Plan B was to hike up to Triple Divide.  It is a long walk in before you start climbing.  I didn't want to risk a long walk out in the rain.  I detoured to Scenic Point - an old standby.  Since you can get cell service from the top, I called Jane and let her know that I was in town.  She jumped in her car and met me on my hike down.  We stopped by the campground and saw another hiking friend.  Then I headed off to Running Eagle Falls.

Today I hiked up to Ptarmigan Tunnel.  It wasn't open but I still had some great views.  I tacked on several extra miles by also taking the trail to Iceberg Lake.  The lake was mostly frozen but was still pretty.  The color was magic.

There were tons of wild flowers out including lots of bear grass blooms.  It was a great day.