Best Hike So Far!

First...Gary, you HAVE to do this one sometime. And you would have some willing hiking buddies. We know we couldn't see everything on one trip. :-) We'll share more photos if you need convincing, but it takes a long time to upload them to this site. We'll just give you a taste.

We hiked 15.2 miles over some of the most breathtaking scenery we have ever seen. For anyone that might be interested in the trail details, there are topographic maps at the Glacier National Park website that will give you an idea of the trails and landmarks. This one just has photos and an idea of where the trail starts and stops. Trail Map We started at Logan Pass on the Going to the Sun Road, hiked the "Highline Trail" to "Granite Park Chalet", then climbed up "Swiftcurrent Pass" to the "Swiftcurrent Trail" and descended in the valley and past the lakes to "Many Glacier Hotel".

Along the way we worried about the weather and had a great deal of clouds and mist at the beginning. As Kyle put it, "I didn't agree to hike in the rain." Luckily, we only got sprinkled on a little bit, but the mist would lift away and then return as we skirted the mountainsides. We got to look down on the Going to the Sun Road from high above. At one place there were cables to assist hikers who wanted a security blanket to keep them away from the drop -- read this to mean Glen -- but the drop itself was shrouded in mist. No stomach clenching moments at all, and Glen was happy to give up that particular view. We were on the Continental Divide trail looking at the western view. We crossed some snowfields, interrupted a mountain goat family eating near the trail, and saw many beautiful sights. We ate lunch at the Granite Park Chalet, and realized why it costs so much to stay there and why it is so hard to get a reservation. What a beautiful location!




After lunch we climbed up through Swiftcurrent Pass and got the view on the other side of the continental divide. Now we were descending on the eastern side of the divide. We saw bighorn sheep, lots of waterfalls, and had views of the lower valley and lakes all the way down. The switchbacks were many, the trail was narrow, but we enjoyed the view.

In the valley, we still had many miles to go as we had to skirt the lakes to get back to the motel where we had left our camper. This area was labeled as having high bear activity and the ranger we met had seen three that day. Kyle is still disappointed that we haven't seen one, as our "bad?" luck continued. He thinks we should hire out as guides for people that don't want to encounter bears on the trail!

We did have a fox cross our path and see a deer in the trees on that final leg. Overall, a great way to spend a bit less than eight hours. We didn't get rained on much, the sun broke out at the right times, and we ended the day with a great dinner at a little cafe.

Can't wait until we meet up with Marge and Vaughn Monday night. We expect to have a great time showing them around the park. We promise not to take them on any long hikes with cliffs! Until next time,
Terry, Glen, and Kyle

Rafting Trip

Glen has a post almost ready to publish about a hike he and Kyle took, but I wanted to tell you about our rafting trip. We had some days off last week, and made a spur of the moment decision to go rafting on the middle fork of the Flathead River.

There are several rafting companies, but we had heard good things about Glacier Raft. We signed up, and had a pleasant surprise....they have a special rate for area employees~~ $15! So, for $48 dollars total, we went rafting.

The rapids weren't HUGE, but it was a great ride. We alternated between sets of rapids with some great wave trains and fairly tranquil pools. The rapids were mostly class 3. The water was only about 42 degrees, so getting wet was an invigorating experience!

The other cool thing was that the weather had been a bit unsettled during the day, and some rain showers had moved through. The company had some cancellations, so at our time slot, we were the only boat. We shared our raft with some other local employees and their family(we didn't know them), and the sun came out to make our trip pleasant. We had the river to ourselves.

Glen and Kyle volunteered when the guide asked for "strong paddlers" to sit in the front. They were in charge of setting the paddle stroke rate. I got to sit right behind Kyle. If you have been rafting, you may know that the front is a pretty wet place to be. But we prefer it to the back, which is a "bouncy" place to be.

Of course, we didn't take the camera, but like all good rafting companies, they had a photographer stationed at critical points along the river. They post the photos online, so I will include a raft photo link so you can see how much fun we were having. Raft Photos

I'll make Glen finish his hike post, and we'll update you again soon. We have been having a few Internet connectivity issues in the campground, but we think they are solved.

Kyle is "dog-sitting" tomorrow. (For those that may not know, he isn't too fond of dogs) Luckily it is for a cute, friendly, little poodle, and all he has to do is take him for a walk around noon while the owners are on a tour in the park.

Hope everyone is happy and healthy. Talk to you soon,
Terry

Hike to Ptarmigan Tunnel

Hello everyone! One day while Terry was working, the owners of the campground offered to take Kyle and I on a hike to Ptarmigan Tunnel. The hike started on the Iceberg Lake trail, then took a turn towards a tunnel through a mountain pass. This tunnel had just recently been cleared of snow, and Kyle and I jumped at the chance to have a guided tour of the trail.
This picture is looking back at a lake that we passed along the trail, just before we arrived at the tunnel.




Here is another picture of the lake, taken from a closer vantage point. By comparing these two pictures, you can see how much we had to climb up from the lake. The trail had snow across it in several different places.









Here are Kyle and I posing at the top of the trail, and the view in back gives you another look at the direction we came from. The trail to the tunnel was 5+ miles from the parking lot, but the climbing was mostly gradual.








This is the view from the other side of the tunnel. We could have continued down the other side, but we had no desire to camp in the back country overnight. The payoff was certainly worth the effort expended.







Several of us in the hiking group had to get back early for our work shifts, and somehow I was the only adult who had to scurry to keep up with the youngsters as we headed back down the trail. We did the return trip in one and one half hours, which is hoofing it pretty hard.








I would stop to take a picture, the young pups would gain some ground on me, then I would literally have to run to catch up with them. It's a good thing that I'm not competitive, or it might have ended up in a race.









Here are three of the teenagers who Kyle works with. The boy in the middle is from the country of Moldova, and the two girls are related to the campground owners. Kyle and the boy had a contest to see who could hold their hands in the snow covered lake the longest -- they declared it a draw about two minutes in.




This hike was, scenery-wise, one of the high points of our trip. Kyle and I finished a little bit foot sore, but that was a small price to pay for a perfect day of hiking. Oh, yeah, if the return trip had been a race, I would have won. At least that's my story.

Until next time,

Glen

Going to the Sun Road

Hi everyone! We all had a day off together yesterday, and decided to "play tourist" as we call it when we do what everyone else in an area is doing. The major attraction in this part of the park is the "Going to the Sun Road". It takes about three hours to drive/ride one way. We rode the free shuttles all the way from the East to the West side of the park and back again.

One motivation for this was the memory of a little cafe on the west side where we ate lunch and pie when we came through in 2004. The cafe is called "Eddie's" and has a little old "pie lady" that has been baking for years. The specialty is a pie called peach-huckleberry. It is yummy! But, we decided to try something new this time. Glen had huckleberry cobbler ala mode, I had chocolate moose cake, and Kyle didn't find anything to his liking. (poor Kyle)

We enjoyed the ride, took a few photos, and saw some wildlife. I missed the chance to get a photo of a really new baby mountain goat, so Kyle says I am an awful photographer. Probably he has a point, because I tend to forget I have the camera in my hand when exciting things happen!

Here are a few of the things we saw on our "three hour tour" (no lifeboats!)
Lots of beautiful vistas along the road. You can see the road in the photo on the right side. There is a trail just above the road that we hope to hike later in the summer. Right now it has too much ice on it.
Here is where I missed the photo of the baby mountain goat, because I was trying to get a photo of the one I could see. The mom and baby were just past this one, down lower.
A small herd of bighorn sheep were playing just below Logan Pass.
Kyle and Glen at Logan Pass. Behind them you may see some people hiking on the trail(?) to Hidden Lake Overlook. It is snowcovered at the moment, and some people have had skis out there.
While there is still a lot of snow at Logan Pass, there are some beautiful yellow flowers that are blooming now as well.
The waterfalls are really flowing. Everywhere you look almost, you can see the snowmelt flowing into the crystal clear rivers. Not really swimming temperature! (Unless you are a teenager. Then you seek out the chance to jump off cliffs into the water and swim to shore with your teeth chattering. I'll try to get Kyle to write about that soon)
As you can see, there is still lots of snow left to melt off. It is fun to watch the scenery change each day as the snow melts and things turn green. It is almost as if the mountains change shape!

We are all getting our excercise, reading, and playing lots of cards. Hope things are going well at home. Talk to you again soon,
Terry

Iceberg Lake Hike, Attempt Number 1

Terry requested that I write an entry for our blog, and I don't think that she knows what she's getting into. I'm the person who writes 2 page morning announcements detailing the exploits of my school cross country team, so who knows how long my entries might be.

The three of us went on a hike today with the intention of ending up at a place called Iceberg lake. We didn't quite make it there, but we had a great time on the trail. Terry is going to attach a few photos, and I'll write a few comments about each one.
These first two pictures show off some of the scenic views that are around every corner on the hike to Iceberg Lake. We included these specifically to bring envy to the minds of my buddies who enjoy the outdoors. Gentlemen, you know who you are, and I hope you enjoy the pictures.
While Kyle hasn't vowed to get through the entire vacation without smiling(as he did when we crossed the country a few years ago), any picture with him in it will probably demonstrate the serious nature of the task at hand.

This photo illustrates my take on the famous expression "Stop and smell the roses." I stopped and took photos of flowers along our way, then would race to catch back up to Terry and Kyle. And you didn't think that I had such an appreciation for nature's beauty, did you?


This is another example of "Bear Grass". Thankfully, we didn't see any bears close up enough to take a picture. We did see a grizzly after we finished our hike, but it was high on a mountainside a long ways from us. At least Kyle can no longer say that the grizzlies are only a myth to attract tourists.
I guess that Terry included this picture to document that I actually went on the hike instead of staying behind at the parking lot asleep in the R.V.

Terry and Kyle are showing off the first snow that we found on the trail. While this certainly isn't one of the glaciers that gives the park its name, it was an indication that we had traveled a far piece from Maine. Further along the trail we had to hike through snow in several places.

We had hiked about 4 miles of our 5 mile journey into the lake when a ranger came from the other direction with news of severe thunderstorms with hail that were heading our way. We decided to cut our hike short and see the lake another day. As we hit the pavement of the parking lot the rain started to fall, so even though Gary would have made a different choice, I believe our decision was a good one. I know that Doug would understand.

Until next time,
Glen

Kyle's New Skills

For those of you that know Kyle, it may come as a shock, but he is now a pretty good short order cook. He is working in the snack wagon making burgers, hot dogs, and pizza. He sometimes delivers the pizza as well. When the golf-cart wasn't around, he could be seen using his cross-country skills running through the campground with a pizza in hand!

He makes pretty good tips, and is becoming quite good at carrying on conversations with his customers. It helps that he has traveled to so many places. He often can speak about visiting somewhere near where the customer is from. He'll probably get tired of telling everyone that he likes lobster, too! (The nametag tells everyone he's from Maine)

Tomorrow is the first day that we all have off together, and we are heading up to the Many Glacier area of the park to hike the trail to Iceberg Lake. We will be sure to take photos and share details when we return. Now...off to buy some bear spray. :-)