Glacier National Park

We left Missoula in the early(ish) morning.  After the cold and rain/snow/hail of Yellowstone, a nice warm sleep felt good.  Our intended target for July 13^th was Glacier National Park where we would be meeting up with a friend and former PEEC employee, Bridget. 

Bridget is currently working as a Park Ranger with the National Park Service and offered to put us up in her living room.  We jumped at this opportunity.  We met up with Bridget on the 13^th around 1:00 and we unloaded some stuff to make space for her to take us on a tour of the park.  During this time Lea received a personalized lesson on how to use bear spray in case of a close encounter.  The fear of grizzly bears had been with us since we were in Grand Teton, but Glacier NP has the greatest concentration of Bears of any of the National Parks in the Continental United States.  It is almost a daily practice to hear about an encounter with Grizzly Bears and the stories we heard from Bridget were quite eye opening. 

The park was quite busy and our intended stop was Avalanche Lake, a very popular trail. The terminus of this two-mile out-and-back trail is a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains and many waterfalls.  We walked through the dense hemlock and cedar trees on an easy trail up to the lake.  The lake was a light turquoise blue from pulverized rock that is washed in from the active glaciers surrounding the area.  This material, called glacial flour, colors the bodies of water in the area a turquoise color; some of the various lakes show deeper and richer colors than what we were able to observe at Avalanche Lake. 

When we completed the hike to Avalanche Lake we headed back to Bridget’s house.  We decided that we were going to get dinner at the local farmer’s market in Whitefish, MT.  We drove out to Whitefish, enjoyed the local crafters, farmers, food vendors, and musicians then decided to head home.  On the drive home, we stopped at a small local brewery called Backslope Brewing and had a beer each.  We finally settled in at the cabin for the evening where we planned out our following day’s hike, a 10-mile mountain pass trail called Siyeh Pass.

The following morning we woke up well rested and ready to take on the 11 mile(ish) hike of Siyeh Pass.  Our park insider Bridget recommended that we park our car at the terminus of the trail and take the free shuttle up to the trailhead.  This way when we were exhausted after finishing the trail, we wouldn’t have to wait for the shuttle back to our car. Glacier National Park runs a free shuttle system all along the Going to the Sun Road. The Going to the Sun Road is windy with steep drop-offs in many sections.  There are few parking spots along the route so the shuttles allow people to get from one place to another without much hassle.  We were lucky enough to get a parking spot at the trail’s end so we waited a few minutes for the shuttle to take us up to the trailhead. 

The trail began by winding through a dense forest, eventually opening up to a field of wildflowers, none of which we’d seen before. A few of our favorites were beargrass, which we nicknamed the ‘Q-tip flower’, and glacial lilies, which looked similar to the trout lilies back east, but were much bigger and did not have mottled leaves.  We eventually reached a small mountain creek which we had to cross.  With the warmer temperatures, there was more snow melting and subsequently higher water levels in the creek.  We diverted upstream, maybe 100 yds before finding a location where we could cross.  After crossing the stream, we began the climb up into the pass.  We had been climbing for the previous 3 miles, but the last mile climbed the steepest.  We worked our way up through the alpine environment, noticing the vast array of different flowers in bloom up to the pass.  The views of the various valleys were awe inspiring. 

The descent from the pass had us crossing some snow fields which totaled just over 100 yds across 4-5 fields.  We were able to boot-ski down some of the vertical stretches and as we switch-backed down across the spring laden trail eventually reaching a section of forest that was the site of a massive fire caused accidentally by humans last year.  

Some backpackers triggered the fire with inappropriate cooking and it swept through the region, scorching the valley we were walking through.  It was surreal to hike through the region and see all the dead standing timber and the newly emerging wildflowers from the soil. 

After the hike, we intended to head over to the Many Glacier end of Glacier National Park.  The drive back to our housing would have taken us 3+ hours so we decided after our hike we were tired and would just head back to the cabin and then we would go out to dinner as a treat to Bridget for putting us up for the night.  As we were driving back we made sure to stop and enjoy the beautiful views.  

As we moved from East to West through the park  there was a major storm rolling into the valley and the clouds got quite dark and eventually it began to pour.  For dinner, we decided on a small pizzeria called the Glacier Grille.  We enjoyed some sandwiches and then headed back to Bridget’s for the evening.  The next morning we intended to visit the very popular sights early in the morning and see the rest of the park. 

Our last day in Glacier we decided to visit the popular sights.  Our first target was a trail out of Logan Pass called the High Line.  This mountainside trail is carved out of the mountain and only opened up to the public a couple of weeks prior.  One of the more eye-opening stories of the trail is that a couple of years prior, two hikers were attacked on the same stretch of trail by a grizzly bear.  Oddly enough this won’t be the last of the sketchy grizzly stories from our adventure at the park.  We walked about 2 miles out and back on the trail and we awarded amazing views of the valley.  Logan Pass is an interesting visitor center because it is up on the Continental Divide and is not powered.  All electricity is generated from solar panels and the area is an established Bighorn Sheep Study Area and they are easily seen if you know where to look.  Other wildlife which will frequent the area includes Mountain Goats which were very cooperative for some pictures. 

After the Highline Trail we headed out to Many Glacier and we hiked out on a small trail to a small pond.  Our park insider told us that Fishercat Lake is a great spot for moose.  We quickly arrived at the lake and within 10 minutes of watching the lake, a cow and baby moose strolled across the back of the lake.  

We watched the moose for a couple minutes then we headed out to a small set of waterfalls called Red Rock Falls.  

On our way back from the falls we stopped at the lake one last time and there were three moose on the near side of the lake.  Unlike the last time, this time, there were two bull moose and one cow moose just feeding away in the lake.  They were very cooperative and the pictures show.  One family was borderline too close to the moose and it should be noted that safety should be practiced at all times. 

 As we left Many Glacier we drove through some beautiful wildflower fields and we afforded great views of the peaks with bright blue skies.  

The last stop for the day included Two Medicine Lake which has a very symmetrical mountain right at the base of the lake.  Unfortunately, the lighting was bad and the pictures did not do the mountain justice. 

We headed back to Bridget’s cabin for our final evening.  In a casual conversation with Bridget about how the day was from the ranger dispatch office, she informed us that at Avalanche Lake there was a female grizzly bear with two cubs and they attacked a visitor and took their backpack and were tearing through all of their belongings.  Park Service Law Enforcement Rangers were called in to scare the bear off with rubber bullets, as is their common practice.  The bullets hopefully deter the bear from returning to the area.  If further problems continue they will look to trap the bears and transplant them to other regions of the Park.  This was eye-opening because we were just at the Avalanche Lake site a couple of days prior.  Tomorrow we plan to head west into Washington and to visit the state waterfall of Washington, Palouse Falls.  

Leaving Yellowstone

This day started earlier than most.  I remember waking up between two and three in the morning and noticing our tent was collapsing on us.  In trying to identify why, I realized that our tent was covered in sleet, freezing rain, and snow.  After beating off a lot of the weight, the tent returned to its original shape.

We’d decided the previous night that no matter what, we would hike to the summit of Mount Washburn, one of the key scenic hikes in the park. Neither Lea nor I are usually ones to give up on commitments. As we were warming our numb fingers from packing up our campsite in 35-degree weather, we decided the Mount Washburn hike was something we’d forgo, citing the reasons that we would be miserable the entire time and the low visibility meant we would miss out on scenic views at the summit. We promised we’d be back to the Yellowstone and Grand Teton area for a trip on its own in the future, somewhat easing our guilt on giving up on the hike.

We drove North through Mammoth Hot Springs, out of the park. 

We enjoyed lunch at the Eat Café in Gardinier, Montana, just outside of the park. We decided our final destination would be Missoula, Montana, about a four-hour drive from the northern park limit, and a 2.5-hour drive tomorrow to Glacier National Park. We booked our hotel on the drive up, and upon arriving we asked the front desk if we’d be able to set our tent up on the lawn to let it dry out. The sun sets in Missoula at 9:29pm, so even though we arrived at the hotel at 5pm, there was still a ton of sunlight left to dry out our tent.

After a couple quick showers, we were off to get some dinner and we settled on the Tamarack Brewing Company.  We ate more than our fill and headed back to the hotel to plan out our next adventure in Glacier National Park.

Rainy Day in Yellowstone

We woke up this morning to bright sunshine.  As I started to boil water for a nice warm tea for Lea I heard some thunder off in the distance.  The thunder quickly got closer and just as the tea was ready I snuck into the tent.  Within minutes, the dark clouds were producing plenty of thunder and lightening, but not rain, rather hail.  This was the second time in a week that we had experienced hail!  I feel like back home I can go multiple years between hail experiences.  Luckily, this storm wasn’t like the Badlands storm, followed by a full day of rain. 

We decided to start the day driving up to the Grand Prismatic Spring, a spot we missed yesterday because the parking lot and surrounding road shoulders were so full. We made it to the spring fairly early, and the parking lot was much calmer than the previous day. We walked  along the boardwalk to a few different springs and geysers, including the Grand Prismatic Spring. The spring has a beautiful gradient of blue to orange-red coloration due to the variety of bacteria and archaea species. When we actually arrived at the spring, visibility was drastically decreased due to enormous, opaque clouds of steam. Though we couldn’t get pictures to show it, the clouds of steam were reflecting the colors of the water underneath  - a beautiful, faint orange and blue. We’d planned to hit the spring and then drive south to Terraced Falls. As we were driving north, we realized that there was no end in sight for the rain, and getting soaking wet without the possibility for a shower was not something we were up for.  We decided to drive the lower portion of the Park loop, stopping at any of the sights that were quick walks to something awesome.

Following the stop at the Grand Prismatic Spring was a quick stop over at the Artist’s Paint Pots.  This area is also active with geothermal actions.  There were many small but active geysers and the unique feature at this stop was the small bubbling mud pools.  These bubbling pools of mud change depending on the geothermal activity and the precipitation.

Our next stop was a quick drive through the Firehole Canyon.  This was a two-mile drive that highlighted some beautiful cascading waterfalls. 

We then proceeded through many of the different visitor’s centers and eventually ended up at the Canyon Village.  This is a must visit location for any visitor to Yellowstone, specifically the upper and lower falls of the Yellowstone River and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.  We assume it is the massive valley lined with yellow rock that gives the park its namesake.  The river cuts through the valley and absolutely breathtaking views of the valley and falls are afforded to those who are willing and able enough to hike down and around the area. 

Our stomachs were telling us that it was time to eat a legitimate meal, our first of the day, when we arrived at the Yellowstone Lake Lodge at 2:39pm. What we didn’t know is that lunch time, as determined by Yellowstone concessionaires, ends at 2:30pm. At this point, we were starving but had to wait until 5:00pm for our next chance at a warm meal.  Due to the continuous downpour, we decided against cooking at the campsite; the only restaurant which we could find open tables at was the Obsidian Grill at Old Faithful.  We enjoyed a nice meal then headed back to the campsite to prepare for the evening. Our last pull-off was at a small area known as Kepler Cascades, which is a beautiful overlook of another set of waterfalls.

 As we arrived at the campsite the rain had stopped and all the clouds were gone.  We took a short little stroll around Lewis Lake and enjoyed the sunset, which occurred quite late around 9:00pm. 

We worked our way back into the tent and bundled up for a cold evening.  The evening called for temperatures in the 30’s and potential precipitation. 

Yellowstone

In preparation for our visit to Yellowstone National Park, we have been keeping an eye on campgrounds and their availability.  Yellowstone runs a website which allows you to see if a site is full prior to driving many miles to get there.  The problem with this is that many sites are full by dawn.  There are multiple sites that filled up on this day prior to 7:00 AM.  We knew that we had at least an hour drive from Jackson to Yellowstone’s southern entrance and then from there it would be many more miles to some of the more popular campsites.  If we wanted to attempt a popular campground we would have had to be on the road by 4:00AM, and that was not going to happen after the fatigue we were feeling from the day before.  We settled on the Lewis Lake campground which was the first campground we would hit when entering the park in the morning.  This strategy allowed us to find alternate sites if it was full.  Lucky for us the campground had some open sites and we were able to claim one. 

After we staked out our campsite, we headed to the nearest visitor’s center at Grant Village.  We were able to ask a lot of important questions and plan some adventures over the next few days.  The plan for today was to visit the geothermal activity within the park, specifically Old Faithful and some of the surrounding hot springs and geysers.

Old Faithful is a beautiful landscape which seems to be taken from some science fiction plot.  I would highly recommend that any visitor to Old Faithful download the Yellowstone Geysers app.  This tracks the eruptions of not only Old Faithful (every 91 minutes, give or take) but four other major geysers in the immediate vicinity.  We didn’t know about this app until we were already in the area so we just wandered around watching different eruptions.  We agreed that our favorite was not Old Faithful, but rather the Riverside Geyser which erupts violently for 20 minutes every six hours.  It would be easy to spend a day or more exploring the different geysers and hopping between eruptions – had we known this in advance, we would have planned for it. After about five hours, we decided to move on to other nearby geothermal areas.

We walked around Biscuit Basin and eventually found ourselves on a short hike to Mystic Falls.  The hike was only a mile in length to the falls for a total of a two-mile hike.  At the end of the trail was a cascading waterfall which also has geothermal springs feeding the waterfall.  It was an absolutely beautiful view and I would recommend this hike to anyone interested in a short easy hike. 

After returning from our adventure, we realized we were exhausted and a little burned from the unrelenting sun.  We decided we could use some rest so we headed back to our campsite and enjoyed a nice dinner of black bean chili from Harmony House and cheese quesadillas. 

Tomorrow we plan on hiking to Terraced Falls and seeing Grand Prismatic Spring.  

And a parting shot of why proof-reading is important!