Follow Strider's Rambles

Day 4

In the wee morning hours there was hullabaloo, a night hike?, people yelling vamanos and talking very loud to scare off bears. It woke all of us thru hikers, with our eight tents crowded into the temporary Many Glacier campsite. The tight quarters meant we were all up around the same time, breaking down our tents with efficiency. A guy had pitched his Gossamer Gear The One back-to-back with mine, twinsies! Wendy and I treated ourselves to morning coffee at Heidi’s Espresso Shop.

Wow, having coffee after a two day break sent me powering along the trail! At Morning Eagle Falls, I took a snack break and waited for Wendy to catch up. A couple (CDT hiker Full Circle & Ben) told me there was a bull moose grazing a short distance back. I retraced my steps and watched him until he moved out of sight. So handsome with his giant, velvety antlers and dark brown hide.

The rest of the morning I ascended Piegan Pass. It was beautiful and offered a fantastic view of Iceberg Lake with an assortment of glaciers clinging to the surrounding bowl. It did make me happy there was no snow as the trail dropped off sharply to my right side. At the top, the trail traversed for a couple miles with a curve of the Going-to-the-Sun road visible in the distance below. I laid out my solar panel, ate lunch, and waited for Wendy.

An hour or so later, we were descending a beautifully groomed trail, hard packed and wide. The trail was busy with day hiker traffic to & from Piegan Pass. When it once again became the less traveled CDT, we were wading through shoulder high brush and I could barely see my footing at times. Eventually Wendy and I emerged onto the Going-to-the-Sun road at Gunsight Pass.

Our campsite group was a fun bunch. There was the couple who told me about the moose. Then Bubba, a CDT hiker, and a friend that he is mentoring through Glacier. Finally Four Lo, a CDT hiker, and Goldie who is hiking with him for five weeks. Over dinner, we chatted about past thru hikes and hometowns.

I am impressed by Wendy’s grit! She did a 14 mile, 3000 ft. gain day with only a two week transition from long work days to the trail.

Day 5

At breakfast, I was excited to try my cranberry apple walnut oatmeal – a new creation – and it was delicious. Then a short distance from camp I discovered a new (to me) amphibian, a Rocky Mountain Tailed frog. It was sitting in the trail and didn’t respond to a gentle prod so with a big leaf I scooped it up and moved it safely to the side.

It’s fun how the CDT takes us past various park sights. This morning it was St. Mary Falls and Virginia Falls. The former had interesting angles with a glacial blue tint to its churned up pool while the latter was a picturesque drop. Afterwards we traveled the southern shore of St. Mary Lake for about half its length. I took one break at a water source with flat sitting rocks and, when Wendy arrived, directed her to the spout of crystal clear water.

From the lake, the trail climbed, entered a burn area, then did a silly doubling back on itself, to get across Red Eagle Creek. All us thru-hikers took a break at the suspension bridge, sitting in the scant shade. I mixed more electrolytes and eagerly chased a frog, which Wendy pointed out. It was a Columbia Spotted frog and leapt on strong back legs before striking a pose. I first saw the species in Montana when my sister and I went on an unsuccessful hunt for Tiger-Barred salamanders.

Though it was a nearly 14 mile day, it felt chill as there were no big climbs. Our campground was at the foot of Red Eagle Lake, all the sites sunny and windy. I took off my shoes & socks and walked in the water at the lake’s edge. My solar panel went gangbusters, apparently at the perfect angle to the sun’s rays.

Day 6

A little over a mile from camp, we stopped beside a bridge. I tried to sneak up on a mom duck with three ducklings, but she shepherded them across the creek. It was impressive, their ability to move perpendicular to the location’s strong current. From my photo, I identified them as Common Merganser ducks. Then a ranger, with an intern, hiked up and checked our permits. He gave us detailed info on the trail ahead and the day’s weather.

Even though they require more effort, pass days are my favorite. The approaches and descents offer delicious views and the alpine terrain itself tugs at my heart. Today’s climb was Triple Divide Pass, which ascended a series of benches before the final zig-zag to the top. On the way up a massive, multi-drop waterfall roared out of an invisible lake. There were wildflowers of many hues and only one, gently sloped, snow patch.

On top of the pass, I ate lunch and chatted with three couples, none at the same time. One hoped to summit Triple Divide peak, though the guy pointed out a dubious route and his girlfriend looked nervous. The second couple came down from Mount James. In the third, the guy asked me lots of thru-hiking questions. In the meantime, I defended my pack and lunch from two, gigantic overly friendly marmots, a gopher, and a chipmunk.

The descent angled across the steep southern face of Mount James, overlooking deep blue Medicine Grizzly Lake. At the bottom was Atlantic Creek campground, our home for the night. Unfortunately the camp swarmed with mosquitos. For a while, I sat in the dining area, chatting with Bubba & friend, smashing insects. I ate a walking dinner. As I retreated to my tent, it began to rain. Wendy and I chatted from within our tents.

Day 7

It rained all night, kindly reducing to a mist while we packed and ate breakfast. There must be a better way to pitch my tent in rainy weather… condensation ran down the inside wall and soaked my sleeping bag toe box. I layered up – sun hoodie, Senchi fleece, rain jacket – and we started walking. Soon my pants and shoes were soaked from all the wet brush, plus the rain returned, though gentle not heavy.

At Morning Star Lake, I waited under a pine tree for Wendy. We did a quick check-in then continued towards Pitamakan Pass. I was getting cold and begin to despair a little. However, I know that half of warmth comes from mental fortitude. I focused on Wendy’s strength these past several days and created a mantra about how we both have grit. Repeating that got me through my coldest moments and the final 1.3 miles to the pass warmed me with their effort.

On top of the pass and on the descent, a gusty breeze kicked up, drying my pants. Near Oldman Lake I took a break where I ate food and worked my cold fingers into fleece lined gloves. When Wendy caught up we stayed together. At one point a solo day hiker passed us, going toward the pass. Soon he was back with pictures of a grizzly bear, which he said had cubs.

We walked into Two Medicine, a park area with a small ranger office and a large campground. Per our permit, Wendy and I could camp there, but it wasn’t appealing with wet gear. So we went to the ranger office and I found a lady who was taking two hikers to Looking Glass Basecamp hostel in East Glacier. She happily offered to take us as well.

The hostel owner, Luna, is a laid back and lovely woman who lets hikers come and go as they please. Her daughter gave us a tour. The hostel used to be a restaurant so there was a full service kitchen. There were also hiker boxes, fresh towels, and a shower. Wendy and I claimed a corner of empty space for our use, hanging wet items and laying our sleep systems on the floor. We erected our tents in the backyard to begin drying. After a shower and laundry at a nearby establishment, I got very tired.

Day 8

Past hikers created destination signs on the back of pizza boxes. I borrowed the Two Medicine sign and Wendy and I stood beside the road. We soon got a ride from a friendly woman who worked in the camp store. She recounted life in East Glacier and we shared our stories. Shortly we were back at the ranger office and hiking south.

The trail zigzagged up and over the flank of Mount Henry. My pack felt light without any food except lunch and snacks. At the top I checked out the scenic point, which was super windy with a great view of both the upper and lower Two Medicine lakes. On the backside there were tons of wildflowers and a Dusky Grouse presented itself for a picture. As we dropped in elevation, the scenery reminded me of Colorado. We walked a mix of two track road and trail into East Glacier.

Back at the hostel, we spent the afternoon sorting our resupply boxes and chatting with Four Lo and Goldie. The pair originally started from Butte and hiked north so they gave us tips on the trail ahead. They were taking the train to Whitefish, Goldie to fly home and Four Lo to hike south from Butte. Wendy, myself, Full Circle, and Ben accompanied them to the pizza food truck to say goodbye.

Ben also left and Full Circle was reluctant to enter the Bob Marshall wilderness on her own. Today she had slack-packed from Marias Pass north to the hostel. Wendy and I decided to do the same thing tomorrow. Then the following day the three of us will enter the Bob together. We chatted with Full Circle for a while before heading to our tents to sleep.

Day 9

Since the others had trouble hitching to Marias Pass, Wendy and I got a ride from shuttle driver Wyatt. He is a Blackfeet tribe member and does a lot of work shuttling tourists around Glacier. After he dropped us off, we climbed over a cargo train parked between us and the trail; up one ladder and down another.

Though our longest distance to date, it was an easy day, with a lot of small ups and downs, no big climbs. There were occasional mud patches to navigate, chest high brush that pushed back, and plentiful streams at the bottom of v-shaped dips. Occasionally I missed my trekking poles, which were busy holding up my tent back in the hostel’s yard.

When we returned to the hostel, Full Circle had found a German lady with whom to travel The Bob. She’d realized that her battery bank wouldn’t last the week that we plan to take. It’s fine, Full Circle gets to go faster and Wendy and I can take our time. There were a couple new faces at the hostel, including a woman, Lucy, who had hiked all the way from Argentina with her dog!

Wendy and I walked to the grocery store to buy fresh fruit and a couple other items. Then we took showers and got ready to enter the wilderness.