Glaciers Evaporating

Instead of soaking up copious quantities of front page space, I’m going to summarize the trip here. I also have a longstanding tradition of journaling during the trips, and I’ll drop that as well.

Summary

Day One: Baltimore to Chicago to Kalispell to Apgar to Lake MacDonald Lodge

• I had the last seat in the airplane. I held on to the engine so that it wouldn’t fall off, and it made me deaf in return.
• We got a ride with Darrell. He fell asleep at least twice while driving us to Kalispell. We had to talk about funny car racing to help keep us from dying, as he had the tendency to cross the center line.
  • Darrell: Yeah, I work from 3 in the morning until 10 at night.
  • Steve: When do you sleep?
  • Darrell: Throughout the day.
  • Meaning: “On long straightaways”

• We went to the backcountry permit office in Apgar. They allowed us to do whatever we wanted because we were runners. We learned that we could get the hike we wanted, but likely only if we got in early the next morning.
• We talked to the lady at the bus who knew everything bus related. It was her job to sit around and chit-chat with people about bus schedules. She thought we were crazy. She was reading a book called “Night of the Grizzlies”.
• Jammer Joe’s Pizza is bussed in frozen from Sam’s Club.
• Swam in Lake McDonald, all 55 degrees of it. Little kids looked at us funny.
• Montana microbrews are delicious.

Day Two: Lake McDonald Lodge to Apgar to Lake McDonald Lodge to The Loop through Swiftcurrent Pass to Many Glacier

• Woke up near 5 AM, ran 9.5 miles down dark road back to Apgar.
• Made conversation with girls from Texas A&M – they were also going to the backcountry and were several weeks into a camping road trip.
• The mass quantities of bear related propaganda were almost comical. There were postings of ferocious looking bears all over the park.
• Eddie’s Restaurant serves cold eggs. For $14.
• Hitched a ride back to McDonald with a dude from Mizzou who just quit his summer job and drove 26 hours solo to get there. He was going to the woods too.
• Took the free shuttle to The Loop. Met a guy who will be going to NCSU for Atmospheric Sciences next semester – he’ll be in the building next door to Steve.
• Marched up the mountain toward Swiftcurrent Pass. Saw a deer that I thought was a mountain lion for a second. Lost that feeling of “give a s***” toward dangerous animals pretty quickly.
• Crossed the pass, got sleeted upon. Winds gusting over 40 mph. 1500 ft drop 4 feet from us. Underdressed before I even started.
• Entered day hiker territory, stayed at Swiftcurrent Lodge. Ate more expensive/subpar food.

• • Lady In Parking Lot: How’s the food there?
  • Me: Not that good.
  • Lady in the Parking Lot: Oh.
  • Me: You could always eat berries.

• Ran to Many Glacier Lodge, saw family of grizzly bears on hillside. Met a family of bridge masters (literally), Steve was their fourth for a half hour.
• Ran into cute girl on back deck who took notice of our silly looking athletic gear.
  • Girl: Are you guys runners?
  • Steve: Yeah!
  • Girl: You look like hardcore runners.
  • Me: Our clothing options are, uhh, limited.
• Ate a second dinner. Cost a lot of money. Bought more fuel, which, we would find, also didn’t fit out stove.

Day Three: Many Glacier through Ptarmigan Pass to Gable Creek to Belly River to Gable Creek

• Hauled through the Grizzly posted area, saw no grizzlies in it.
• Did see grizzly cub about 100 yards away on other side of forked river.
• Got to Gable Creek, set up, Steve decided he wanted to fish the legendary Belly River.
• Whacked off the trail to the river, I plunged into the 50ish degree water. Milled around the others ide, unwilling to abandon my brother. Thought I’d surely run into a bear – hadn’t yet lost my caution. Eventually ran perimeter of massive meadow, found animal trail into a shallow ford in the river (which was generally speaking 5 ft deep – deeper than my camera could handle), bushwhacked out further upstream.
• Dried feet by fire.
• Met Pete, who went to West Point, and Laura, who used to work at my work – would spend three nights with them. Met Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, who would end up becoming irksome. Met people from Wisconsin who wanted Brett Favre to come back for the Packers. He was insulted when he learned we were using a rival brand of bug spray.
• Roasted power bars over fire. Everyone thinks we’re strange/funny.
• Got super windy, loud, slept about 2 hours.

Day Four: Gable Creek to Glenns Lake to Mokowanis Lake to Glenns Lake

• Broke camp early, saw a black bear cub (10 meters away), tried to fish at various locales with no success.
• Setup camp, hiked to bear country, sat on mossy rock face for an hour, next to one of dozens of 40+ foot waterfalls.
• Weather deteriorated – losing the battle of wet and dry.
• Steve finds fishing hole on Mokowanis Creek, catches dinner. I decide that I’m guarding his flanks while he catches food.
• Eat lake trout. It falls in fire. 10 minutes later I pick it out and eat the rest, it was still moist. Caloric debt has set in.
• Rains miserably. Shivering cold with no rain gear and mid-40s temps. Fire only thing that makes life worth living.
• Go to bed early, temps drop into the 30s, fall asleep almost immediately, in all of my clothes. Think I hear the guy from Eugene milling around the tent late at night, pop out at 2 AM to confront non-existent enemy. Am idiot.

Day Five: Glenns Lake over Stoney Indian Pass to Stoney Indian Lake

• Spend first two hours of day getting soaked while wading through saturated brush looking for dry wood for fire.
• Start fire, go barefoot around camp rest of morning as shoes dry.
• Grizzly Man, 58 year old, barrel chested, leather skinned maniac bursts into camp, tells stores about staring down bears, hiking in Tasmania, not carrying a stove, etc.
• Weather breaks, by 11 AM it’s a beautiful day. Clean up and leave. Tough but short climb over Stoney Indian Pass. Cross ford of frigid water near top of pass. Steve throws his river shoes back across river for me to use for my crossing, as I no refuse to let shoes get wet again.
• Stoney Indian campsite crown jewel of entire park. Submerge in water. Can’t be over 40 degrees. Nearly have heart attack.
• Mule deer steals brother’s t-shirt. Saturates with slobber. We throw pebbles at them rest of trip.
• Meet Roger, who eats real food. Salivate. Trade bug spray for Pete’s spare butane. Bicker. Eat Philippine Mangoes with every dehydrated meal. Make lots of hot chocolate. Smear peanut butter on bars.
• Pit toilet has no walls, spectacular view.

Day Six: Stoney Indian Lake to Kootenai Lakes

• Steve wants to scramble up old rockslide flue. We get to rock face, he climbs part of the way up, jumps off onto snow field, skids down for 40 feet, rumbles into loose rock. For no good reason.
• Grizzly man gets there by 10 AM, having already finished the pass. Turns out he’s done two 40 mile days in the past.
• Depart from Pete and Laura. His pack is 75 lbs, also for no good reason. They later find bug spray buried within, next to mini piano, behind dehydrated circus clown.
• Run into rangers for first time. Glad to know they’re looking out. And digging new pit toilets.
• Run into people terrified of bears, already think people like that are funny, since we’re now experienced outdoorsmen.
• Get to lakes.
  • Ranger at Permit Station A Few Days Earlier: You should stay at Kootenai – you might see moose.
  • She really means: “You should stay at Kootenai – you might get to ride a moose. They might eat your tent. One might lick your ear.”
• See 8 moose in one view. Bull male within 20 feet. I swim there too. Steve can’t catch a fish to save his life.
• Family from Minnesota at the camp. Mom talks to me about her daughters’ volleyball careers for at least two cumulative hours.
• We follow moose trails around back of Kootenai Lakes, now completely unafraid of anything.

Day Seven: Kootenai Lakes to Goat Haunt to Canada to Waterton

• Grizzly man rolls through again. Steve and I pack up, trade last of bug spray for food (since we’re in caloric debt and have limited rations). Grizzly man doesn’t purify water.
• Get to Goat Haunt, stop for 20 minutes, head for Waterton. Cover 9.3 miles in 2:50. Are warned about black bear “by boulder”. Pass two dozen boulders, see nothing.
• Arrive in Canada, Royal Canadian Mounted Police station abandoned at 2 PM. See local who is listening to Eminem on his porch. He tells us not to worry about it. Glad he doesn’t care.
• Get huge ice cream cone, breaking caloric slump.
• See Grizzly Man checking email. World implodes.
• Shower.
• Get food, beer. Beer so-so, but strong.
• Go back to Mounties’ station. The local guy calls customs, they don’t care that we’re there. Have the following conversation with guy in police station.
  • Officer: OK, can I see some ID? Any bear spray? [some bear sprays illegal in Canada, since it’s a weaponized high power pepper spray]
  • Us: Yes.
  • Officer: Can I see it?
  • Us (buzzed): It’s in the hotel room.
  • Officer: OK, good enough. Firearms?
  • Us: No.
  • Officer: One more thing. I can save you some embarrassment later on. Your shirt’s on inside out.
  • Steve: The other side is dirty.
• Have drinks with Americans in bar. Am introduced to the Gimlet. American buys us liquor because he thinks we’re crazy. Send a couple emails. Are generally friendly to everyone.
• Go have another dinner at the pizza place in Canada. Local genuinely insulted that I didn’t like the macaroni salad. Makes fun of us Americans for not knowing anything about Canada.
• We go to the one dive bar in town to wait for the Beer Olympics. They don’t seem to happen. Steve orders pitcher that he can’t finish. We play pool against bikers from North Dakota. Lose. Steve shoots at and sinks their ball at one point.

Day Eight: Waterton to St Mary to Going-to-the-Sun Road to Lake McDonald

• Steve runs, I sleep indefinitely, watch Canadian SportsCenter, where they talk about the CFL as though it matters.
• Try to hitchhike back into the US. Tom and Huck are there too. We yell at them. Go away Tom and Huck. Hitchhiking unsuccessful.
• Hang out in ritzy lobby of Prince of Wales Hotel – tell war stories to people we don’t know.
• Almost not allowed on shuttle back into states. Most annoying woman on planet helps.
• World’s Most Annoying woman tells the same pointless stories several times over next few hours.
• Talk to three pleasant Canadians. They tell us stories, prove that they are generally better informed than us about everything. Instead of telling them that we’ll miss them and they we hope they have a nice life, I say, “well, uhh, see you…never. Hey, is hoser a derogatory term?”
• Canadians are shocked that Steve and I are related.  Steve jubilant.
• World’s Most Annoying Woman also expert on local Native American tribes. Most Annoying Topic for Most Annoying Woman.
• Shuttle service has issues, wait for a while at St Mary and Logan Pass. World’s Most Annoying Woman complains, shows us her Most Favorite Spot in World. Tourists chase tame animals around, snapping pictures of rams in the parking lot. Go to a petting zoo you hosers!
• Road gorgeous at sunset.
• Arrive back at McDonald, have conversation about how Canadians don’t actually offer anything to US.

Day Nine: Lake McDonald to Apgar to Kalispell to Chicago to Baltimore

• Steve goes on 13 mile run. I sleep some more.
• Don’t have time for breakfast.
• Darrell picks us up. Recognizes us. Doesn’t kill us by neglect. Avoids having heart attack.
• Woman at Kalispell Airport feels compelled to approach Steve and I to ask if we’re twins.  News that we are not leaves her staggering.  Steve distraught.
• Meet someone else that works at my work on the plane ride back from Chicago. Go from one of most remote places in country to Chicago-O’Hare.
• Get home, avoid shaving for several more days.

Account

7/30/08 8:15 PM MST:

It has been a strenuous, though not horrendous, first day. It’s really the 2nd day in Montana. Yesterday, we arrived around 1 PM, drove to Apgar, at the west side of the park with a guy who fell asleep driving us at least twice. We talked about racing funny cars to keep him entertained. After a swim in Lake McDonald, we went to bed. There were 4 pillows, each almost useless. Steve complained about them bitterly.

This morning, we were up at 4:55 AM, running by 5:20 AM. An hour later, after I managed to pop my ankle on the side of the single, long road that we were on (Going-to-the-Sun Rd), we arrived at the backcountry permit station as one of the first in line. We got the sites we were after.

After hitching back to Lake McDonald with a student at Mizzou, we saddled up and took the shuttle to The Loop.

The west side of Glacier is lush, with water gushing from everywhere. Today was a misty day, with the weather shifting rapidly throughout. Winds gusting to 30+ mph, we crested Swiftcurrent Pass at somewhere over 7200 ft. The descent wasn’t terrible, though the wind tried to gust you off the trail, which, in a matter of inches, cascaded down several hundred rocky feet. Sheets of sleet pelted us at a few points – temperature regulation would have been more of an issue if we weren’t moving as much as we were.

We got down to bear country, only to find that we had entered Many Glacier’s day hiker zone. We would later see three grizzlies, though at a distance of over a mile, perched on an exposed grass faced mountain. An albino looking cub, a sow, and enormous male. Dozens of tourists were watching. Tomorrow we’ll be invading prime bear habitat yet again.

Thus far, it has been all about talking to people. I have had a conversation with a lady from [Jamestown, NY] on a plane. We chatted with some girls from Texas A&M who were on a long trip and who were hitting some of the same backcountry we are. The guy from St. Louis, who goes to University of Missouri quit his job and drove 26 miles solo to get here for 5 nights in the woods. We met a guy on the shuttle who was going to work in Atmospheric Sciences at NCSt, in the building next to Steve’s. We met a girl from Jersey whose friend was doing 5 straight months of trail maintenance. Once we got to Many Glacier, we met a family from Richmond who were master bridge players. Steve was their 4th. And we don’t really know how to play bridge. On a roll, we probably struck up conversations with a dozen others.

So far, so good. 9.5 mile run, 11.6 mile hike, 1.5×2 to the Hotel at Many Glacier and back. So over 24 miles. Hopefully the longest by far. Tomorrow is the meat and potatoes day. We need to punch deep into the backcountry, then the next three days are easy. We have a bear plan, but those things are enormous. We have a system for playing dead – it involves yelling “chew” if the bear starts to bite. Once that happens we both hit it with all we’ve got. Which, frankly, isn’t much.

7/31/08 5:15 PM MST:

After a long day of hiking, Steve and I hoofed it about a mile and a quarter down stream on the Belly River. I, desiring the feel cleaner, plunged into the river with my only pair of shoes, shorts, and a long sleeve. The water isn’t that cold. If it’s below 55, I’d be surprised.

Steve has since traveled upstream, leaving me all by my lonesome with nothing but mountains, a crystal blue sky, a stiff breeze and a dozen of local bears. Not that we’ve seen one here. We did see one about two miles up river however. A grizzly cub, we think, about 150 meters away near the river as we were perched above. Currently, it’s getting slightly more chilly. I’m still waiting to see if our water is giardia free – they were doused into the stream being being filled via filter, an abysmal oversight. I’m also interested to see if we can find a less overgrown route back to the trail. The way down involved mowing through dense underbrush.

8/1/08 12:30 PM MST:

We managed to survive so far. Yesterday’s foreboding meadow yielded no surprises other that I am allergic to all of it. Steve caught no fish.

Last night did not feature much sleep, though wind was plentiful. I got my standard 2 hrs, including a solid hour and a half in the 3-5:30 AM time frame. That’s my bread and butter for camp sleeping. The wind roared through the pines all night long, and shows no signs of abetting.

We saw another bear, this one a black bear and also less than 100 lbs. We met a few more people, notably Pete and Laura from Maryland. Pete is a West Point man and Laura used to work at my building. We’ll see them the next two nights as well.

Currently, we’re at White Quiver Falls, laying on rocks. The clouds are halfway between friendly and ominous.

8/2/08 10:50 AM MST:

It rained yesterday afternoon. And last night. And this morning. We’re waterlogged but we have a raging inferno to dry it. I’m barefoot, but no longer depressed/miserable. I may remove one of the 5 layers of shirts I’m wearing.

The sun just illuminated my pad. It’s spectacular.

8/2/08 5:05 PM MST:

Conditions improved rapidly since last I wrote. By noon it was a beautiful day. Lost in the depressing rain was the fantastic night sleep I got. A solid 6 to 7 hours, best I’ve ever done outdoors. It makes me think that this could be sustainable.

The trip was short though fairly strenuous. The Stoney Indian site, deep in a bowl somewhere over 6000 ft and nestled against both lake and river is gorgeous. Steve and I immediately jumped in the lake, which is roughly as cold as water can get in liquid form. I was out within the minute – frigid glacier fed, but crystal clear.

With the sun shining, I am clean and dry. Steve and I are both dressed in all black, it’s the mountain style. We’re having a good time with our neighbors for the third and last night. Good people, awesome site, much improved outlook. What a difference 8 hours makes.

8/3/08 3:10 PM MST:

There are six moose in my field of view as we speak. Two bulls, two whatever you call females, and two youths. It’s not that I don’t appreciate them. It’s more that after two straight nights of nuisance deer, I can’t help but think that they’ll come poking around camp again.

Generally speaking, I feel pretty good. Just took another dip in a lake, cold, surely below 55, but not like last night. We climbed a flue today. Steve jumped off a ledge into a snow field. Now he’s looking to bushwhack to another lake. I should go, lest he run into a bear.

8/4/08 6:20 PM MST:

Everyone gets the impression that we’re starving. We’re not. We’ve rationed well. Still, food is fun to think about. Last night and today we’ve spent some quality time with some chatty Minnesotans.

Grizzly Man is here again. He’s intense, but tons of interesting stories. The sun is currently 5 minutes away.

We get to customs at 11 AM, then haul ass up Waterton Lake into down. Had another good night sleep.

They tell you that you might see moose out here. They should say that you might ride a moose or have a moose lick your face. There are 8 of them.

Grizzly man is talking about fishing with an M80.

8/5/08 8:20 AM MST:

After covering the last 9.3 miles in just under two hours and fifty minutes, Steve and I arrived in Waterton, Alberta. We were supposed to check in with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, but that office was closed. At 2 PM on a Monday. They couldn’t care less when we did find them open.

We showered and hit the town. We saw Grizzly Man checking his email. Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn were wandering around. I got a huge ice cream cone, then we hit the town around 6 PM. We stayed in the tourist places where everyone thought we were pretty interesting, despite the fact that dozens of more interesting people were in campsites nearby.

Still, we ate and drank with some folks, went to the supposed dive bar, which was almost empty, got the Waterton equivalent to Pabs Blue Ribbon and shot pool with bikers from North Dakota. They won. We sucked.

Advertisement