Summer 2009 Carthew Alderson day 5

09 5 Day five Carthew Alderson

For today’s hike you will need a bus ticket for a ride to the trail head, hiking poles, warm clothes, rain clothes, camera, lots of water, a lunch and mole skin.

Today we started at the Tamarack sporting goods store in lovely down town Waterton. From there we take a bus ride to the trail head. This ride takes about 25 minutes. On the ride we get a good overview of different hike in the Waterton area. Good to know for next time we are in town. We are on the bus with Corrie form yesterday’s hike. Four Italians who speak very limited English. Along with Kathi and I there are two people from the Netherlands who are named Chris and Marijke. The Italians hiked by themselves the rest of us joined forces and headed out for our 12.5 miles back town.

We started at Cameron Lake with a few pictures with the lake shrouded with low hanging clouds. I’m thinking that the lake is a real stunner I could only imagine what the lake would look like if it was clear skies…

We hiked steadily up the switch backs until we reached the small Summit Lake. At the lake our group stopped to take pictures. I stopped to put a piece of mole skin on a little hot spot that I had on my left heel. I had all of my supplies with me and tried to hurry. We got back to hiking pretty fast. As we start the long round about climb up to the next set of switch back the clouds are moving in, but the conversation of the group is all very entertaining. We find that Chris and Marijke (sounds like Mary reg all one word) are on a three week vacation. They will be spending one week in Waterton/ Banff, one week in Yoho and one week in Jasper. I guess when you work in those European countries you get four weeks of vacation right from the get go. This is to Kathi’s amazement, as in her job after 13 years of works she still only has 2 weeks of vacation.

Chris and Marijke’s English was perfect. Chris spoke five languages and Marijke only speaks four. So I ask, well when you think do you think in Dutch or in English? They think in Dutch, and then translate into the language they want to speak. Geez that is amazing. I have a hard time thinking and speaking in English and they are throwing in a whole other step in the process. Chris and Marijke must have been in their late 20’s but I don’t think in their 30’s yet. They seemed to be highly educated, well grounded and well traveled. Corrie on the other hand was another story.

Corrie is certainly a hiker and has done some pretty amazing hikes. But she is young, and well I will just say searching to try and find herself. She currently is working as an interpreter in Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta. She has plans to go to New Zealand to take an adventure certification class and then she wants to come back to Canada to volunteer at the Winter Olympic in Whistler Canada. She has finished with 1 and half years of college and decided to put that on hold…Basically I think the only thing she actually owns is her camera. Everything else she has borrowed.

Did I mention at this point in the hike we are just talking and hiking with each other as it is totally fogged in… Perhaps I forgot to mention that. Well, I would tell you what we are seeing on this trip, but I’m not sure. I can tell you what my feet look like. Ica also tell you the trail has small flat rocks which are dark grey  I know some of you hiking club members are wondering why are we doing this hike today? The answer is because it is on the schedule for today… What else are we going to do? At some point during these switch backs up to the pass we cannot see other groups members, but we can still hear them talking. This is how we know they haven’t fallen off of the mountain. All of this chatting and walking has made me hungry! We have to stop to eat a little snack and put on some more clothes. With the fog, it has become chilly and damp.

We reached the top of the pass and had a hard time telling. Just sort of figured out it was the top as it was level for about ten feet and then started going down. Ok, time for pictures… I guess this is what it looks like when people tell you are on cloud 9. Well this cloud 9 was thick, chilly and damp. We are disappointed as this is supposed to be fantastic viewing of the chain of lakes. I’m going to guess that since all of the write ups say it is fantastic… then it must be fantastic!

As we are on our way down we have brief moments of the clouds moving and the lakes appearing and disappearing. It is so fast that you would get your camera out and by the time it turned on and ready to take a picture the clouds would have blown back in. So we just stopped walking and waited for the moment to happen again. These pictures prove to be a fun little game of hid and seek.

We moved on down to the third lake thinking we would be out of the clouds and could have a warmer weather lunch. Found a perfect spot with some really fun exploring to be had. I should have stopped exploring and paid attention to my hot spot, which was blooming into a very mature blister. I thought it was too inconvenient to fix, I can just ignore it… Note to self: Next time take whatever time you need to tend to the blister before it becomes a monster blister! Ok, I put that on my hiking notes on a page I have titled: Things I only need to learn once!

After lunch the sun came out!!! We did a little cheer! Then we all just stood in warmth and glow. After two days of not seeing it, it was a blessed event. Ok, now we are looking at some real views! Wow, it was like when Dorothy and Toto went from black and white Kansas to the Technicolor land over the rainbow full of color. I thought I could hear the little munchkins singing “We welcome you to lollipop land…” Oh the blues of the lake, the colors of the flowers….Ahhhhh. Now you can only wonder what you all missed? We poked out way back down through the chain of lakes and had some great views all the way down to Alderson Lake.

View time is over…As we approached tree line the clouds had settled back in. We had about four miles before we would be back to town. This was going to be four miles of walking in the forest with nothing to look at because of the clouds. And as you might have guessed it was raining by the time we entered town. Corrie had to rush off as she needed to drive 4 hours to get back to work. It was about 5 pm so she had a long drive ahead of her. Chris, Marijke and I went to a bar in town to warm up, have a beer and go through some hikes they defiantly should do when they are up in Lake Louse are and Yoho. I’m thinking that s I write this hiking notes they must be finishing up their three week trip.

Today’s hike will go on the re-do list. I’m sure it is an epic hike, but save it for a day that you can see further than your feet…



Hike 12.5 miles, 2135 foot elevation gain, 3330 foot elevation loss, 7 hours and 25 minutes, 1655 calories. I had a big ice cream cone after dinner. HHHHHMMMmmm

There is no vacation complete without a privy shot. This privy is brand new!!! New freshly cut wood smell. Only thing missing was the TP…

Summer 2009 Crypt Lake Waterton, Canada Day 4

Crypt Lake Waterton, Canada

We pack up early and leave our little cabin in the woods in Babb MT. Drive to the border for another border crossing adventure. We are going to bring food back across the border, but this time we have the receipt of the food that we bought originally in Canada. We are ready! Arrive at the border crossing and no one is in sight. Just big orange cones sitting in front of where we need to drive through. We stop, sit and wait. We wait for about a minute, two minutes, three before Mr. Canadian Boarder Man struts out of the building and over to our car. He orders Kathi to shut off the engine open both windows on her side. Yells at the three motorcycles sitting behind us to “cut their engines”! Turns back to us and ask us what the purpose of our border crossing is?

“Ahh, we are choosing to spend our vacation dollar in Canada.”

“Do you have any fruit?”

“No”

“Do you have any fire arms?”

“No”

“Well then, have a good day. “

Now what is with this fruit thing crossing the border… and why do they ask about citrus before they ask if we have firearms or perhaps a bomb???

We leave the border wondering if the world will come to end by way of fruit or swine flu… Either way we need to get moving as we must get to the boat dock and by a ticket for the boat to take us to our first hike.

For today’s hike you will need: a boat pass, rain gear, backpack with rain shell, food, boots (hope you waterproofed your boots a week before the trip!) water proof gloves, warm clothes, not cotton as wet cotton will kill you! (I’m thinking if I had some of those little hand warmers that are good when you are hunting I would bring those also.)

Crypt Lake has more tricks than any trail in the Rockies. You cross the Rockies wildest lake by boat, ascend a narrow valley past a staircase of waterfalls, climb an iron ladder, crawl through a tiny tunnel, tippy toe along a cliff whilst hanging on to a cable skirt, above a precipice where a where a stream suddenly burst from underground and plunges 574 feet before visiting a perfect cirque lake which is in both the USA and Canada! (Isn’t that nicely written? I copied that out of a visitor’s guide.)

We got into town with about 20 minutes before the first boat left for the crypt Lake trail head. It was windy cold and just as we open the cars doors after parking, it began raining. Put on rain coats and went to purchase tickets. Went back to the car and re-thought our clothing for the day. Remove the sleeveless shirt from pack. I just about put an additional long sleeve in the pack as it seemed chilly, but surely I won’t need it... Sure wished later that I had put the additional one in.

While standing and waiting to leave I see a guy I think I know. I ask him if his name is Joe. Well yes. I said we had hiked with him last year up to Dawson’s pass with Ranger Pat Hagen. If you remember back to last year, Pat Hagen is a real story teller and really knows how to spice up a hike with little embellished stories and folk lore. After spending 8 hours hiking with people you just remember things right? I remember Joe is also a PE teacher in Oklahoma. Ok, so I just remember these things right? Well, this is what I remember rather than what the heck is 17X31? (By the way it is 527.) Joe introduces us to Gene and Linda. Joe meets Gene and Linda at Glacier every year for some hiking adventures. They are from California, St. Louis and Oklahoma.

Oh right, so now along with Joe, Gene, Linda, Kathi and I there are an additional 10 others on the boat. Usually over 100 people go on this boat, so you might be getting a good idea that it is cold and raining so why go? Well we go because it is on the schedule for the day! We are committed to our schedule.

At the start of the hike Kathi and I have on short sleeves and a raincoat. At this point we have our legs zipped on our pants, but within ¾ mile we have stopped and unzipped the lower leggings of our hiking pants. We are hiking up, up, and up. It is raining and it feels warm. As we go higher in elevation it starts getting colder and rainier. We take a break in the hike at a moment where the rain almost stops. Quickly we put on our rain pants, have a fast bathroom break and snack. Ok, so now we have shorts on under our rain pants, our legs are damp under the pants and we have been sweating under our rain coats. Just like that the rain begins coming down. We start moving again and notice a real drop in the temperature. Just as we reach the ledges the heaven open and just start pouring. The temps are in the upper 30’s, but felt like below freezing. Our hands are FREEZING! No need to put on gloves as they are not water proof so would be pointless. Kathi goes on ahead with Gene across the ledges and into the tunnel. Joe and I stand in the rain and wait for Linda. I swear she must have stopped and went in the privy to wait out the rain, because we stood in the downpour for 15 minutes… Finally Joe told me to go to the tunnel and he would wait for Linda. I did not stop and do a Minnesotan to wait until he tells me this three times… I was right on the release and headed across the ledges. I’m sure Joe was colder than I was, as He was man enough to wear his cotton shirt and get all wet before putting on his rain coat. I think he will make a wiser choice next time and not get the cotton shirt all wet… You can never get warmed up in wet cotton!

I reached the ladder and wondered if it was really attached or was I going to have to be very careful when going up. Went up and took at long step across to the solid ground of the tunnel floor. Kathi and Gene were standing there waiting for us. They looked like they were enjoying the weather much more from inside the tunnel!

After a long wait Linda and Joe finally arrived. I never did find out what was up with Linda, but they were both wet and cold. Joe’s hands were so cold he was having trouble zipping his jacket zipper. We took our packs off and started through the tunnel. The tunnel is no higher than four feet tall. You have to kind of move and groove through the tunnel. As we were approaching the end of the tunnel everything stopped. We could not go forward. The light was blocked, movement was blocked, and even though we had plenty of air… try not to panic because we are stopped. We ask what the problem is… the answer is still sort of unbelievable. The German family is standing at picnic out of the way there are people who want to get through!!!

In these two pictures you can see Gene just start going into the tunnel and is a ways down the tunnel before he backs out and takes his pack off. The tunnel gets a bit smaller after about 20 feet in. I think the total length of the tunnel must be around 60 feet. This is just the distance of a volleyball court. You could handle a tunnel for the distance of a volleyball court…right?

Gene, Joe, Kathi and I come spilling out the far end. The inner tunnel is nowhere to find yourself stuck. Linda had had enough of being stuck in the tunnel and turned back when she heard there was a picnic ahead. Most likely she had to back out butt first as there was not room to turn around. We stepped past the picnickers and tried not to give them a daggers look. Stepping out of the tunnel we had to have to wait for two people slowly coming back down the cable and ledges. Their report was that the cable and ledges were very difficult, cold, slippery, wet. Hardest thing they have every done.

I look back at Kathi and wonder if this will become another hike that I do not complete… I’mmmmmm thinking today is not my day to die. We head towards the cable. Everyone else has decided that they would not finish the hike.

I’m in the lead so I can control the pace. Just as we get to the cable a lady is bent down at the top yelling something like:” hey, are you guys coming? The worst part is right where you are so if you can make that, you have it made…”

Well that makes me feel better how about you?

Just stay in the moment. Keep your eyes on the current step. Next thing you know we are at the top. I think I was holding my breath the whole time. Ok, well, perhaps I took two breaths. Our hands were freezing and the ledges were slippery. (geezz thoughts of having to come back down that are already eking into my mind.)

The lady at the top was a 23 year old named Corrie. She was glad to have company as she was afraid that she was the only one who was going to go all the way to the lake. Corrie showed us a place where we could stand under a group of trees and take off our wet clothes, put on some dry clothes under our jackets. Then we put back on our rain gear. Remember it is still pouring and cold.

Putting a fleece on under that jacket rather than a short sleeve shirt made a big difference for us. If I had actually put that other long sleeve in my pack, I could have had an even bigger difference. The next half mile up to the lake seemed much nicer with a warmer upper half. I could almost stop shivering. Found the lake. The clouds were hanging low so we took a few pictures while standing in the rain. We stayed only about 10 minutes before we started heading back.

Eating in the pouring rain.

The trip back around the ledges was a bit easier as it was not raining as hard as before. We went one at a time and s-l-o-w-l-y worked out way down the interesting ledge with the cable. Just like that we were around that up into the tunnel, over the next ledge and facing a 4 and a half mile hike downhill back to the boat. Kathi and her number managing had us moving right along so we could make it back for the 4 pm boat ride back to our cars. You can take the 4 pm boat, wait till the 5:30 boat or wait until the next morning boat. I think we will just fast hike it back down for the 4pm boat…

We make it back to the boat dock with 15 minutes to spare. Ahh! No worries!

This was a great hike, but save it for a great day. Now I’m going to have to try this hike again!

11 miles, 2240 foot elevation gain, 6 hours and 20 minutes, 1929 calories burned, 28268 steps

Sorry no dessert tonight, I just want to take a warm shower, get out of my cold wet clothes and start drying out for tomorrows hike 

Proof that we made it to the Lake. We are standing in Canada. The back wall of the lake is the USA. We have no citrus fruit, so you do not see any border patrol agents chasing after us…

Corrie is taking our picture and trying not to get the camera to wet. It is still raining.

Summer 09 Siyeh Pass Ranger lead hike Day 3

Summer 09 Siyeh Pass Ranger lead hike Day 3


Ohhh today you are going to need your camera, hiking poles, lunch, lots of water, warm clothes and hot weather clothes.

Today we drive up to where our hike will end at Barring Point. The whole river squeezes down through two solid rock formations that are about five feet wide. I did not have to read the car book today. I must have shown adequate coping skills for being a passenger on “the Road”. We sat at the bus stop for about 12 minutes before the shuttle arrived. This is a free shuttle that runs all day long back and forth between the park entrance and Logans Pass. ( A different shuttle runs all day from Logans Pass to the other side called Lake McDonald.) We took the shuttle up to Siyeh Bend to wait for the Ranger, and anyone else who would be joining us on this hike. The shuttle has big ole windows. This allowed Kathi to do a whole bunch of looking without breaking any rules.


Today we will gain 2240 in elevation and loose 3440 feet in elevation. We will go over two passes today. It will be a day of climbing and descending. Ranger Adrian comes walking up. She is a summer Ranger who had been rangering down in the National Parks down in civil war’ish National Parks. Ok, now I should remember which park, but I forgot… This was going to be her first Ranger lead hike, so that made us her pilot test group. She had in her pack little booklets that we would be able to write our thoughts and feelings in as we headed up and over the pass. Kathi and I started our hike with two others making a group of five. It was not long before two of the groups members were turning their thought books, as they wanted to hike faster than Adrian. Adrian was trying to tell us all those fancy little diddies that she had memorized. Only she forgot to pace herself. Kathi and I informed Adrain that we could hike faster… We picked up the pace some, Adrian identified bear grass, blanket flowers, columbine, forget me knots, and pfacelia. Ok. I think we knew those…every time we found a flower that she did not know, she offered to stop and look it up for us…no, no. Let’s not stop.

As we were learning about the two ways that trees rot, a guy came hurrying up the trail. His name was Todd. He had driven down from Waterton and was a bit late for the ranger lead hike that started at 9 am. So he fast hiked up the trail until he found us. We were not any more than two and half miles up the trail. Because Adrian forgot the part about go the speed of your group. I think she missed the parts that if the group can go faster…then so can you! We stopped at a stream water fall cascade had a snack and had some time to write in our reflection book. Headed up and onward to the switchbacks. We took this slow and at a pace that neither Kathi nor I went above 80% on our heart rate monitor. I’m sure both Todd and Adrian could have gone faster, but we still just plodded along. Finally made it up and over the final switch back and rounded the last corner to a wonderful view down through the Boulder Creek Valley. This part of the park does not have any trails through it. So I guess that this is where all of the bear, grizzly, elk, and moose hang out on their off days. We sat up on top of the pass with our backs against a rock wall and looked out down the valley. The trail is as wide as a sidewalk, but the edge of the sidewalk is a 4000 ft drop. The drop off makes the ledge seems like 2 feet wide. What a gorgeous lunch spot! But let’s face it; my butt was firmly planted against the rock at my back! As we sat here we needed to make another entry into our books. This time we were to think up phases, words to describe our journey so far. After we finished we packed up and headed around the corner. The wind was blowing and the temperature was much colder! Stopped to take a few pictures and then put on more clothes. At this point it looked like we might be putting on rain gear as dark clouds were blowing over. It did sprinkle a bit, but never open up. We met two ladies up there who had spotted grizzly tracks across a snow field. We walked over to the snow field to have a look…Sure enough bear tracks…Yo, Bear!!! 15 x3=45 x2=90… I guess I never thought that bear would be going over Siyeh pass, but I guess they have to get to the Boulder creek valley somehow…

As we went down the other side of the pass, it was striking! We had the opportunity to take a close up look at sexton glacier. The toe of the glacier overhangs the valley below and water is rushing, falling, and crashing down the valley. We stood and watched the glacier for a few moments before descending down over a very mysterious trail over the large escarpment. I’m not sure who figured out how to get a trail in the block of rock, but it should receive and award. You never felt like you were going over some drop off just sort of wondering back and forth stepping over a few rocks and small streams. Next thing you know we are looking back up and over towards the Mt. where we came from. Amazing. Coming down the valley we walk next to the rushing water from the sexton glacier and watch it as it get jumbled around. We talk about how glaciers are the area water towers. As the towers melt the water rolls down the valley and into the lakes, then into the prairie, water ways and out into the fields. This is the water that feeds and grows the westerns states… Well, now there is something to think about. Should we get out our refection books…. Hmm not lets keep moving.

We end our hike down by Barring Point. This is where all of the glacier melt is rushing and squeezing between the two rock faces which are about 5 feet apart. Blue glacier water rushing through is a wondrous sight. And if you are doing Glacier by car, you can actually drive up, park you car some 100 steps away and see this. But you will have to hike the 10 miles to get the whole picture.

I really must say that this was a stunning hike, with not to bad of exposure. But ohh , the views were exceptional. This will be in my must do again folder!

My reflection for Adrian is; she needs to learn how to be a story teller, not a fact teller. With the subject material that she has to work with she could create a real show… Well she has all summer to work on it and jazz it up a bit.

Today’s journey was only 10.3 miles, 28,091 steps 6 hours and 29 minutes. Only 1566 calories, but I am going to have dessert anyway… don’t tell 

Summer 2009 Gunsight Lake Day 2

Day Two Gunsight Lake


Were you wondering about that tire? Yes, that was the first thing I looked at this morning when I got up. I walked to the window and took a gander at the tire. I can’t believe that thing is not flat… But am I ever relieved.

We have to drive up that old road again. Kathi tells me to read about the parking brake and how one might deploy it and un deploy it. I read to her about the parking break. I’m starting to think she is just trying to keep me busy… Does anyone need to know about the Chevy 2010 Malibu? I can say I have read the book and understand it’s finer details! We arrive at the trail head without any problems or air sucking. And deploy the parking brake.

Today you are going to need reading material and bug spray. If you have bear spray bring that also…


We do not have bear spray as it costs $50 bucks a can and you cannot take it on the airplane. So we do loud hiking. Talk loud, laugh, giggle, tell bad jokes, practice math. Really. Kathi loves numbers so we start with a number like 34 +6=42x2=84 /4= 21/7=3x15=45/9=5 Ok…This little math games goes on for miles… I have to do all of the figuring on these math sentences as Kathi and her love for numbers just knows the answer while I have to spend a few moments figuring these things out. These are things you do after you already know all of the stories of the other person you are hiking with 

Anyway, put on your mosquito spray, and no you don’t apply the bear spray to yourself. You carry the can in a really easy gripping spot on your straps of your pack. Be ready to grab and spray. Remember to check for wind direction. If the wind is to your face you will spray and be immediately grabbing your face and eyes as the spray is totally hot pepper spray… Also remember you have at best a 15 foot shooting distance, with 10 seconds of spray. A grizzly and black bear can run 40 miles an hour for short distances. Even my highly tuned math skills can figure you have little chance of spraying the bear, a high chance of spraying yourself, and needing to change your underwear… Best to be really loud and scare away all wildlife while hiking! 12 x10 =120-40= 80…

Gun sight pass is supposed to be the epic hike at Glacier national Park. It has a chain of lakes, two mountain passes and some fantastic views along the way. The epic part of this hike is also 20 miles long. Most people do this in a two day hike. They hike up to Sperry lodge stay a night and then hike down to McDonald Lake the next day. Ahhh, we do not have reservations at Sperry lodge so we will only be going to the lake. We ponder the possibility of going up to the pass, but will reach that decision when we see it!


Trail starts and ends with a 600 foot drop in elevation over a mile and half down to the river bottom. This will mean a 600 foot walk back up at the end. Who thought that was a good idea?

The trail meanders along the river bottom through wonderful moose habitat. We see in the mud a track that is perhaps a bear paw or a beautiful arrangement of an old boot with no tread and perfectly placed nail marks. (my guess is 99% sure it is bear, I’ll leave 1% chance it was something else) We see all sorts of moose poo. We also see some bear poo- so we are being very LOUD! Yo, Bear, Yogi Bear! Funny we keep looking for any moose that might not have been chased off with our yelling. We saw no moose over the distance of 4 miles of the perfect moose habitat, gladly, I can say we also saw no bear. Frankly, I find the second part of that sentence to be more important than the first… Others might feel differently. They most likely have bear spray attached to their pack strap and feel they have a reasonable chance of spraying the bear.


Slowly we begin to leave the river bottoms and gain some elevation. This whole trail is filled with some very woodsy smells. Trail is heavily laden with cow parsnip and scratchy willows, columbine, bear grass, paint brush, and other flowers that I do not know the name of but like looking at. We make good time back to the lake.

The lake is beautiful, the day is perfect and the pass looks like we just want to sit and look at it rather than climb 1200 foot elevation in one mile just to get a different perspective of what we know is already a perfect view. So we sit down on a log at the base of the Lake. This is a perfect spot to sit and eat lunch and do some reading. Like I said earlier, you will need to bring some reading material along. Kathi and I forgot this little part of the packing this morning so we just sit and look, ponder, watch fish jump, skip some rocks, and swat mosquitoes. These mountain mosquitoes are pretty slow or do not have the brains of a mid west mosquitoes. You can kill these guys easy. Three might land on your arm and you can get all three without a problem. When does that ever happen back home.

We spent an hour just sitting at the lake, pondering, skipping, swatting. We decide to head back out. On the way out we see some trees that have barbed wire attached to them. These trees are special trees and are part of a big science experiment. Bear like to scratch their backs on trees. They usually use trees that are right along the trail as this gives them the best opportunity for nothing to get in the way of a good scratch. Remember trails are also animal’s highway through the woods. Much easier to travel on something clear of debris rather than trying to walk over downed branches and other deep woods clutter. So the scientists’ are gathering hair that the bear have rubbed and gotten caught in the barbed wire. They test the hair DNA and track what bears are in the area and what their traveling habits are. This experiment is a USA/Canadian project. Kathi and I stop at each tree and try to see if any hairs are caught in the wire. After close examination we determined there are no hairs. Perhaps the bear that dropped the poo had a friend to scratch his back…

We did have our first sighting of a martin loping down the trail at us. This looks much like a mink. It had gorgeous dark shinny coat and a mouse in its mouth. I was in the front. I stopped as I have never encountered this type of animal and was trying to think what the rule might be here… How viscous are these critters… Is it going to come after us??? The martin stopped with in15 feet of us. Looked at us, turned and trotted back the trail about 10 feet then turned again and headed for us. Stopped and decided to get off trail and get in the tall weeds. Hmmm! That was interesting. I never even had the chance to get my camera out to take a picture of it.

Hiked back on down the trail yo bearing and looking for any deaf moose. Gun sight Lake was truly beautiful and I bet the pass is spectacular, but by the end of this hike we will have added another 13 miles to our running total. So we are in two days at 28.2 miles hiked. Today we hike for 5 hours and 47 minutes, taking 31,335 steps and burn 1467 calories. Looks like dessert is on the menu tonight!!!

Summer 2009 Glacier Day 1

Hiking Time!!!

So you have had the opportunity to get in shape for your virtual hike. So put on your best hiking socks, lace up your boots and here we go!!!

We arrive in Glacier by way of Calgary. We flew from Milwaukee to Dallas. Loaded the plane in Dallas on time and then sat on the plane for an hour and 40 minutes while the repair crew fixed the plane. No need to rush any fix job. Take your time and make sure all of the nuts and bolts get back nice and tight! Arrived in Calgary during the final weekend of the Stampede. Calgary during a stampede is an interesting place. Imagine everyone in town all dressed in cowboy boots, plaid shirts, wrangler jeans and cowboy hats… Kathi and I with our packs and hiking boots seemed a bit out of place.

Kathi and I stood in line for customs. We were going to claim the fruit, but we were wondering about the granola… does dried fruit count as fruit? Ended up forfeiting a nectarine to the officer. Yes, I guess our little nectarine is ok in the USA, but the pit of the nectarine is considered dangerous in Canada. Perhaps we might run off and plant it somewhere… I bet the officer just needed a nice snack for break time.

Drove from Calgary to the last town in Canada before the US border. We needed to purchase some groceries. I had spent a couple of hours on the Internet researching what we could take across the border. Basically forget about taking fruits and veggies. So, we tried to decide if strawberry jam was considered a fruit or condiment… According to the ‘rules’ condiments are ok to cross the border, fruits and veggies you can forget about… There is a $10,000 fine for trying to sneak something across. I felt reasonably sure we could find a lawyer to argue our case of condiment vs. fresh fruit in court if we got arrested.

USA border patrol was born in New Berlin, WI. His grandpa and grandma live in Rochester, MN. Most of his questions to us were based on what is going on back in WI… After thinking we were going to get the 9th degree on this border crossing we just had to play the happy traveler from Wisconsin and Minnesota. Geez that Minnesota accent comes in handy, yaaahhh.


We were up at 7 am and had a quick breakfast. This is the first time it dawns on me that we are going to be driving the Going to the sun road… Yes, this is the road we have rules for. I think I should remind Kathi of the rules before we get started. But before I get to the rules portion of the pre flight speech Kathi asks me if I could read the car directions book and go over how to shift the car down into third second and first… Ok, yes, that seems important! This rental has some different options on shifting so I get right to the task! By the time I finish reading the book and reviewing the important parts, we are up to the big open views on the road. I look up just in time to see a rock standing on the road. Kathi is breaking rule number one which we did not have time to review… she is looking at the scenic views rather than keeping her eyes on the road! Now this rock is not huge, but the kind you don’t want to hit with the tire. The size that can pop a tire or bust it off of it’s bead. One should not yell “watch out!” “Watch out!” should be reserved for falling rocks and avalanches… Of course we hit the rock with the front right tire. So I just do the sucking air between my teeth and wait for the blow out. It does not blow, but it did make some tense moments of conversation. We have less than a mile to the pass. The whole mile I am wondering if the tow truck would come up to the pass or if we were going to be reading the direction book again learning how to change a tire. We parked the car at 8:40. I got out of the car and did a tire inspection. Curt would be proud! No chunks missing, no hissing noise. Just this little sick feeling of wonder.

Put on warm clothes and rain wear as it was windy and cold. As we were dressing and lacing boots the rangers arrived at the parking lot. Out of the ranger car climbed the old ranger we met last year. The one who recited the John Muir passage to us last year. So I went over to him and said a kind hello, thanked him for sending us on a beautiful hike last year and asked him a few questions about the garden wall hike. He was said everything was open as far as he had heard. We wanted to know if we could get up to the glacier over look or if it was snowed in. He kind of smiled a sly smile and asked if we would be kind enough to go up there and report back our findings. He then asked where else we were going to be hiking while on vacation so I said: Garden Wall, Gunsight Pass, Siyeh pass, Crypt Lake, Carthridge- Alderson, Shadow Lake and Mt Assiniboine. He said “oh girl…you are speaking words of romance to me…” Well, let the romance begin!

We take our first steps into this year’s adventure by walking across the road to the trail head. Within the first quarter mile we find a little white friend. This little guy just stood on the rock next to the trail and posed for pictures. You can see he/she is half finished shedding his winter coat.

There were many of these mountain sheep on the first mile of the trail. These guys were climbing all over the rocks.

If you can imagine the trail looking much like the drive up to this point. The trail is blasted out of the side of the mountain and of course there iare no guards rails. Oh, but there is this handy little cable with a garden hose wrapping it. Lots of people grip this little helpful tool. But this might be a good time to let you know that if you can balance on a sidewalk…you can walk down this trail! Really, there are way skinner drop off ahead on this virtual hike. Can you see the road about 500 feet directly below?


About three miles down the trail we run into these big horn rams right next to the trail eating glacial lilies.

Hmmm what is the rule when walking next to rams?

Hiked up though beautiful scenic views, the smell of the fresh mix of spruce and fir, the deep must of the woods, the sounds of water running and falling, the wild life…It is all good and good to be back! We hiked all the way back to within a mile of Granite Lodge. We hiked up to that last year from the other side. Today we took a trail up to Grinnell glacier overlook. This is .8 mile long with at 1000 foot gain in elevation. Imagine walking up a 35 % grade for .8 mile. This was hard for a first day at elevation… We took our time and paid attention to our heartrate monitors. We did not go above 85% of max. But let’s face it we were sucking some serious wind. I don’t care how much you work out, it is hard to go from 780 feet above sea level and work at 8000 feet above sea level. Ok, just keep going at a good pace. From the top we have the opportunity to sit and view a glacier that will be gone within an estimated time frame of 6 years...

We are sitting on the top of the mountain holding Grinnell glacier. As you look down you can see a few blue spots. These are melted pools on the glacier. The glacier has melted out into two different glacier sections.

Eat some of the lunch we packed and start our hike all the way back to the car. This will be a roller coaster of a hike back we gain and loss 500 feet many , many, many times. With the sun it is warm! Today hikes will take 8 hours, 39948 steps, 15.2 miles, burned 2710 cals. Sounds like desert tonight!!!

This is a beautiful acclamation day, big long hike at elevation. Oh it is good to be back!

All day long I have been thinking about the car tire. First thing I check when we get back to the car is the tires… Thank the Lord!!! All tires are good to go! I can’t tell you how relieved I was to not have to learn how to change a tire at 7000 feet!

2010 July 30 Hiking Black Lake & Blue Lake

Longs Peak in the background with nice blue skies. 

2010 July 30 Last Day of Hiking Black Lake & Blue Lake


We made the decision not to go up to Longs Peak last night after our call to the ranger’s station. Wouldn’t you know it when we get up at 6 am the sky is a startling BLUE. Where are all of the low hanging clouds that we have had all week? I can laugh now, but I bet the neighboring cabins were all wondering why someone might be speaking the phase “What! Blue Sky!! Are You Kidding Me!!!” “Speaking the phrase”, might seem to mean that we were speaking in regular early morning tones. I think the tones were louder, more like if you needed to hear it over the roar of let’s say and jet a engine….

Mill's Lake

At this point we are committed to going to Black Lake as a bid for Longs Peak would have had to start 4 or 5 hours ago. We eat breakfast and are to the park and ride by 7:20. We have been up to Black Lake both times we visited RMNP and were rained on both times. Our track record is not so good. With these blue skies perhaps we will actually get to see Black Lake for longer than 45 seconds. The bus is full of great conversation and even better we all have a seat! Guess who is on the bus. Well it is Mr. Hawaiian shirt man. We met him on Hallett’s Peak day. He wanted to know about our trip up to Longs. So we told him about the keyhole and the clouds and the turn back. He was sorry to hear we did not make it, but admitted he would have never gotten that far. Today he was going to go up to Black Lake, Green Lake and then around over to Frozen Lake. Hey, what luck we are going to Black Lake and then over to Blue Lake. Good, we will have company on this trip.

Rushing creek that lead up to Glacier Basin

Another couple was looking for a good half day hike. Today they were headed up to Loch Lake. So after a few suggestions they were ready to go. One guy and his wife were new to hiking and they wanted to know what they could pack for lunches that would not suffer from banging around in a pack or spoil. Hey, you know I am an authority on packing food! By the time we left the trailhead we had spent 20 minutes chatting with all of these people. We finally start our way down the trail with a couple that had left their home in early May with a camper behind their truck. Since early May they had been to almost every National Park up the West Coast, up into Canada, down the Canadian Rockies and were finishing up in RMNP. The biggest thing they had learned is to narrow the list of destinations on their trip. They said they only had time to see a couple great things at all of those parks and really needed to stay longer and squeeze the wonders out at a slower pace. I like how the lady stated that phase. As I remember Kathi and I started this hiking thing about ten years ago and we also tried to go to too many places. Narrow the sites and squeeze the wonders.

Ok, we have to get going! So we say good-bye and wish them well. We hike off at a faster pace and get about 100 yards further up the trail before we find Mr. and Mrs. Newbie Hikers stopped on the trail. Mrs. Newbie has a monster blister on her heel. She is sitting on a rock with her shoe and sock off. Part of her blister wrap is in her hands and part is still stuck to her skin. Blisters, yeah, I am an authority on them too! Ok, we went through supplies and how to prepare the blister sight. We reviewed what you are trying to do when applying mole skin to a blistered area. (Then you should also pray to God to give you the answer, because sometimes He just moves that mole skin to a spot you have never considered and you have no further issues with blisters… ) And take some Advil or Aleve; it absolutely takes the edge off of it. Just so you can be prepared for your next hiking trip, put Gorilla Tape on the back sides of your heels and you will not have any problems. I’m telling you the things you learn when you are hiking are amazing. There is so much to learn, so little time. We ask if she would like us to help cut up some mole skin and help any further, but she said she was going to give it a go. We gave her some Advil and wished her well.

Back to the business of hiking.

We keep playing leap frog with a German Couple from Dallas. Since we keep stopping, they get a chance to past. Every time we get caught up, Mr. German Man says something funny like 10 points for you. Funny Guy! They like to escape the heat of Dallas during the summer so they head to the mountains to hike. As we are chatting and hiking we met our Indiana Boy Scout troop. So we stop again and chat. They were down one boy and Father due to a hamstring injury. The remaining four had gone up and camped at the Boulder Field Campground. They were up there the night of the hail storm. The hail did not last an hour up there, but it did last long enough. I guess their tents stood up pretty well to the beating. One set of Father and Son made it to the top of Longs and the other set decided the Boulder Field was nothing they wanted to tackle. It was nice each set of Father and Sons were happy with their own adventure. They wanted some suggestions for great places to eat. Hey, we are authorities on that too! We say our good -byes and get back to hiking. Finally at Mills Lake we shoot some pictures eat a light snack and get going. We have a long way back to Black Lake. Jewel Lake is next, what a wonderful Moose habitat. It is too bad that there are no moose on this side of RMNP. Well, they should ship some over, because they would be really happy at Jewell.

A look down to Black Lake

The sky is changing to from no clouds to some lovely puffy things floating through. We arrive at Black Lake after collecting 10 more points from the German couple! We are greeted at Black Lake with a welcoming horrid of mosquitoes. We stop long enough to have half a lunch and slather on the bug juice. We now are going to step on a trail at Black Lake that we never have seen. In our past two times to this Lake we were chased out by storms. So far only puffy white clouds are in the sky. We go up and over a large rock and around a tree and are greeted with the most amazing 400 foot cascading waterfalls. It was very delightful and we never knew it was here. We follow the trail up the 400 feet and step into this large basin with Long’s Peak right in front of our eyes. Ohh, I tell Kathi that I think it is really windy up there and the people have to turn back! She says she thinks I am lying…

Black Lake

We follow the creek up through the basin and our directions say that when the creek turns right we should turn left. Of course we consider taking out the topo map and gps. Then in the distance we see Mr. Hawaiian Shirt man bobbing over the crest. He said he was going to go to Green Lake. He must have decided to go to Blue Lake first. He was with two other fellows so perhaps they were teaming up and planning to go to Blue, Green and Frozen Lake. Well, no worries, we just bush whack it up to where we saw Mr. Hawaiian shirt man peak over the crest and astonishingly there is Blue Lake. We sit and enjoy the other half of our lunch. Sun is shining and we are rewarded with a wonderful day.

About 15 minutes into our wonderful ½ lunch we turn to see the nice puffy clouds getting darker and bigger. Ok, we know what that means. Pack up and get bushwhacking. All the way down the basin and past Black lake we are taking in the sights. We will most definitely come back here and do some further hiking in this basin! Slowly it starts to sprinkle, but with how dark the clouds have become we suit up in full gear. Within a few minutes it is raining harder. Then it is raining so hard and fast I am sure it must be hailing. Then the lightning and thunder start. You know when you see lightning and then start counting “one one thousand, two one thousand and so on until you hear the thunder. This gives you a good gage on how far away the lightning strikes are. To my exact counting tool we would count “on… “ ! There was no time for one -one thousand! I think my hair might have been standing up due to the electricity in the valley, but with it raining so darn hard it was hard to tell. Kathi found some sort of hiking speed just short of sonic. I’m am running to keep up, but with all of the rocks, tree trunks, up and downs of the trail, along with trying to see in the heavy rain with my hood on, it is all I can do to keep this flashing of red rain coat sort of in view. There was never thought of rain repellency for our boots. I was thinking more about trying not to be struck by lightening. Did you know there are three factors for attacking a lightning strike…tallest, biggest, and pointiest? We were shooting for: shortest, smallest and roundest. I think Kathi was throwing in “fastest” just to be on the safe side!

Blue Lake with the gathering storm clouds

When we were running past Jewel Lake it would have been a great picture to take to help tell this story. The rain hitting the lake was quite an interesting sight. It looked like it was raining up out of the lake to meet the rain coming down from the sky. I suppose this was due in large part to how hard it was raining. What a memory. This would have been interesting to stand and watch, but not only was I trying to keep up with the sonic like red rain- coated Kathi in front of me, I was also trying to look short, small and round!

We finally either run out and away from where the storm was hanging or the storm has monsoon’ed itself into a slower more reasonable rain. At this point we start to realize all of the other people who had been streaking down the same trail as Kathi and I. You can feel the sigh of relief from all of the trail runners that we are out of the worst of it. The look of stress recedes from our faces. The rain slows to a sprinkle and by the time we reach Alberta Falls, yep, you guessed it, the sun is shining. We take off our rain coats and backpack covers, shake off the water, and start walking the last two miles of our adventure.

We board the shuttle bus along with many other rain victims. We share some stories and have a good laugh over counting the flashes and booms. One person adds a comment about ‘that was lightning?’ He had thought it was his life flashing in front of his eyes… Ahh, another day in the Mountains; another adventure comes to an end.

7 hours, 1865 elevation gained, 11.5 miles hiked, 2053 calories burned, Total miles hiked on this adventure 140.3

As always I learned a few things on this trip:

1) RMNP has a Monsoon season

2) National Parks are very busy in late July.

3) Put a plastic bag inside your pack and put your clothes inside the garbage bag. Because no matter how much you tried to water proof your backpack, stuff in the pack will get wet in a down pour.

4) Using a topo map and gps can save time when it is not clear where you should be hiking. Even if stopping to get the topo map out is not convenient.

Packing up and leaving the cabin

5) Lastly, always follow the directions on how many applications of water repellent to put on your boots!





I hope you have enjoyed this virtual hike. Kathi and I certainly enjoy putting in the leg work!

2010 July 29 Sky Pond

2010 July 29 Sky Pond


We went to bed last night at 7 got up this morning by 6:15 refreshed and ready to begin another day of adventure. There was a heck of a storm last night which we both soundly slept through. A storm cell got “stuck” over Boulder County and in some places it hailed for an hour. One small town had 8 inches of hail. I’m guessing their flowers and crops are done. Longs Peak is in Boulder County. People camping overnight in the rocks craters up at Boulder Filed campground must have had a really memorable time during the storm!

The skies are overcast and grey this morning with brighter patches of hopeful spots. We leave for the park and ride. When we get to the Park and Ride, it is like the park is closed, there are only 10 or so cars in the lot. We actually got to sit down on the shuttle bus for the first time since we got here. Such a delightful ride up to Bear Lake when you don’t have to try to stay balanced on your feet hanging onto a little yellow bar that runs down the alley all while your nose is in a taller persons arm pit!

Today we are going to hike along an old favorite trail back around some wonderful lakes, past a number of beautiful vistas and then around to a new and improved section of trail. We take the trail past Bear Lake, Dream Lake and Nymph Lake. Then we’ll head up to the unimproved Trail turnoff up by Haiyaha Lake. I named off those lakes fast. Each one holds its own beauty and they are all so close together. You certainly find yourself stopping to take in each lakes splendor. If I try to think about how many times I have been past these lakes I think perhaps 7 times on three different hiking trips to the RMNP. I still stop to breath in their grandness.

We take the unimproved trail from Lake Haiyaha down to a trail junction to Loch Lake then back up to Loch Lake. The sun is getting ready to peak out and all is well with the world. We go back up to Loch Lake and find a nice quite rock out cropping to have a snack. No wild children arguing about peanut butter sandwiches today! We notice the rock the fly fisherman was standing on during ‘our rest day’ is almost submerged into the lake. I guess the water table is up a bit from all of this rain. In fact we had heard on the local news channel that it is Monsoon season in the Mountains. Being Midwesterners we had never imagined there was a Monsoon season in the Mountains. I am here to tell you our rain gear almost got worn out on this trip! There is in fact a Monsoon season! One should remember to put two coats of water repellency on your hiking boots!

We head on back past the rough trail back up to Andrew’s Glacier and continue on around Loch Lake on a very nicely improved trail back to Timber line Falls. We had been up to this falls in 2005. You have to hike right up through the falls to get back to the two lakes which are beyond the falls. Last time through this I got soaking wet as I am only 5’6” and to make one of the steps without standing in the pouring waterfalls you needed to be taller than 5’6”! I was hoping the new trail improvement had placed a suitable rock or foot hold so that a person my height could clamor right up the falls without getting drenched.

Timberline Falls

Hey, can you take these while I do some gymnsatics?

Kathi wishing me Good Luck with that!

There were many 100’s of feet of new trail, but it all stopped right at the base of the falls. Ok, so the trail personnel have a sense of humor. Either that or they like to discriminate against 5’6” and shorter people. Kathi being 5’8” scampers right up and over the one spot. I am not going to get soaked this time. This time I do some sort or gymnastic contortion and yoga’d my way past the discriminating section. Ha, I will not be segregrated by height! I came through with only a few sprinkles from the falls

Lake of the Clouds

Lake of the Clouds is right at the top of Timberline Falls. We shoot a few pictures and pick up the trail to Sky Pond. We find ourselves a really nice rock and sit down for lunch. Skies are sunny and we talk about staying for about a half hour. What a wonderful scène, the Lake was glimmering, skies sunny, clouds puffy and white. Peaceful! In fact for lunch we had some salmon tomato pesto on Rosemary crackers. Ahhh

We sat for 20 minutes eating and just being at peace. Within 20 minutes of our arrival the clouds begin to build and are turning dark fast. We pack up and head back towards Timber Falls. We want to get down through the falls before the rain starts. Remember it is Monsoon season!

Lunch at Sky Pond

Just tell me it is really going to get nasty in 20 miniutes...

We get past the falls and about a half mile further before the first sprinkles start. Since it is rumbling with thunder we get all geared up. We are three miles from the trailhead bus stop. We were dressed in our rain gear, but there were many people who did not have anything except their shorts and shirts. This was a good old thunder and lightning storm. Lucky for us the storms concentration was the next valley over. We just hiked down the trail in our nice rain gear and water proof boots!

A flower in the middle of the falls.  I think it is s primrose.

We made it back to the bus shuttle. The hoards of people had noticed that the park was indeed open today. The bus was standing room only. We are still wondering about tomorrow’s weather. Will we be able to take another shot at Longs Peak…

A good look at the falls.

We drive to the Safeway parking lot so we can call over to Longs Peak Ranger station and get an updated weather report. The report reads the same as todays. 40% chance of rain. It is the Monsoon season. I’m thinking 40 % chance of rain means it is going to rain for sure 40 % of the day. The only question is when the rain will begin…

Do we go for it and perhaps get to the keyhole again only to have to turn back?

What to do, what to do…

We make a choice to not try; it is just going to end in rain.

We drive silently back to the cabin, wondering if we have made the right choice.

Who ever heard of Monsoon Season in the Mountain…

5 hr 51 minutes, 1563 calories burned, 1525 feet of elevation gain, 10.5 miles, and Total miles hikes 128.8