Day 3 Swiftcurrent Pass to the Fire Lookout on top of Swiftcurrent Mountain

Swiftcurrent Pass to the Fire Lookout on top of Swiftcurrent Mountain

Starting elevation is 4,940 feet
Highest elevation 8,402 feet
Miles hiked:  16.2 miles
Total miles:  28.2

Sorry I don't know how to turn this picture...  But our trip today is to the top of  the one with the red arrow.

Today was a beautiful morning when we started out for Swiftcurrent Pass. We are carrying bear spray today. We bought some yesterday after our hike and for the first time, we are packing heat.  We read all of the instructions last night and this morning we practiced our grabbing and firing positions. Trying to get the safety cap off and ready to deploy in 2 seconds is a matter of practice and bear spray can positioning. We managed to not deploy any spray with all of our practice . Since the can only holds 4 seconds of spray we were very cautious. $50 bucks for 4 seconds of spray which you hope deters the bear from attacking... We finally hit the trail at 9:12. Sort of late for the two of us.

We decided to maintain our regular yelling of "yo bear, go on now" as there is no need to see a bear so early in our hiking day.  We are clipping along at a good speed as my heart rate is up over 87% of max. Let's not forget Kathi likes to get it into high gear right out of the gates. I request we slow down, so I can get warmed up first. It takes me fifteen minutes of slow hiking before I'm ready to go... Fortunately, Kathi has hiked with me so long that she honors my request or she needs me for bear bait on her back side, I'm not sure which.  

After our warm up is over, Kathi puts it back into high hear and is clipping along when all of a sudden she is actually hopping backwards and the words out of her mouth are not really understandable. I'm not sure if she was speaking in tongues, but the actions I was seeing told me something big was coming at her down the trail. I'm thinking she would be reaching for the bear spray any moment. Really, she should be reaching... but at last she jumps up and off of the trail with a yelp. A ground squirrel scores a kou by running up to her and touching her hiking boots before disappearing off into the brush.   To explain a kou, I make a reference to the Blackfeet nation and the coming of age of a young Brave.  The Brave needed to earn his way into manhood by showing his bravery by scoring kous.  Sometimes this meant riding into another Indian camp and touching the shoulder of an important person of that tribe. I try not to laugh as I am trying to get my heart rate back down to normal. I thought by her reaction and lack of speech it was something bigger than a ground squirrel...According to Kathi the ground squirrel first looked like it was scared of her and ditched off the trail only to turn and get back on the trail and run up and over her boots. 

Ahh, back to hiking after the whole squirrel event. We have settled back into a nice pace when all of a sudden Kathi stops and sucks in her breath fast. I immediately get scared, because it has to be a bear this time. Geez, just grab the bear spray!  Nope this time it is a little ole white tailed deer standing five feet off the trail just behind a bush munching on some grass. We have not even gone 2 miles and my heart has stopped twice! I can't imagine what will happen if a grizzly is coming down the trail. I hope I don't have to find out.  Geez, when you hike in Colorado you have the altitude sucking your breath away, here in Glacier it is merely the thought that a Grizzly might pop out at you...

The trip back to the end of Swiftcurrent valley is very pleasant. There are many lakes and waterfalls to look at. You can look up on the sides of the mountain and and see if you can spot a Mountain goat or mountain sheep or since it is far enough away, look for Grizzleys. This is a prime passageway for the bear.

Our next encounter with wild life is a few rabbits. They are very cute and look rather dapper. But they have the hugest feet you have ever seen on a rabbit. I think they have built in snowshoes. The rabbits body is the color of bark and their feet are white. They are not very afraid of people.

Once we got to the back of the valley the work really begins. There are very long switch backs that zigzag you back and forth up the side of the mountain. As you rise in elevation the view you gain of the chain of lakes is a stunning sight. One which only increases in beauty as you gain in elevation.

When you are looking at the face of the mountain you can not see the path. All you see is a solid looking head wall. But sure enough the switch backs get you past it all of what looks all cliffy from below. I'm not going to lie, it is a climb, but the trail is wide and well maintained. Once off the face of the mountain, but still climbing, there were a few snow patches.  Thankfully, we were able to see where the trail picked up on the other side. Not like last time when we had to really search for the trial.  

At the trail junction just past the official marking for Swiftcurrent Pass we sat and had 1/2 a lunch and talked ourselves into continuing up to the lookout tower which sits at the top of Swiftcurrent Mountain. We had the chance to watch a three-some appear and disappear from our view as they gained purchase of the summit.  Kathi and I both decided we should go for it. There might not be another chance like this... we are there, and so close. It is only another 1,200 feet up in 1.2 miles... For those of you who don't know what that means, it means up, like walking up the stairs for an hour.  

As we were going up we see a big horned ram wandering and grazing by himself. Again the climb is all switch backs going from one side of the ridge to the other. This allowed us to view down into two different valleys which were vastly different. One was very green and full of meadows and pine and the other was standing with burnt trees from a fire in 2006. It was well worth the effort.  We made it to the top in an hour. While on the summit, we took some pics of the lookout, which was manned by a person who's job is to watch for fire.

After a bit of a rest we know we need to get going as we had a long trek out.  

On the trip down the mountain we scared up some mountain goats.  It was another heart stopping moment, as we we came around a corner and scared them as much as they scared  us. Watching them scamper along the face of the mountain with only the slightest of foot hold is very memorable. The goats were kind enough to be moving along the mountain with us, but well up and out of the way. So our goat viewing went on for a very long time.

We did see one more big horn ram sheep, but it was way down by Red Rock Falls, which is very busy. I was very surprised it came down that low. We wanted to watch it longer but a small group of three people scared it back into the thicket...rats!

We finished and stopped at the campground to fill up all of the empty water jugs that were at the house so we had drinkable water for the next several days.  we have nine one gallon jugs we fill up at the Swiftcurrent camp ground.  

First lake we encounter.  No wind makes for a great reflection!

Almost to the top of Swiftcurrent Mountain.  We are way high!

Get a good look at the Mountain Goats just above the snow line.  I hope you can enlarge this picture.

This is all that is left of a bridge after the spring thaw.  Just two  timbers.

.

Looking down the valley you can see the chain of lakes carved out by a  glacier.

Now the view is all the way up the valley to Many Glacier lake and lodge

Nestled in between the rocks are beautiful flowers all about one inch tall.

Swiftcurrent Fire Lookout.  The person stays up here all season long.

Kathi almost to the top.

View off to one side of the switchbacks.

Privy cabled to the side of Swiftcurrent Mountain.  Im not sure I would use it in the middle of the night...

We drove home two very tired girls filled with the memories of a epic hike.