Day 8: Missoula to Glacier National Park
Weather: Sunny; hot
Physical Condition: M. very tired; C. brimming with life
Downers: 2000 ft. elevation gain as we backpacked into our campsite --- not at all gradual; tons and tons of mozzies; M. lost cap to her water purifier pump; we had to yell to ward off bears every ten seconds through the thick vegetation
Blessings: no bear encounters --- yet; we actually made it to our camp, though much fatigued, at 9:00 pm; we barely crawled into our tent before the light was completely gone and slept the sleep of the dead
Food: hotel breakfast (memorable for the wrong reasons); cheese-tomato sandwiches (M.'s new fav.); dried mangos and dates; salmon and mushrooms
Activities:
driving 3 hours
obtaining backpack permit from ranger who tried to scare us with bear stories
hiking 7 miles (steep miles)
pitching camp and cooking dinner
purifying water
hoisting food
whistling, singing, yelling all day so we wouldn't startle a bear
Observations: infinite bear tracks; plenty of fresh bear "pies"; wolf tracks; mountain lion tracks; many burned trees along trail; extremely thick vegetation --- not comforting in bear country!
Wildlife:
ducks
jumping fish
crow
Anecdotes:
The ranger who issued our backcountry permit warned us that we were headed into the most bear-infested section of the whole park (we are camping at Arrow Lake, just up from Trout Lake). This, combined with the thick vegetation all around us, compelled us to call out "Hey bear! Hellooooo bear!" the whole hike. The lakes were behind a 2000 ft. high ridge (which means, yes, we get to go uphill both ways this trip). No bears spotted, but plenty of signs.
Campsite: we are alone in the wild. thick vegetation all around us. right next to Arrow Lake, with ten gushing glacial waterfalls in view. all we can hear from inside our tent is the waterfalls. lovely, but frightening that we wouldn't know if there is a bear in camp.
Conclusion: Never surrender.
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| One of the waterfalls visible from our campsite. And the million pound log we moved to build our bench. |
Day 9: Glacier National Park
Weather: Mostly sunny with a few lightning-fast spontaneous showers; thunder and lightning
Physical Condition: relaxed and a bit sleepy
Downers: mosquitos here are not always deterred by repellent and are the size of small quail
Blessings: still no bears; got to relax next to our high mountain lake; discovered the pit toilet is very clean (but with big spiders); very beautiful --- not too hot --- day; M. didn't have to put on sunscreen
Food: soupy breakfast; soupy lunch; leftovers for dinner
Activities:
food hoisting
water purifying
cooking
bridge building (so we don't have to get our feet wet when we ford the stream tomorrow) --- unsuccessful
bench building --- beautifully successful
whittling
napping
reading
Observations: fish jumping; crazy thorny plant that hurts like mad if you brush against it --- long tree-like stem with big green leaves at top
Wildlife:
baby ducklings all day on the lake
butterflies --- orange, lavender, black and white
lots of birdsong
Anecdotes:
Cameron enthusiastically led an expedition to build a bridge over the stream we had to walk through yesterday. When we got there, we realized the water had risen significantly overnight. We tried moving a few logs over the stream, but the water was moving so fast it was hard to make them stay. M. suggested we just take off our shoes and wade across it tomorrow. C. was undeterred for some time --- "we're doing every hiker in glacier a service by building this bridge, not to mention the bears and mountain lions!" --- but finally we threw up our hands and returned to camp.
Campsite: Same as last night
Conclusion: Simple life is beautiful life.
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| Evening at Arrow Lake |
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| Another stunning vertical panorama from Cameron |
Day 10: Glacier National Park to Spokane
This morning we awoke and began breaking camp (we do this very quickly now). Across the lake M. suddenly noticed something big and black moving across the glacier exactly opposite us. Our first bear in Glacier! Black, from the looks of it. We found this a perfectly acceptable and pleasant distance from which to view him.
Plenty of fresh bear sign as we left the camp. M. felt justified upon seeing this, because she had dragged C. out of the tent with her in the middle of the night to accompany her to the loo (which was of course something like a stump). She had laid in the tent awake for two hours trying not to have to go, and being afraid to go alone, before she roused him. He was very sweet and willing --- "You should have woken me two hours ago, darling." Of course, because she dragged him outside and endangered both our lives in the middle of the night, he requested that she then stay out with him so we could take some long exposures of the stars over the lake. M. happily obliged.
Hiking out we made our traditional bear calls, and M. sang many songs --- some at C.'s request and some of her own volition. "The Bare Necessities" saw multiple renditions. At one point, M. said, "It's too bad this strong breeze is just throwing our voices behind us. A bear ahead of us might not here us." Just then we rounded a corner yelling, "Hey bear! Helloooo bear!" and M. stopped dead in her tracks, quietly saying "Cam, there really is a bear. There's a bear right there."
Twenty feet from us, and right next to our trail, was a big black bear staring straight at us, sitting up tall on his haunches with his ears perked. Relieved that he seemed to have heard us coming before we startled him (and to see he wasn't a grizzly), we slowly retreated back on the trail, keeping an eye on him. Once we were out of his sight we again began singing and calling to him, hoping this time he would retreat before we turned the corner. After a minute we saw him saunter onto the trail and head off out of sight in the direction we were walking. Knowing there were some other hikers a few minutes behind us, we decided to wait a minute for them to catch up (safety in numbers). We hiked the rest of the trail back, but no bear!
Steep and long ascent back to the top of the ridge, and then we did a number on our knees as we descended back to the car. Even three days away from civilization gives it a strange smell.
This morning we awoke and began breaking camp (we do this very quickly now). Across the lake M. suddenly noticed something big and black moving across the glacier exactly opposite us. Our first bear in Glacier! Black, from the looks of it. We found this a perfectly acceptable and pleasant distance from which to view him.
Plenty of fresh bear sign as we left the camp. M. felt justified upon seeing this, because she had dragged C. out of the tent with her in the middle of the night to accompany her to the loo (which was of course something like a stump). She had laid in the tent awake for two hours trying not to have to go, and being afraid to go alone, before she roused him. He was very sweet and willing --- "You should have woken me two hours ago, darling." Of course, because she dragged him outside and endangered both our lives in the middle of the night, he requested that she then stay out with him so we could take some long exposures of the stars over the lake. M. happily obliged.
Hiking out we made our traditional bear calls, and M. sang many songs --- some at C.'s request and some of her own volition. "The Bare Necessities" saw multiple renditions. At one point, M. said, "It's too bad this strong breeze is just throwing our voices behind us. A bear ahead of us might not here us." Just then we rounded a corner yelling, "Hey bear! Helloooo bear!" and M. stopped dead in her tracks, quietly saying "Cam, there really is a bear. There's a bear right there."
Twenty feet from us, and right next to our trail, was a big black bear staring straight at us, sitting up tall on his haunches with his ears perked. Relieved that he seemed to have heard us coming before we startled him (and to see he wasn't a grizzly), we slowly retreated back on the trail, keeping an eye on him. Once we were out of his sight we again began singing and calling to him, hoping this time he would retreat before we turned the corner. After a minute we saw him saunter onto the trail and head off out of sight in the direction we were walking. Knowing there were some other hikers a few minutes behind us, we decided to wait a minute for them to catch up (safety in numbers). We hiked the rest of the trail back, but no bear!
Steep and long ascent back to the top of the ridge, and then we did a number on our knees as we descended back to the car. Even three days away from civilization gives it a strange smell.
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| Trout Lake |
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| One of the star shots from when Cameron so bravely accompanied me to defend me from bears |
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| We were amazed at the very diverse vegetation, even within three square feet. |
Wow! What stories! And that panorama, or "camorama," is stunning! What an adventure you're on. Though, for all your fancy camera action, I was hoping for a picture of said bears.
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