The weather was pretty ominous when I got up that morning. I put on some warm clothes and rain gear and headed towards Carlton Ridge on a trail which ultimately lead to Lolo Peak. The ridge was at about 8200 feet and it started snowing on me at about the 7500 foot level. The snow didn't last too long but it was quite pleasant. Once I reached the top of the ridge I was glad I had brought the warm clothes. Since I was at about treeline, the wind was ferocious. If I had to guess I would say that the temperature was about 5 degrees Fahrenheit (including the wind). Most of the surrounding peaks weren't visible since they were obscured by clouds. All in all it was a pretty nasty "summer" day. From this vantage I was seeing into the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness. I rested there a while but then headed back down.
It was during this hike that I first saw *beargrass*, Little did I know how much of it I would later see.
I then headed northwest towards the cabinet mountains. I camped near R56 in Kootenia National Forest.
The weather hadn't improved at all. I was still in my tent at 11 am for the simple reason that it hadn't stopped raining since I woke up. I realized it that it might not stop raining all day, so I got up and got back to my car as quickly as possible. I headed towards the Ross Creek Cedar Grove in Kootenia National Forest. This is a beautiful grove of giant western red cedar and mountain hemlock. Even though it was raining, the forest canopy was sufficient to keep me fairly dry. Thus, it was an efficient way to spend a rainy day.
I started heading approximately east across Montana and camped near McGregor Lake.
I headed to Hungry Horse Dam which is the dam furthest upstream on the Columbia River system. They have a short tour which is somewhat interesting. The dam creates the large Hungry Horse Reservoir. An approximately 100 mile mostly gravel road travels around the reservoir so I decided to take it. There are some short trails and some beautiful *scenery* (for completeness this photo was actually taken the following day). I made it maybe one-third of the way around before it was time to camp.
I continued around the reservoir and stopped for quite a while at the ranger station at the far southern end. The ranger there told me that a mountain lion had been seen on the road earlier that morning. The entire area is very wild and grizzly sitings are quite frequent.
There are a few "islands" in the reservoir and a couple actually have picnic tables and established camping areas. I would love to get out to them some time in the future.
I camped that night in Flathead National Forest.
I headed to Glacier National Park which is really almost beyond description.
I began the day by hiking to Lake Avalance (a 4 mile round trip). The lake is surrounded by mountains which rise about 4000 feet above the lake and which are covered with numerous waterfalls created by melting snow. For those of you interested in short relatively flat hikes, this is the one for you. Along the trail I met Ralph Williams who lives in Albuquerque. We got to chatting for the simple reason that he was attempting to photograph a backlight spider web with his medium format camera. Anyways, he offered to let me stay in his inn there so I graciously accepted and agreed to meet him later in the day.
After this I began the slow drive along the fabulous Going-to-the-Sun Road which crosses the continental divide at Logan Pass. I won't even attempt to describe the scenery along the road. You will need to see it to believe it.
I stopped at a place along the road called Weeping Wall. Near there a huge waterfall tumbles down the hillside. There seemed to be a trail up alongside the waterfall so I started up. I wouldn't necessarily recommend climbing this trail very far. It is extremely steep and coming back down was pretty nasty. Anyways, I had gotten probably 500 feet above the highway when I noticed people about 500 feet further up. I simply refused to believe that anyone else had climbed this "cliff" like I just had so I figured there must be a trail up there. Obviously, I kept going. I ran into the Highline Trail which is probably the most popular alpine trail in the park. It runs about 11 miles (one way) through mostly alpine territory. The huge fields of *beargrass* up there were simply stunning. I walked along the trail for maybe three-quarters of a mile until I reached the top of a ridge with a beautiful *view*. Then I started the dangerous and slow climb back down.
There were naturally numerous stops along the Going-to-the-Sun road and one of the others led to a short (maybe 2 miles round trip) to St. Mary's and Virginia falls. These are mildly interesting waterfalls and probably worth the walk.
I then met Ralph Williams for dinner and we discussed our hiking plans for the following day.
We had intended on hiking to Iceberg Lake (about 10 miles round trip) but when we got to the trailhead we saw that it was closed because of grizzly sitings ON the trail. Apparently it was huckleberry season and since huckleberry plants grow alongside the trail, the bears tended to hang out there.
The other trail leaving from this area went to Swiftcurrent Pass (about 13 miles round trip) so without too much thought we started in that direction. The first half of the trail is relatively flat and lies in a glacially carved valley alongside several pretty *lakes* (seen from above) and *Mount Grinnell*. The second half has about a 2200 foot rise in elevation gained through many long switchbacks. The *view* of the valley we just walked through was amazing to say the least. Near the top of the pass we saw a family of mountain goats scrambling around on terrain far too steep for just about any other creatures their size.
We decided to take advantage of having two cars and hike one of the one-way trails. We chose the trail which goes over Siyeh Pass and encircles *Going-to-the-Sun Mountain* and Matahpi Peak. This was a beautiful hike about 11 miles in length. It began in the forest, climbed up to alpine tundra and then dropped back down into the forest. The trail reached about 8200 feet and was extremely windy. My tripod nearly took a 2000+ foot tumble towards the stunning *valley* below.
There were a number of mountain goats along the trail and it also provided a close view of Sexton Glacier. Despite it being the middle of August, part of the trail was still snow covered and a bit slippery. Baring Creek, which is formed from much of the snow seen along the trail, carves fantastic *Sunrift Gorge* (my favorite photo of the trip) at the trail end.
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December 18, 1997 - ( milsom@physics.arizona.edu.edu)
