Part 2/3
Today marks my 65th trip around the sun -- better another orbit than an obit!
In reviewing the past year, I find I have a backlog of way too many photos and stories to share, so for now just a recap from late May onward. Even that brief period must be split into three emails. This excludes details of the three week trip to Australia with two incredible weeks in Tasmania in March/April.
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Peter, Mary Beth and Julie had their first visit for 4th of July week. Like all our visitors, it is the first of many future visits!! Besides hiking, biking, white water rafting, and the very unique Polebridge 4th of July parade, we managed to squeeze in a few other activities.
I'd like to think it was a life changing visit for Mary Beth, based on a comment she made. It was along the lines of ... "You just go out and do this stuff, sometimes spontaneously, everyday, don't you? I want to retire!"
Peter and Mary Beth were quite taken with Freda's and the local music.
We also made an attempt at Scenic Point, but were time limited. We were delayed by a pack of Bighorn Sheep on the trail that required taking many photos.
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Not every day is out and about. Sometimes you just want to stay back at the house and watch the sunset.
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Mid July our "surrogate children" Jason and Andrew visited. They are members of the "unlimited standby vacancy" plan at our place, which means there is always a room or patch of floor for them sleep on.
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Bryson and Sally arrived in July. One highlight while they were there was to summit Mt. Oberlin with Bryson and John. The trail is only 1.5 miles up, but that climb up the scree field is challenging. The views on the clear day we went up were unbeatable
I had been able to snag a wilderness permit for backpacking 4 nights, from Waterton, over Brown Pass and Boulder Pass to Kintla Lake in the North Fork. Nabeel flew in to join Sally, Bryson and I on the backpacking trip.
Two days before the backpacking was to commence, Sally came down with severe food poisoning, but recovered enough that we were able to proceed.
Sandy drove us the 3 hours to Waterton to the trailhead (and then 3 hours back home). The first day entailed hiking roughly 9 miles down the length of Waterton Lake, crossing the border into the USA, and spending the night on USA side of the lake. Unfortunately Bryson got hit with the food poisoning during that hike, and the wise decision was made that Sally and Bryson would take the shuttle boat back to Waterton the next day, and Sandy would again do the 6 hour RT drive to pick them up. Nabeel and I would continue the backpacking trip
Hiking across the international border, indicated by the obelisk and the clear cut swath up the mountain. That is so the Mounties know where to stop chasing the criminals. While at the border, we encountered a sign that said we needed to register and upload photos of our passports to the border patrol CBP app, and that continuing further without doing so could incur a $10,000 fine! I had asked the ranger at the backpacking office when I picked up the permit whether that had been required, and he did not give a definitive answer. So here we are at the border, and out of the 5 phones we had between us only 2 had any type of very limited cell service (one bar). It took an our to get the app downloaded and passport info uploaded before we could proceed, only to discover that at Goat Haunt there was a kiosk to do just that. There's quite a disconnect between the park service bureaucrats and the border patrol bureaucrats.
Nabeel and I continued the journey. Andrew had recommended stopping at Lake Frances, which is fed from Dixon Glacier, as one of the most beautiful locations in the park. We did stop there, and it is indeed and amazing place. Nabeel and I set up our camp chairs at the water's edge and spent 4 hours entranced by the scenery. Most of the time we spent there at the lake was with only 2 other people. The weather was perfect. This is everything a backpacking trip should be.
After the lake we continued on to our campsite, set up tents, hiked further on the trail to see Thunderbird Falls (which are amazing!!!!), had dinner and went to bed ready for hiking over the passes the next day.
My case of food poisoning hit me at 3am. I'll spare you the details. We contacted Sandy on the satellite phone and let her know we were hiking back to take the boat to Waterton, and would need to be rescued -- so three 6 hour road trips to Waterton in three days . Sand let us know the Sally and Bryson would pick us up, as she too was now sick and in bed.
The suspicion is we were hit with the highly contagious norovirus that had been making the rounds. Nabeel flew out that same day, and was able to avoid the illness entirely.
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Old friends and new friends. I've know John since first grade. We attended grade school and high school together, and were roommates in college, so we go way back. We planned a backpacking trip in August in Glacier, and John invited a friend Michael and his three kids Maya, Lucas and Blake to join in the fun. Our itinerary was the so called Northern Traverse, a loop adventure that starts and ends at Many Glacier, crossing the Continental Divide at Stoney Indian Pass and Swiftcurrent Pass. This is one of the most prized routes in Glacier.
Due to bear activity that closed one of the trails on our intended route, we made a change for our first day of hiking. We began by entering the trail at the Belly River trailhead, about 50 feet away from Canada. This route change also meant our first day's hike would be 13 miles -- 2 miles downhill followed by 11 miles of level to slightly rising elevation. A long day's hike but doable.
About halfway out on the hike, just beyond the Belly River Ranger station, is when we encountered some light rain. The rain increased to a steady downpour, and began to include some thunder and lightning. The trail was a bit overgrown so the leaves on the brush covered us in moisture. Somewhere around mile 11 is when John mentioned his feet were wet and he had painful blisters, which required a stop, pull out the first aid kits, and apply bandages and moleskin. We made it to camp, had a quick (and soggy) dinner and called it a day.
The next morning John evaluated his feet condition, we discussed options and concluded the prudent course of action was to hike back the same 13 miles and get picked up. We could not continue on into the wilderness for 3 more days with an injury. Heartbreaking as that decision was, it was the right decision.
We at least were blessed with splendid weather on the hike out. As we hiked back we took a well deserved rest stop by the bridge before the ranger station. While we were having lunch, a few other hikers came up the trail from the ranger station side and informed us to be very careful, as there was a Momma bear with 4 cubs they had just passed. This of course led to the kids grabbing their packs with a "let's go see them!!!!", so we got organized and with bear sprays in hand proceeded cautiously down the trail. Alas, they must have passed by and were now out of sight. Darn!
I cannot express enough my amazement and appreciation to Michael and his children, who hiked 26 miles in 2 two days with packs. Just awesome!! I guess with enough gummy bears and other sugared products anything is possible.
I also could not be more impressed by John's hike back under brutally painful conditions.
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My niece Anna, Carlo and there two kids were finally able to visit us in August for the first time! Welcome to the great outdoors. Activities including lots of walks around the area, playing in Lake McDonald, and also some time up at Whitefish Mountain.
A favorite small child activity is skipping ... or simply throwing .. rocks
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Late August our last big house project was completed. This was removal of the existing asphalt driveway and installation of all new asphalt. I was extremely nervous about getting this project done. It had been very difficult to get any paving company to return phone calls when I started calling in April, and I had not heard anything from the company we went with until about a week in advance a voicemail was left that said they would be by the next week, which had to be rescheduled since we had guests.
In the end we are pleased with the results. Next summer we will get it sealed, and hopefully it will last my lifetime.
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Sandy's cousin Nancy visited us in August. We snagged reservations for 2 nights camping at Many Glacier, loaded up the Scamp and headed over. Nancy had her dog Zeke and camped in her tent next to us.
This trip gave me a chance to try out our new mobile Starlink dish. It's very nice to have internet in a location that has no cell service. It worked flawlessly!
We arrived early enough at the campsite that we went over to Nell's restaurant in the Swiftcurrent Motor Lodge. The weather was pleasant and Zeke was not allowed inside, so I attempted to order sandwiches to go. I was informed they were not allowed to do take out food; you had to eat inside at a table. This is the park's policy /in order to reduce trash inside the park/. After I blurted out an incredulous "WTF", the cashier told me, in a low voice others could not hear, "I'm not supposed to tell you this, buy just sit at a table and when the food comes asks for boxes for leftovers". Leftover boxes are allowed so food does not go to waste ... /in order to reduce trash inside the park/. It's simply ludicrous enough that it makes one want to get in their car alone, put their mask on, and drive away.
The next day there, Sand and Nancy and Zeke went up to Waterton. The weather was superb so I opted instead to hike up to Grinnell Glacier. Technically it is no longer a glacier as the acreage it covers has receded below the glacial threshold. Apparently size does matter, despite what some authorities may say.
Upper Grinnell Lake is always a thrill. There were many people down on the rocks at the water's edge.
While up there I did observe increasing clouds beyond the mountains, and the prevailing winds head east towards me. So I did not stay long and headed out on the 5 mile hike back to Many Glacier Hotel. By the time I arrived there it was raining lightly, and walking back to the campsite this became a heavy rain. By the time Sandy and Nancy arrived back it was a very solid storm with accompanying thunder and lightning. Nancy's tent was in the bottom lands in the campsite and was floating. In pouring rain we bagged up the tent, secured everything in the Scamp, and did the 2 hour drive home in very nasty wet weather. A very memorable trip!
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I discovered a few years ago while running that around Labor Day weekend at about half an hour after sunrise a magical natural light show can occur. It requires clear skies and very still water, and happens at the old bridge. As the sun rises to just the correct angle on the horizon, the reflection off the river illuminates the underside of both the wood portion of the bridge and also the arch .... which then reflects a second time off the water to present an oval appearance. It only lasts 10~15 minutes
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Yet another day trip to Many Glacier in September. Sandy, John and I hiked to Grinnell Lake.
The views never gets old (unlike me).
It was perfect weather, and finally finally finally we remembered to bring water shoes to ford Cataract Creek! By it's color it is obviously a glacial fed lake. Just wonderful.
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