Overview of Glacier National Park

We spent nine amazing days in Glacier National Park. Rather than going through details of each day we thought we'd give you a brief overview of our travels through pictures and brief descriptions. In many ways, it's impossible to describe Glacier in words anyway. We do plan to bring you more detailed entries about some specific experiences of our time there in future posts.

12 July 2009 - Jan and Horace drop us off at Bowman Lake Campground. We spend the evening staring up the lake and into the valley we plan to hike the next day. Overly habituated deer keep us company at the campsite.




13 July 2009 - Hike to Upper Bowman Lake Backcountry Campground. The skies are sunny and clear when we begin. Then rain begins mid-day and does not let up for more than 12 hours. Literally. Monsoon-like downpours. Consequently, few pictures.




14 July 2009 - Hike to Brown Pass Campground. Everything we own is wet, and as such our packs weigh twice as much as when dry. It's a steep, 2200 foot upward climb from Bowman to Brown Pass. At least the rain has let up, though the mosquitoes are out in force. The views when we stop to catch our breath are amazing.


15 July 2009 - Hike down the other side of Brown Pass to Lake Frances. A colorful, steep meander down switchbacks choked with spiky bear grass and other brightly blooming flowers. Lake Frances is gorgeous with green-blue waters backed by an enormous cascading waterfall. We think if it were warmer we might believe we are in the tropics. We spend the evening and morning in lively conversation with fellow hikers. Frances (not the lake) and Pam provide a unique Canadian perspective on park visitors. We are saved from man-eating mosquitoes by a lovely couple from Kentucky/Ohio who give up some of their 100% DEET for our sanity (Thanks so much, Billy and Jennifer!).





16 - 17 July 2009 - Hike to Waterton River Campsite near Goat Haunt and the original start of the PNT. We learn about local plants from Pam and Frances (fun, enthusiastic naturalists) and run across our first large herbivores on the trail – pack horses. At the campground the wide river provides gentle background noise to our night's respite. We run into Bart Smith, another PNT thru-hiker. (He's been photo-documenting all eleven national scenic trails and is finally on his way home! At Waterton River we go off our backcountry schedule and stay for two nights in order to rest our weary bodies. This gives us the chance to visit Goat Haunt and take pictures of Waterton Lake where we interact with the border patrol. They won't let us pass through customs (an open air "office" staffed by two border guards who read and relax when there are no Canadians around) without a passport...at least not until the tour boat from Canada has cleared the area.





18 July 2009 - Attempt to get back on backcountry schedule by hiking to Upper Kintla Lake Campground (19 miles). We make it as far as Boulder Campground (14 miles) in a long, difficult uphill climb from Waterton River back to Brown Pass (2200 foot elevation gain) and then up around Hole-in-the-Wall to Boulder Pass (another 1300 foot elevation gain). We are surrounded by blooming flowers and cascades of running water. We cross slippery waterways and traverse dangerous snowfields for hours. (Dale is a machine at kicking steps into steep snowfields for Callae to follow!) By the time we reach Boulder Campground area we are spent and go off our permit once again in the name of safety and self-preservation. We sleep in the open air where brilliant stars rotate overhead.

Looking back toward Bowman Lake from Boulder Pass trail

19 July 2009 – At Boulder campground in the morning we are visited by mountain goats. Later, after a steep hike down 3500 feet in elevation we arrive at Kintla Lake backcountry campground. It's a large site, but we're the only inhabitants for the night. Just us and the loons on the lake. Lovely.

20 July 2009 - Hike down Kintla Lake to the car campground at the base. Spend the night surrounded by more people and vehicles than we've seen in over a week. We interact with a bevy of interesting and engaging folks. Dale gets to test out a hybrid kayak (Thanks Jerda!). The next morning we are fed second breakfast of sausage, eggs, hashbrowns and cinnamon rolls by the Williams Family. Delicious! Thank you!



21 July 2009 - Arrive In Polebridge, retrieve a food box from the Polebridge Mercantile and enjoy a beer and pastries with two pika researchers, Matt and Zach. Our conversation turns from small-mammal research to how to save the world. More on that later, though I can say we came to no clear solutions about the world saving...yet. We decide we'll rent a cabin in Polebridge for the night and rest and recuperate before heading off on the second leg of the journey toward Eureka.