Glacier National Park, Montana
Headed for a 4 day Glacier trip with the main goal of doing Goat surveys at 4 remote backcountry sites for the park biologists. Plan was for an 87 mile loop in the least visited area of the park. Turned out I never saw anyone else for the entire 4 days. A rare occurrence in glacier at the height of the season. Started on the South Boundary trail. Lots and lots of lodgepole pines in this area.
Also saw lots of the fungus that reminds me of alien spaceships.
Ended up the first day doing a survey at the head of Harrison Lake near where I camped for the night.
In the morning I picked several handfuls of huckleberries to add to my granola for breakfast. Some of the biggest berries I have seen ever.
I wasn't the only one eating them...this reminder from a local bear let me know I wasn't as alone as I thought. He liked the berries as well.
As I headed up Coal Creek the trail became less distinct. Actually in places it was hard to tell that there was a trail there at all. My pace slowed from about 3 miles an hour to less than 1 an hour. In the worst stretch it took me almost 2 hours to cover 1 mile. That was pretty tough going.
Spent the night right where my second survey site was at. No goats to be seen at this spot but I did watch a big grizzly go up the ridge across from me. After he crossed into the next valley I made dinner and called it a day.
Day 3 started with more tough going but I did make it into Marthas Basin and up to both Beaver Woman and Buffalo Woman Lakes. These are some of my favorite lakes in the park because of the remoteness. This snow field looks small, but the trees at the lower right edge of it are 30 feet tall. Puts things in a bit more perspective.
The open space between the lakes had a great Beargrass Bloom going on. All the other locations of the bloom were well over. I was happy to see this happening.
Although it was slow going I did make it through most of the burn from 2 years ago before I camped for the night. I have never seen so much Fireweed in bloom in my life. It was like this for over 5 miles of travel.
The last day was pretty easy going compared to the last 3 days. Found where another bear was letting everyone know it was taken turf.
Finally got to where I could look down into Nyack creek and the many falls along its path. Had to cross it a few times before I got back to the south boundary trail and headed back to my car. Last day turned into a 27 mile day. Fun trip.
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