ENCORE I: GRINNELL
My
plan all along had been to spend my last 3 days in Glacier car camping and dayhiking. I had all
of Wednesday and Thursday at my disposal, along with Friday morning. I didn’t really have plans for specific dayhikes, so I figured that I’d see what Dave had in mind
that morning.
I
got up shortly after first light. Dave
was just getting up. It was great to see
him! We had met 8 years earlier, while
backpacking in the Canadian Rockies.
Since then, we’d gotten together for one backpacking trip in the Wind
River Range in Wyoming, and another in the Linville Gorge Wilderness in North
Carolina. Dave made us coffee and
breakfast, which was great, since I had neither. Afterwards, we discussed our options for the
next couple of days.
Dave
mentioned that he had never done the hike to Grinnell Glacier. I was stunned. Dave is a veteran of several Glacier trips,
and Grinnell is one of the most popular hikes in the park. I had done it with my wife on our first visit
to the park, but I wasn’t opposed to doing it again. After all, it’s a spectacular hike.
We
stopped in St. Mary for supplies. I
picked up a nice pair of socks there, which was great because I was not
interested in hiking any farther in the socks I’d worn backpacking. Then we drove over to Many Glacier to start
the hike. We got a late start, but the
hike is only 8 or 9 miles. It was a
cloudy morning, but the forecast didn’t look too bad. We were hopeful that conditions would improve
as the day went on.
We
enjoyed an easy stroll along Lake Josephine before beginning a serious
climb. The trail was busy, as expected. Soon we found ourselves high above Grinnell
Lake, which is a lovely green. However,
the overcast sky mucked up the photos.
Unfortunately, the conditions got worse before they got better. The wind picked up, and a cold rain began to
fall. We retreated a bit, and took
shelter below a rock wall adjacent to the trail. It wasn’t much, but it kept some of the rain
off. Dozens of retreating hikers passed
us while we waited. We debated our
options, as continuing ahead seemed absurd.
We nearly headed back, but ultimately decided to have lunch first. It was wet and cold, but not unbearable.
We
finished eating, but the rain was still falling. We packed up and started back. After a couple of minutes the rain stopped
falling, and the clouds began to break up.
Patches of blue sky began to appear.
Dave and I looked at each other, nodded, and turned around again.
The
views of Grinnell Lake and the surrounding mountains were now
breathtaking. A beautiful blue sky
dotted with puffy white clouds makes all the difference when it comes to
photography! We resumed the climb,
taking in the scenery as we hiked. We
passed under a waterfall, its icy water a reminder of the earlier weather. Fortunately the sun was now out, and I was
drying out and warming up quickly.
A
bit farther up we passed a small herd of Bighorn Sheep. After a few photos we tackled the final
stretch of trail. We passed above the
waterfall that feeds Grinnell Lake and climbed to the moraine below Grinnell
Glacier.
The
view here is fantastic. Glaciers cling
to the walls of the Continental Divide, above a long, twisting lake. The lake is sprinkled with small
icebergs. We took a long break there,
and I explored around and took photos.
The rain earlier had thinned out the crowd a bit, though the area was
still pretty busy.
Eventually
we headed back down. The return hike was
much faster. We drove back to the
campground, which now has showers. The
showers will eventually run on tokens, but the boxes haven’t been installed
yet, so they are currently free. I had
to wait a few minutes for a shower to open up (there are only four). It was worth it though. I hadn’t had a chance to bathe after my
backpacking trip, so the shower was long overdue! In case you’re wondering, the dish towel I’d
bought at Wal-Mart was just barely adequate.
We
drove back into St. Mary and had dinner at the Park Place Café. The food was good, but they don’t sell beer,
which was disappointing. We picked up
some beer afterwards though, and I was able to enjoy some Moose Drool around
the campfire. That was a great end to
the day, as Dave and I were able to spend a few hours catching up. We spent most of that time reminiscing about
past trips, and daydreaming about future trips.
For my next visit to Glacier, I’d like to bring my wife and spend a
couple of nights at Mokowanis Lake, or one of the
other campsites nearby. That way we
could do dayhikes to Margaret Lake and Sue Lake. Another dream trip would be a long
backpacking trip starting at Two Medicine Lake and finishing at Lake McDonald –
or even better, finishing at Logan Pass after traversing through Floral Park.
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