HOLE IN THE WALL
Thursday
morning was chilly. I only had a 4 mile
hike that day to my next campsite, so I got a lazy start. My clothes were still a little wet from
swimming in them the previous afternoon, so I let them dry in the sun. After breakfast I made a final visit to the
shore of Lake Francis before breaking camp.
I
returned to the main trail and began climbing towards Brown Pass. After a few minutes I passed the Hawksbill
campsites. It’s not an exciting site,
but it’s close enough to Lake Francis that it is a decent backup plan. A climb through heavy brush followed, before
I arrived at Thunderbird Lake. This is a
nice spot, with small glaciers decorating the surrounding peaks. A major waterfall spilled from one of them,
cascading into the lake.
A
final climb on switchbacks led to Brown Pass and the Continental Divide. There were some nice views through the
subalpine forest back down the valley.
The scenery from the actual pass was more limited, so I continued up the
Boulder Pass Trail into a meadow. From
there I had a great view of the mountains to the west and south, and Bowman
Lake far below. I stopped there for
lunch, before resuming the hike.
This
stretch of trail is above tree line, and the views of Thunderbird Mountain,
Thunderbird Glacier, Dixon Glacier, and The Sentinel were stunning. Equally impressive were the occasional peeks
at the long expanse of Bowman Lake deep in the valley below. The trail ascended gently along the base of
impressive cliffs below Chapman Peak. I
continued contouring below the cliffs, before finally turning a corner to enter
the cirque known as the Hole in the Wall.
A number of small streams spill down from the horseshoe of peaks that
form the cirque. They join on a
subalpine bench, before tumbling over an immense cliff, spilling a thousand
feet or more into the valley below.
Because it was late summer the water volume was low. I’d love to see this place earlier in the
season, during the peak snowmelt. Of
course, that early in the season this is a hard place to get to.
I
passed a crew doing trail work shortly before reaching the junction with the
spur trail to the Hole in the Wall campground.
From there an easy ½ mile walk brought me to the campsite in the heart
of the cirque. This is neat place, with
streams and small waterfalls completely surrounding the camp. It’s close to tree line, too, so the views to
the south are superb. I arrived early in
the afternoon, which meant that I had my pick of campsites. I took a really nice one on the far side of
one of the streams, near the base of a small waterfall.
I
spent the afternoon exploring the cirque.
Initially I followed the creek next to my campsite upstream. The banks were blanketed with pink monkeyflowers and other wildflowers. I followed the creek upstream to the base of
another waterfall. From there I headed
east cross country until I reached another stream. I followed it downstream, until I reached the
spur trail connecting the campsites with the main trail. I thought about returning to camp, but
decided to explore further.
I
continued downstream, rock hopping and taking pictures of wildflowers. The creek was placid at first, but after
another stream joined it, its character changed. Soon it began cascading through a boulder
garden. I knew I was approaching the
brink of Hole in the Wall falls, but continued on. After some scrambling I saw an impressive
horizon line ahead. I approached the
brink carefully and looked down. I was
wrong though – the drop was only about 20’ to a narrow bench. From there, the creek ran a few feet before
launching into space.
I
was tempted to try to descend to the very brink, but it looked
treacherous. This was no place for an
error in judgment – it’s a long way down from the top of Hole in the Wall
Falls. I hiked along the adjacent ridge
for a better view, but eventually cliffs blocked my progress that way, too.
I
retreated back upstream. Where the two
streams merged, I veered west. This
creek led me directly back to my campsite.
That
evening I met my campmates. There was a
friendly family there from Missoula. I
enjoyed chatting with them, since I would be finishing my trip up in
Missoula. I got some restaurant
recommendations, and one of them paid off.
Bigga’s Pizza was the best pizza I’d had in a
long time.
There
were also a couple of volunteer rangers there.
They were a wealth of knowledge.
I mentioned that I was planning on climbing Boulder Peak the next day,
and they gave me some suggestions on the easiest route.
I
went to bed shortly after sunset. It
rained a little bit that night – the first rain of the trip. I didn’t realize it at the time, but it
signaled a significant change in the weather for the remainder of the trip.
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