Pacific Northwest Trail - Glacier National Park

"Yo, where's Rocky?"

 Monday, July 6, 2015: In the belly of the beast...

With so many things having already gone wrong, logistically speaking, it should come as no surprise when we learn at 12:15 p.m. that we are waiting for the noon shuttle in the wrong place. We're at the ranger station, and when the shuttle doesn't show, we ask and find out the shuttle picks up at the resort up the road. It should be noted that we have no phone service out here, nor will we for much of this hike.

We hustle up to the resort. No shuttle there waiting. We're frustrated, pissed off. But not to worry. We meet some others waiting for the shuttle. Turns out it had a break down and was running behind schedule. We met a couple, Stumbling Norwegian and Honey Bee from the Seattle area who will be thru-hiking as well.

Everyone is relieved when Chris pulls up in the van. Some other passengers need to be dropped off before us at Many Glacier where there is a hotel. Chris won't let the rest of us go to Many Glacier, because we don't have park permits (not the same as back country permits, more bureaucracy). Chris drops us off in the tiny town of Baab and turns down the road with instructions that he will meet us here in one hour. We watch as he drives off with all of our backpacks.

There is a general store in Baab, and I grab lunch there. We see a young couple get dropped off having successfully hitch hiked there. I walk up the road to meet them. They planned to hitch up to where we were going. They are clearly better at hitching than we are, but I'm guessing it's because one of them is female. Soon they get a ride as we wait for Chris to come back for us. He arrives right on time.

Finally, at 2:30 p.m. Mountain Standard Time on Monday, July 6th, we are officially on the Pacific Northwest Trail. Hallelujah!

We follow the Belly River Valley for most of the afternoon and early evening, stopping often to take in the scenery. This is an easy hike, and now I'm seeing why the PNT route makers might think it's a better place to start than the route we took up and over to Two Medicine a couple days ago. Past the Belly River Ranger Station, we take a side trail down to the Gros Ventre Falls. This is just a taste of all the beautiful scenery we'll be taking in over the next few months, just amazing! Marathon decides to take a swim in the freezing water. He's still wearing the orange running shorts and gray running shirt he wore on the bus, the only articles of clothing he brought along other than socks, a rain jacket, and a down bubble jacket. Money Shot is busy getting lots of footage here.

Out here, near the western edge of the time zone, it stays daylight very late into the evening, nearly 11pm. Just before dark, we arrive at Glenn's Lake Head Campground. At the cooking and eating area, we entertain each other with "that's what she said" retorts, even when it doesn't really make sense. We meet a couple, Jeremy and Jodi, out hiking for a week's vacation. It turns out they live not far from where the PNT passes through Whidbey Island a couple months from now. Jeremy has a home brewery and we're invited to stay with them when we pass through those parts later in the summer. It begs the questions, will we still be hiking? will somebody get injured or sick? will we all choose to stay with it? will we stay together as a big group? Who knows what the future might have in store.

We crowded our four tents into a tight campsite just after dark and slept great in the stillness of the night.

Tuesday, July 7, 2015: Stony Indian Pass...

After breakfast, I head back to the camp to pack up. I hear splashing out in the shallow lake next to our campsite. I grab my camera and capture some shots of a large bull moose passing very near on his morning stroll... how awesome is that? I alert Money Shot and he too gets some great footage. What a way to start the day!

Unexpected breakfast guest

There is another significant climb today, up and over Stony Indian Pass. Again, we stop often for photography purposes. I've never seen anything like this place, a large canyon connecting lakes with snow fed streams originating at a snow pack high up on a mountain. We stop for lunch at a stream crossing and slowly make our way to the pass nestled between two peaks. I'm mesmerized by the wildflowers, fields of yellows, reds, whites, purples, just spectacular.

Approaching Stony Indian Pass and looking back

At lunch, we meet a hiker named Matt from Virginia, and he hangs with us for much of the day before taking a side trail to a lookout tower. At the pass, Honey Bee and Norwegian are playing in a snow pack. We all enjoy throwing snowballs at each other and making July snow angels.

There is more great scenery on the other side at the lake, but then the trail beyond the Stony Indian Campground becomes overgrown and remains that way for several miles. The Stony Indian Pass trail merges with the Waterton Valley Trail, and at this point we have joined the route of the Continental Divide Trail. Spiff most likely passed through here a day before us.

As we head north toward Waterton Lake, it's early in the evening and swarms of mosquitoes, the likes of which I've never experienced, are making life miserable. I had added a mosquito net to my gear for just this occasion. I slip it over my hat and over my face. I stop later to rub a deet wipe over all exposed areas. The others are struggling as well, and Marathon refuses to use the chemical repellents. I'm laughing as I hike behind him watching as he swats in vain at the dozen or more bugs on the back of his legs and arms.

We reach Waterton Lake where there is a small ranger station and a dock to board the ferry Canada, but it's late and there is nobody here. We continue on to find our camp. We reach the river and follow it a ways. Finally there is a bridge and then a side trail to the Waterton River Camp. Money Shot quickly builds a fire to chase the mosquitoes away. We enjoy a delightful evening under the stars, and we are the only campers here on this night.

Wednesday, July 8, 2015: Onward to the Hole-in-the-wall...

I'm first to wake up and pack. The others all have their own campsite in the complex, so everyone can wake up on their own terms today rather than when the first guy gets going. I have a couple hours on a very sunny morning, so I try out the solar charging panel that I added to my gear this year. It works great and charges my battery pack effectively. I'll keep it strapped to my pack on the sunny days. I'm also using a satellite communicator this year. Even without phone service, I can send/receive text and my family and friends can follow my track points and know where I am... the map share page can be found with a simple internet search of "where fitty at." The solar panel will keep it juiced.

Our hike today is 15 miles, including two miles off our primary route to Hole-in-the-Wall. The rangers tell us we are lucky, because it's the coolest spot in the park, and on a normal year, snow pack would prevent it from opening until August. The only reason we got in is because people were just unaware it was available for reservation this soon.

We enjoy a long lunch break at Lake Janet, and I must say, this is my kind of beach! Clear blue waters, and a pine forest on the opposite shore, flanked by jagged mountains painted with patches of white snow. My only complaints is the flies, so many pesky flies, and they love to land on us. They are slow witted however, and easy to swat.

Later, Marathon and I stop to water up at Hawksbill Camp. We rest by the fire ring in the hot sun, swatting at flies and watching red ants efficiently carry off the carcasses. Good times.

There is a large, beautiful pond where Thunderbird Creek falls from the mountain, and Money Shot and Marathon discover a rock to dive from into the chilly water. Then we begin a long ascent through more fields of wildflowers, and we approach a trail hanging precariously above a large canyon. The steep drops make me uneasy, but the views are tremendous. The whole time, we are looking for the so called "hole in the wall." Is it that cave over there?

A posted sign leads us off the main trail down a side trail. It continues to descend on switchbacks deep into the canyon. After more than half a mile, I spot the campground. There is a ranger there, and we learn that this giant canyon, the whole canyon, is the hole-in-the-wall. It was carved by two huge glaciers. It is a very unique place, surrounded by rugged mountains, lush and green with lots of streams running throughout, and more wildflowers, so many wildflowers!

A half-mile side trail down to the campground

There are several other campers here. We dine at the fire ring with some others. I set up my tent near a stream, and Marathon sets up next to me. Marathon has been struggling with frequent nose bleeds, something about the dry air and the altitude. He gets a bad one while making his camp, and by the time he is finished, it looks like there was a human sacrifice here.

Thursday, July 9, 2015: Goodbye to Glacier NP (and Charlie the marmot)...

Direct sunlight finally finds it's way over the ridge and I emerge from my tent to take in this glorious setting. I'd heard some commotion earlier, like a dog running about. But dogs are not allowed in the park. Then I saw it. A playful marmot visiting with campers from site to site. He smells the blood from Marathon's nosebleed episode from last night and tries to break into his tent. When he can't get in, he finds Marathon's trekking pole and chews a hole in the grip. I'm making a video of the whole thing and laughing. Marathon thought maybe I should've chased him away, but I hate to disturb nature from happening.

It kind of went viral!

I'm last to leave camp. I go to use the privy, and a couple rangers are there doing routine maintenance on it. I learn that this privy cost more than $100,000 to helicopter in here. They need a privy there because they don't want people pooping so close to the water sources, all the streams in the valley. Funny thing, the marmot, known as Charlie to the rangers, likes to eat the glue used in the manufacture of the plywood. He has decimated the structure. If I'm spending 100 grand on a toilet, you'd best believe I'm not building it out of plywood. The rangers finish their work, I knock out my privy business, and make my way up and out of the canyon.

After a couple miles, I'm back at Brown Pass and turn right onto the primary route. After a long descent toward Bowman Lake, it's a pretty uneventful day. I leapfrog the others a time or two, and after a 15 mile day, I'm at a beach on the south end of the lake. Money Shot and Marathon join me there, and we're hoping to score a ride to Polebridge to avoid a 6-mile gravel road walk. A guy named Bob, a retired military guy from Jacksonville is on a reunion with a couple of his Army buddies. He has a rental car and we squeeze in. Along the way, a female backpacker is heading that way, and we squeeze her in as well. We arrive at Polebridge around 7pm.

Thanks for the ride, Bob!

Polebridge is a tiny disconnected seasonal community, pretty much off the grid. It consists of a mercantile/bakery and an outdoor cafe called Northern Lights Saloon. We were reconnected with Spaceman Spiff who had taken a zero to wait for us. Norwegian and Honey Bee were there as well, but they were leaving the trail for a few days to attend a wedding back in Seattle.

We were enjoying food and many pitchers of beer when two very smelly young women showed up. Emma and Colleen were thru-hiking west to east, a couple months into it. They looked bad and smelled worse. They are students at Montana State University and are hiking all the way back to their school. They were getting a new food drop, so they gave us some of their hiker food they did not want. I accepted some beef sticks.

Our British friend Matt is now known as Mr. Bean, after the British comic movie character. I'm not sure if he is keen on the name. Mr. Bean is staying at the youth hostel at the edge of town.

The rest of us find out about free camping, just a mile back by a bridge, in National Forest land, where you can camp pretty much anywhere without fear of violating any laws. I leave the cafe first, right at dark, to start walking up the road. Halfway there, a pickup pulls over, and I hop in the back where my four buddies have scored a ride from a cafe employee. Free camping for the first time... Hooray! We set up camp in darkness with just the glow of our head lamps.

Friday, July 10, 2015: Return to Spiff Mountain...

his spot where we camped overnight is a popular launch for canoes and kayaks on the North Fork Flathead River, and we're awakened by a couple vehicles entering the parking lot next to us. We pack up and the four of us walk back to Polebridge for some pastries at the mercantile. I spend more than I'd hoped on hot food and a very light but very expensive resupply. This will be our last chance to purchase supplies until we reach the town of Eureka in a few days.

It's a nice sunny Friday morning, and Polebridge is bustling with activity. It's the only store around and a very popular stop for tourists and outdoor enthusiasts who are enjoying the delicious pastries baked onsite. We sit on the front porch, eating, people watching, and procrastinating. Morning turns to afternoon, and our loitering activity continues. We learn that the Northern Lights Saloon does not open until 4pm, but great news... It's pizza night! We decide to stay for pizza and hike out in the evening.

We meet another thru-hiker, a gray-haired skinny guy named Al. He's solo, and I would guess he's one of those professional thru-hiker types who has tried out all of the trails at least once. He has little to say and hikes on early in the afternoon, never to be seen by us again.

We meet a fellow from Missouri named Don, who is hiking with a dog he adopted just three weeks ago. Don has a huge backpack and is hiking in blue jeans and heavy boots. I sense he's been through some bad times and is out here on some kind of spiritual adventure. He hands us a paper with a bible verse on it, saying only that he wants to share something that helped him. From this point, we refer to him as The Preacher.

At long last, pizza night arrives. The five of us each order our own 14" pie. We share a few pitchers of beer and once again spend way more than we have budgeted. But these are the great times, and there is much laughter. Spaceman Spiff lifts a leg to rip a giant fart, unaware that Julie our waitress is approaching from behind to check on our table. We guilt Spiff into extending an apology when she returns with the check, a most awkward but hilarious scene. I capture a video of the apology process.

It's so much more than just a hike

During dinner, the wind kicks up and there is thunder in the distance. We wait for the storm on the porch, and Money Shot sets up his tripod in a failed attempt to capture footage of the lightning strikes in the nearby mountains. He never seems to have the camera pointed in the right direction. The storm skirts around Polebridge, and when the store closes at 9pm, we hike out.

Spaceman Spiff knows a place to camp a couple miles out of town. He'd camped there with another guy the night before the rest of us arrived in town. We walk along a gravel road and then turn right onto a less traveled road cut into a slanted thick forest. Darkness is falling, and a light rain begins. There is nowhere suitable for camping here, but Spiff points toward a ridge up the steep hillside where he believes there will be a flat clearing. It's a nearly impossible scramble to get up there, possible a 60-degree slope with very loose rocks. But we go for it. I'm cussing Spiff the entire time. After a 15-minute struggle, I'm at the top. It's not great, but we find a flat enough and clear enough in the brush to camp. We name the place Spiff Mountain.

Next Chapter: Pacific Northwest Trail - Northwest Montana

Here is a video recap of our trek through Glacier National Park, possibly the most incredible place I've ever seen!