Northern Traverse 3

Well, tell us how your trip went. We all want to hear about your special experience.

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paul
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Northern Traverse 3

Post by paul »

This year I was lucky enough to get a permit in early September for the Northern Traverse east to west. The permit was for 7 nights and the itinerary was:

Cosley Lake,
Mokanwanis Junction,
Mokawanis Junction,
Waterton River,
Lake Francis,
Boulder Pass,
and Bowman Lake.

I was joined by friends Tim and Jason and Jason's friend Micheal, Jason and Tim are members of this chat page although I don't know if they still login anymore.

Day 1 - August 30
Jason and Micheal flew in from Houston and I flew in from Boston. Tim recently moved to Montana so he picked us up at the airport. We all came on the same 2nd fight from Denver so it was easy to meetup.

The logistics of this trip were the toughest part. Anytime, you do the Northern Traverse the logistics are difficult because you start on one end of the park and end up at the other. This year logistics were even harder because the rental car rates were so high we decided to try to not use rentals. It would have cost us something like $2500 - $3000 to rent a car for week.

After picking us up at the airport Tim drove us to Hungry Horse where we had lunch. Then we headed over to a house in Columbia Falls where Jason arranged to pick up a Turo vehicle which he rented for a day. He worked it out with the owner to rent the car for a day and leave it at Chief Mountain Customs. The owner would pick it up there. This was a really good deal since most rental companies would never do this or they would charge excessive fees for it.

After this we headed over to East Glacier. Tim has a friends in East Glacier that allowed us to stay at their home. I ended up getting a motel room for two nights but Tim, Jason and Micheal stayed there.

Day 2 - August 31
First order of business on Day 2 was to pickup the permit. We wanted to change our permit and switch MOK with MOL on nights 2 and 3 and switch Waterton River with Kootnei on day 4. Finally we wanted to switch Bowman lake with Upper Kintla lake for the last night.

Tim and I headed over to the Two medicine back country office and tried to get there when it opened at 7:30am. I usually find if you get there 10 minutes before it opens you usually don't have many people ahead of you. However, we were not lucky this day. When we got there, a line of about 12-15 people were ahead of us. It was probably about 5 or 6 different groups. It turned out that a whole bunch of CDT hikers were just getting to the park at this time. It if it wasn't for them there would be only 2 parties in front of us.

What made matters worse was the ranger doing the permits was not very good at processing people very quickly. He didn't seem to realize that time was important factor for people to get available options since you have 4 other permitting locations in the park who are processing walkin permits simultaneously. Most BC rangers kind of get that better and try not waste time when people aren't sure what they want to do. They usually process different groups simultaneously if they can.

So me and Tim waited and anguished as the people ahead of us were slowly processed. Finally an hour and half later it was our turn. That hour and half delay pretty much ruined our chances of getting the changes that we wanted. We were however able to change the last night to Upper Kintla Lake. Both of us left the office a bit dejected though since going into the day we figured we would probably get all of our changes.

After having breakfast in East Glacier, the next order of business was getting Tim's car dropped off at Kintla Lake parking lot. Tim arranged for woman to follow us up to Kintla from East Glacier and then give us a ride back. This was for a fee of course.

Meanwhile, Jason and Michael took the Turo vehicle to Many Glacier for day hiking. Michael had never been to the park so it was a good introduction for him.

We all met back up for Dinner at East Glacier in the evening.

Day 3 - Sept 1- The hike begins

I left all my belongings that I wasn't hiking with in Tim's car at Kintla. So there was no way for me to know if I was getting calls or texts in the morning. I left my motel room a little late and hiked over with my pack to Tim's Friend's house in East Glacier. The guys were pretty ready to go. Jason was reducing his food weight. I filled up my water bladder with tab water and then tested the nozzle. Ut Oh! it didn't work! Everyone was ready to go and it looked like I needed different hydration option for hiking. So we decided to check a couple of hiking stores along the way. First was East Glacier, then Browning (the hardware store was supposed to have hiking bladders) and then St. Mary. Michael also needed some blister treatment stuff. After trying 3 or 4 places with no luck, I figured I could use the clip from my gravity filter while hiking. It was decent work around although not perfect.

We arrived at Chief Mountain Customs trailhead sometime around 10:30am. We left with Turo vehicle there to be picked up by it's owners. Off we went down the trail. The packs are at the heaviest on the first day because you have all food for the entire trip on your back. Each meal you eat makes the pack lighter. My main concern was my achiles tendon which had been bothering me all summer long. it was particularly bad with week before when I took a test run with backpack fully weighted down with gear. So I started my hike trying not to push myself too hard.

The others guys slowly hiked farther away from me. I think they stopped a few times to wait up for me but I told them don't worry about me. We all had a can bear spray so we were well equipped to handle that type of encounter.

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The Belly River suspension bridge is always fun.

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Jason crossing the bridge

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Tim Crossing the bridge

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Near the Belly River ranger station

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Yours truely not far from Cosley lake.

We got to camp at different times, I think Tim was first. I thought I was second since I passed Jason and Micheal by the Gross Ventre Falls but those sneaky guys took a short cut along the Cosley lake shore line and ended up sitting there waiting for me at the food prep area.

All the camps in Cosley Lake are large with plenty of room for our three tents. We got camp three. Two other sites were taken and fourth camp at the lake was still open at that point.

Cosley lake is beautiful and we hung out on the beach the rest of the afternoon. I took a short swim, Jason and Michael fished. Tim read his book.
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Not all the pictures are mine, this one is from Jason. I think most of the best pictures came from Jason's pixel 5 phone.

One of the people in camp was a guy named Ed from the midwest. He was new to backpacking and had just retired. He seemed a bit nervous about his trip which was for 6 days. More on this in a bit.

Just before dinner time a couple of elderly hikers came into camp and took the last site.

Day 4 - Sept 2 - Cosley Lake to Mokawannis Lake

The next morning I got up just before sunrise to see if I could get some nice photos. In September the Sun comes up after 6:30 so it really wasn't very early.

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Later I headed over to food prep area breakfast. Jason and Tim were talking to Ed who was packing up is pack. Ed had decided that he was hiking out that morning instead of going on to his next camp at Mokawannis lake. He said he had trouble sleeping and he didn't feel up to continuing on his trip. I felt bad for him and I think he was making a mistake. It was only his second day and it was short day to MOL plus everyone has a tough time sleeping on the first night. Anyway, Ed graciously gave us permission to use his site and we were very grateful! Ah no Mokawannis Junction camp today!

I noticed that one of food bags at the prep area was hanging very low. I could easily grab it with my hands, it wasn't more than 6 ft from the ground if that. It was the elderly couples food bag and must have been like that all night. A bear could have easily gotten that bag. As we packing up our stuff at around 8:30am I guess we were getting a little loud with the joking and we heard the elderly lady yelling at us to keep quiet. I guess they were still in their tent sleeping. Well, we quietly packed up the rest of our gear from then on. I sure hope they stop hanging their food so low.

Next stop Mokawannis Lake, actually I was last in the order of hiking and I came across Tim, Jason and Mike sitting in the Glens Lake Head food prep area. After a brief stop we headed over to the Lake and our second camp.

After setting up camp at the lake we had some lunch and later hiked up to Margaret Lake. The trail up with lake is getting more overgrown every time I do it. This time the dry stream bed was almost fully covered by shrubs.

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Mike by the falls

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Jason and Michael both jumped into Margaret lake.

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Heading back from the lake

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I took a detour to checkout the outlet of the lake.

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Our camp at MOL, my tent is the Nemo. Mike is the photographer here.

Once we got back to camp we started talking about the plan for the next day. Originally the plan was to day hike up to the Sue bench. The guys started talking about what time we should leave and the details and in back of my mind I'm thinking my achiles is killing me and there's no way I will be able to do an off trail hike tomorrow and then a 15 mile backpack with next day. So, I told them you guys can go up there tomorrow but I'm going to just take it easy in camp and try to rest my foot for the day. I can hang out here and just swim and do nothing all day. So then everyone else says you know what that sounds a lot better that busting our butts going up there tomorrow. We can all just hang out here at the lake. So all of our plans changed, Day 3 would be a lazy day it the lake.

The evening came and we got more pictures.
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Tim and I having philosophical conversations

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Every picture that is really good, is Jason's

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The master and his camera

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We are in the mountains and the mountains are in us. - John Muir
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Re: Northern Traverse 3

Post by tibber »

tricky logistics but so far it seems to have worked fine for you.

It's too bad that one fellow bailed; like you said, he should have at least tried another day. And I agree, that first nite it's a little hard to sleep sometimes. However, if after Mokawanis, that would have made for a long hike out for him if he thot he just couldn't hack it.

Glad you got up to visit Margaret; absolutely fabulous! Pyramid Falls is reall spectacular; it's the screen shot on my phone.

And isn't it nice just to hang out at the lake! Tina and I are finding that so enjoyable as you feel more one with the Park I think.
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Re: Northern Traverse 3

Post by paul »

tibber wrote: Tue Dec 27, 2022 7:38 pm tricky logistics but so far it seems to have worked fine for you.

It's too bad that one fellow bailed; like you said, he should have at least tried another day. And I agree, that first nite it's a little hard to sleep sometimes. However, if after Mokawanis, that would have made for a long hike out for him if he thot he just couldn't hack it.

Glad you got up to visit Margaret; absolutely fabulous! Pyramid Falls is reall spectacular; it's the screen shot on my phone.

And isn't it nice just to hang out at the lake! Tina and I are finding that so enjoyable as you feel more one with the Park I think.
Hey Tibber,

A lot of upfront planning went into the logistics so it paid off when we made it to the park. I think Tim and Jason handle most of the tough stuff. Me and Michael were pretty much along for the ride.

Ed had a real nice permit I think it was like COS, MOL, ELF, HEL, ELF, COS. So no real difficult days. I felt bad for him, but we did benefit by getting his camp at Mokawannis Lake. It also turned out that there was no one else at MOL the day we were there so the lake was all ours. Actually we didn't see anyone else all day 2 and most of Day 3.
We are in the mountains and the mountains are in us. - John Muir
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Re: Northern Traverse 3

Post by paul »

Day 5 - Mokawannis Lake to Mokawannis Junction

In the morning and early afternoon we hung out at Mokawannis lake. Jason and Michael did some finishing. I spent most of the time out on the peninsula near camp. It's a good place to relax and look out over the lake.

We packed up our gear after lunch and headed over to get a camp at Mokawannis Junction which is basically a mile away so it wasn't much of hike. After finding a good site and setting up we eventually made our way down to Glens lake, there's a bridge where the inlet stream goes into the lake. It's a nice place to hang out.

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The next day's hike was going to tough so it was good to have a nice rest day before it. My achilles was feeling better after soaking it in the cold lake water.

Day 6 - Mokawannis Junction to Waterton Lake

The plan was to get a early start for the nearly 15 mile hike this day. Jason and Michael got up and packed up their tent and gear in the dark. I waited until there was light. Jason and Michael left as I was having breakfast sometime around 7am, I think Tim left about 30 minutes later. I didn't leave until about 8:30 so those guys had a good head start on me. I figured it wouldn't matter anyway since I wouldn't be able to keep up.

It was good day for hiking, it was cool with a nice breeze but not too windy. The main issue was the smoke from nearby fires. The smoke was an issue for all the trip except for the day at lake Francis when it seemed to much clearer. We believe a lot of the smoke was coming from a small fire near flattop mountain. There was also a fire burning near Quartz lake which may have contributed to the smoke.

My hike up to Stoney Indian Pass went well. It seemed like on some days my pack felt good and others it didn't feel so good.

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A smokey view looking down to the lakes below on the way to the Stoney Indian Pass

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On the way up to the pass the sun was blocked by the mountains which was a good thing.

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Some of these pictures are from Jason and Mike

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This bridge is a real pain when coming from the east. You've got to climb up on this narrow rock pedestal with a heavy pack on. It's very hard to balance from that side.

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The view from the pass.

I think I made it to the pass before 11:30am. I found a nice spot out of the wind and had some lunch. I had brought chocolate frosted pop tarts on the trip and was saving them for a point where I needed a jolt of energy. The year before on a backpack in the Wind River range I had just went over a pass which was close to 12000ft. I felt light headed and dizzy so I sat down and ate 2 pop tarts. Within 20 minutes I felt normal again. So this year I was being preemptive. Even though it's not really a healthy lunch it's good for a quick sugar rush. Besides I also had some healthy stuff like cashews.

I made my way down to the lake and stopped to refill my water bladder. I used my gravity filter through out the trip even while hiking. It's pretty efficient. I brought another filter (I forget the name of it since it was completely useless. It's the kind where you squeeze water from one bottle to another.)

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The trail down from Stoney Indian Lake to the valley was very over grown. I got lots of scraps and scratches from the brush on my arms and legs. I had to push the branches away sometimes using my hike poles. I think the trail from this entire days' hike was probably the brushiest (if that is a word) that I ever had. I kept thinking I was going to walk into a bear because there is no way to see where you are going. The only thing you can do is to try and make some noise. But I wonder how much that really helps because I've come across bears where they don't really move away because of noise.

Once I got to the valley floor and trail junction I stopped to take one last break before the last 5 miles of trail to Waterton lake. I think the trail down from Stoney Indian Lake is one of the most exhausting downhill hiking sections in the park. It just seems to wear you out. Maybe it's the just because it never levels off and you are constantly working your knees hard. Anyway, it was good to get my pack off and sit down for 5 minutes.

The rest of the hike was unremarkable. I had just resolved to slug my way through it. It's funny I only saw three people from the time I left camp to around the Kootnei camp trail junction.

Finally I made it to Waterton lake
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The ranger station at Waterton lake

I figured there would be a ranger at the station but looked like there had been no one there in a long time. There usually is a weather forcast posted on door, but not this time. The waterton was also not running at the station.

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When I got to the Waterton river which is where the backcountry camp site is, Tim, Micheal and Jason were sitting on the opposite shore. Finally my last steps with my backpack were near. All I had to do was ford the river and the group would be reunited. We all agreed that it was an exhausting hike.

Waterton River camp doesn't sound that good but I didn't think it was that bad. It had a nice open food prep area and it was right by the river. There was only 1 other group in camp (two guys doing the northern traverse in the opposite direction as us). So it was a nice place to hang out. The tent site wasn't very large but it was big enough for our needs.
We are in the mountains and the mountains are in us. - John Muir
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Re: Northern Traverse 3

Post by Selkie »

Paul,
Thanks for a well-illustrated account. With the exception of smoke from wildfires, it looks as though you had good weather the entire trip.
Those lakes and waterfalls are beautiful. Entices one to sit and enjoy, as people did.
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Re: Northern Traverse 3

Post by MISSY »

Thanks for the trip report and pics! Glad y'all got to hike together! Jason has a keen eye for photography and Glacier didn't disappoint 😉
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Re: Northern Traverse 3

Post by paul »

Selkie wrote: Thu Jan 05, 2023 5:57 am Paul,
Thanks for a well-illustrated account. With the exception of smoke from wildfires, it looks as though you had good weather the entire trip.
Those lakes and waterfalls are beautiful. Entices one to sit and enjoy, as people did.
Thanks Selkie. Yes the weather was good the whole trip, we had smoke though. I haven't finished yet. Still have 4 more days of hiking on this trip with Lake Francis, Boulder pass and Upper Kintla camps.
We are in the mountains and the mountains are in us. - John Muir
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Re: Northern Traverse 3

Post by paul »

MISSY wrote: Sat Jan 07, 2023 11:21 am Thanks for the trip report and pics! Glad y'all got to hike together! Jason has a keen eye for photography and Glacier didn't disappoint 😉
Missy
Thanks Missy, I'm not done yet with the report. Still more pictures to come from Jason too. I just need to get a little time to put it together, so stay tuned for part II.
We are in the mountains and the mountains are in us. - John Muir
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Re: Northern Traverse 3

Post by paul »

Day 7 Waterton River Camp to Lake Francis (Day 5 of backpack)

The hike to Lake Francis to from the Waterton River camp is only 6 miles, even though it's uphill it's not a difficult hike. I left camp hiking with Tim. Jason and Micheal had already left. It wasn't long before I fell back on the pace. Tim was just going a little two fast for me.

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Boulder Field near Janet Lake. I've seen Pika here before so i stopped to take a look.

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I got to Lake Francis before lunch and the guys had already selected a camp. There are two sites at Lake Francis and they are both pretty small but we found a way to squeeze our tents in. The rest of the day was spent relaxing on the beach. Jason and Micheal both fished. Jason caught about 25 fish by the waterfall. Mike didn't catch anything to my knowledge but I don't think he went fishing near waterfall which is difficult to get to from the beach. I went for a short swim since the water was pretty cold.

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I believe this is from the base of the waterfall and it was taken by Jason.

Lake Francis is one of my favorite lakes in the park and it did not disappoint us. The place was also empty of other people all day and no one came to claim the other camp site.
We are in the mountains and the mountains are in us. - John Muir
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Re: Northern Traverse 3

Post by Jay w »

I'm enjoying the report. Since I try to be efficient, I can understand the frustration with the ranger at Two Med. Arrg. Loving the pictures and actually I like the one of (must be) Jason and the fish. Actually, I'm liking the photos with people, maybe to get a feel for the personalities on the trip.

Did the guys feel it was worth the weight to haul along a chair? I know they're light, but usually the pack gets packed and adding 1.5 lbs on top seems like 5.

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Re: Northern Traverse 3

Post by paul »

Jay w wrote: Mon Jan 09, 2023 7:28 am I'm enjoying the report. Since I try to be efficient, I can understand the frustration with the ranger at Two Med. Arrg. Loving the pictures and actually I like the one of (must be) Jason and the fish. Actually, I'm liking the photos with people, maybe to get a feel for the personalities on the trip.

Did the guys feel it was worth the weight to haul along a chair? I know they're light, but usually the pack gets packed and adding 1.5 lbs on top seems like 5.

Jay
Hey Jay,

You know I like the one's with people in them too. I didn't take too many of those but I will try in future trips. Jason took that Selfie with the fish. After lunch on Lake Francis he walked the shoreline and fished along the way to the waterfall. He was gone for hours. I spotted him a few times on the shoreline but for the most part he was too far to make out. When he returned to the beach area he exclaimed that he loved lake Francis.

I brought up the subject of is the chair weight worth it during the trip. All three of the guys with chairs said yes it was worth it. Even though I used the chairs when they were open and really appreciated it, I don't think it would be the luxury item that I would take on a trip over 3 passes and 65 miles. I think I would rather carry a couple of steaks or some other real food. Some people bring beer but that makes you get up at night so I prefer to wait until I'm out of the backcountry.

-Paul
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Re: Northern Traverse 3

Post by Selkie »

Hi, Paul,
The figures add something to this collection of photos without being intrusive. Nice!
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Re: Northern Traverse 3

Post by paul »

Day 8 Lake Francis to Boulder Pass Camp (Day 6 of backpack)

I started the day by heading down to the beach to try to get some pictures at Sunrise. It was a smokey day so in a way that made the pictures better.

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It almost looks like the woods are on fire here.

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Sorry for the ton of pictures, but over the matter of minutes the sky changes so much at Sunrise and I just try to keep up by taking pictures of it.

As usual I was last one to leave camp. Jason and Micheal left first, then Tim and I finally got out about 45 minutes later.

The hike from Lake Francis to Brown pass is not too interesting. Although you do pass by a nice pond and waterfall (I believe it's Thunderbird).
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The last portion up to Brown pass there's a lot of switchbacks and I remember it being quite bushy. I finally get to Brown pass where things open up.

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The sign at Brown pass telling my I have another 5.6 miles to go. Ofcourse those miles are the most beautiful miles of hiking in the country in my opinion.

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The smoke was a problem with the views but it was still magnificent.
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Looking back down the trail.

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The trail new the cirque of Hole in the wall. I kept looking for bears below but never spotted any.

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You can see Boulder peek among other things.

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https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipO ... xyRFRNZmdR
Short video on the ledges.

Not too far away at a stream crossing I came across the guys taking a snack break.
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I sat down and had a snack with them and we all headed off together for the last few miles to the pass.

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We got to camp and crammed our tents into the last remaining tent site. Afterwards we had lunch in the food prep area.

Later, I took a short hike around the other side of the mountain that the camps are set on. That area has some cool features with pot whole pools and some small waterfalls.

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Got to have a picture of the best view in camp.

Later came dinner and a nice sunset.

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Relaxing on the rocks late in the day

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Colors of sunset

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Smoke makes for some nice sunsets too.

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It's amazing how often you find yourself staring at the mountains at Boulder pass.

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We are in the mountains and the mountains are in us. - John Muir
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Re: Northern Traverse 3

Post by zozeppelin »

Paul, I've really enjoyed keeping up with your report. Some of those pictures are unreal. I like how you tied Margaret in there. I hope you enjoyed, seemed like you did.

I assume Northern Traverse 3 means this is the 3rd time having done it? Favorite direction? Favorite camp site? How things have changed? Francis seemed like it would be a great spot from the one time I stopped there for lunch.
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Re: Northern Traverse 3

Post by paul »

zozeppelin wrote: Sat Jan 14, 2023 3:59 pm Paul, I've really enjoyed keeping up with your report. Some of those pictures are unreal. I like how you tied Margaret in there. I hope you enjoyed, seemed like you did.

I assume Northern Traverse 3 means this is the 3rd time having done it? Favorite direction? Favorite camp site? How things have changed? Francis seemed like it would be a great spot from the one time I stopped there for lunch.
Thanks zozeppelin,

Yes, this is my Third Northern Traverse, I should have pointed out the significance of the trip report title. I've done it once West to East and twice East to West. I think I like it most West to East, I found that finishing the trip at Cosley lake was very nice. Both directions have their good and bad points. Most of the points are good though! I think the biggest change I've notices is less snow and water in the North Fork. It seems like Boulder pass melts out much earlier now than it used to. I remember hiking up to Boulder pass in late July about 15 years ago and it was completely snow covered. The snow was on the trail starting about two or three miles from the pass. The other thing that's changed is the park is more crowded. The North Fork road never had travel restrictions. Only a few people a day went to Kintla and not that many more went to Bowman lake or Polebridge. Another big change this year was there was no ranger at the Goat Haunt ranger station. I was really surprised by that. I expected to see someone there and also have a recent weather forcast posted on the door. Also it is much much harder to get an Advanced Permit for the trip. I think most people have seen that change over the decade. It used to be a lot easy to trip that I liked as an advanced permit. Walkin permits used to be easier to come by too.

I'm not sure I have a favorite camp on this trip. There are several that I would call favorites, they include Cosley Lake, Mokawannis Lake, Lake Francis, Hole in the Wall, Boulder pass and Upper Kintla Lake. Upper Kintla lake used to be my favorite because it was one of my first overnight camps in Glacier and I had fond memories of having the camp to myself. These days it seems to be packed with people though. The last traverse I did I hiked through Upper Kintla in the late morning and there was fire burning in the fire pit unattended and just seemed like there was a vibe that you wouldn't get in most BC camps in Glacier. I think there are more people getting there partly by boat which usually means they aren't well versed in camping etiquette.

I like Lake Francis because it's such a beautiful setting and it also only has two camp sites so it never really get crowded except for day hikers. We had Lake Francis to ourselves. Cosley Lake is another good one and it also seems that each camp had a private beach.
We are in the mountains and the mountains are in us. - John Muir
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