Boulder Pass Trail from Goat Haunt and back

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Boulder Pass Trail from Goat Haunt and back

Post by tibber »

Here is the start of my first backpack trip report in Glacier National Park. I finally got to live out a dream. :arrow: I've hiked in Glacier lots since 2009 but never backpacked. The anticipation between March and now is almost unBEARable. (I try not to read any bear stories until I've left Glacier). It was hard prep hiking for this trip as it's so hot down here and the monsoon has hit so it also limits what you can do in the high country around Arizona. And less I forget, thx Glacier Chatters for this board and the contacts I made while preparing for this trip. Alas, I was finally on the airplane headed to my park.

Aug 7, Monday. But first we stopped at my cousins ranches and where I used to live south of Chester, Montana - altho I was eventually raised in Havre. Plus I had to go get the bear spray I had my cousin buy for us in Gt Falls. We still had to stop in Shelby to pick up the Fireball though because the stores don't sell liquor and you have to go to a state store. We got into Gt Falls too late for that. Anyway, here is a video of some movies and pictures of the ranch, close to the Marias River, if you want to see what the plains are like:

Aug 8, Tuesday. Our drive from the ranch to Waterton was on a blustery day. We stopped at Shelby for fuel and Fireball and then at Cut Bank for lunch that we ate near the Indian Statuary off of Hiwy 2. We took the road from Browning via Duck Lake; it's a much prettier and easier drive then going thru Browning. We got to see the bison on the hill. That's twice now I've got to see them. We checked into St Mary's VC (I tried to talk the entrance person into letting me get my Senior Pass as I turn 62 in October. I was going to pay the $80, I just wanted to get it now while I was at the Park but she was having none of it. Very grumpy). We went to get our permit and tried to change our first nite to Frances or Hawksbill but nothing was available. They did mention snow at Brown's Pass but in retrospect, I think he meant Boulder. We watched the new movie and then headed up to Waterton.

In honor of Canada's 150th Anniversary, entrance to the park was free. We later heard that for the weekend, because of overcrowding at Waterton, you had to prove you had a reservation to even get in. It's also been very dry up there so some campgrounds were closed. We had a reservation at Crandell Mountain Lodge and were very happy with our little room that had everything. They even let us stay an extra hour the next morning as our boat didn't leave until 1. We took the afternoon to walk around Waterton and even got to watch some of the Pow Wow competition. Of course the biggest treat was the huckleberry soft ice cream :P after our taco dinner at the Taco Bar (their bowls are delish). Yum, yum. Later that nite in our room, we sorted all of our backpacking food and then I started to pre-pack my backpack when I realized I forgot my drinking tube so we stopped at Tamarack Outfitters just down the street and I had to buy a new platypus. While there we bot some Canadian MREs that we'll save for Arizona.

Aug 9, Wednesday. HIKE DAY ONE We had a hearty breakfast at Trappers. I tried the Saskatoon Berry waffle... a little sweet but good. For the rest of the story and hike to Lake Janet from Goat Haunt, check out this link to my trip log and photoset: https://hikearizona.com/photoset.php?ID=46626 the trip log is below the photoset. There is a link in the trip log to my video for Aug 9 from Waterton to Lake Janet Campsite:

GOA to JAN Segment; Length 3.50 (Mine 4.15 from Customs, not sure where their start point is)
Elevation; Up 760 | Down 0 (Mine 817 up, 1035 AEG)
Last edited by tibber on Fri Sep 08, 2017 9:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Boulder Pass Trail from Goat Haunt and back

Post by tibber »

August 10, 2017 Lake Janet Campsite to Boulder Pass Campsite.
Now the big day has finally arrived. and wow, it delivered, big time :arrow: . As usual I am just going to include a link to my triplog & photoset @ https://hikearizona.com/photoset=46689. As you will see I get a bit wordy but that's mostly so that I can go back and look on this day and see what even the finer details were like. I would like to say, I liked the Lake Janet campsite a lot. We did drop by Francis and though the lake is lovely, I wasn't that impressed with the campsite. We had the upper site at Janet and I think that and the open air privy had the very best views. I like that the food area was right next to the creek so it was easy to get water as well.
I do have to say it seemed longer to get to Hawksbill than I thot. I guess after fighting off the tall foliage all the time, it just got old and you want it to be over with (just grateful it wasn't wet). I am glad the forest opened up from there though so that at least you had some great views. I was super impressed with Thunderbird Pond; what a delight. The huckleberry switchbacks were a pleasant surprise, the huckleberries not the switchbacks, ha! We were glad to get on top though as that was my biggest concern.

The best surprise of the whole trip though was the beargrass patches. My friend had been up in Glacier Park earlier (his first time here) and kept teasing me with the pictures he would text me of all the beargrass and I feared we would not get to see any from this phenomenal year. By the way, my friend's first trip to this park and he hiked over 200 miles in 10 days. Here is his final paragraph from all of his trips:
I covered just over 250 miles between Glacier and Waterton Lakes and still somehow left regretting I did not hit more trails and with a to-do list of trails and destinations, as long as the one that I came to the park with. This is truly a "trails" park and a hiker/backpacker's paradise and it was tough to say goodbye to. There is no such thing, as a bad hike in Glacier and Brown's Lookout proved to be the perfect hike to signal the end to my time in the park, however, I would have probably said that about any hike in this amazing park.
Do wish it hadn't been so smoky as it really did effect the whole trip except for about an hour time frame at Hole in the Wall on the next day. Fortunately we only smelled it slightly a couple times. As we were climbing higher the smoke obstructed the views above Bowman Valley and a slight haze eastward. The smoke also obstructed our western views from Boulder Pass campsite to the west.

The views to Bowman Lake are impressive and of course the views to the long waterfalls coming off of Boulder Peak and Hole In the Wall. And then we were greeted with all of the wildflowers just past Hole In the Wall. Unbelievable! You felt such joy. We stopped at the cascading waterfall so that I could rest up for the last of our trek. I was starting to wear down so it was time to fuel up.

And after the scree hill climb and up to that shelf, I was even more stunned by the floral display and the little waterfalls and then as you get closer to the rock outcropping you hike up and around, the views toward Thunderbird Mountain were like a dozen paintings lined up for your viewing pleasure. Just WOW! It was hard to keep moving when all you wanted to do was sit down and stare. I was just happy we were coming back that way tomorrow morning.

Finally reaching Boulder Pass was such a highlight and was accentuated by the storm that came up. And then more wildflowers and Gardner Point staring you down. I've not had to set up camp in such stormy conditions but you got to do what you gotta do. I wish I had filmed inside my tent when that storm was blowing up around us; it came in spurts and was nerve-wracking. I love this campsite though. Wendy liked Hole better but I liked this one. You do feel like you're on top of the world; nothing quite like that.

Anyway, here is a link to my playlist that can also be found on the trip report but I will put it here if that's easier:
I made 12 videos of our backpack of Boulder Pass up and back. I put them into a Playlist and the titles include the area we hiked.
Boulder Pass Playlist For this part of the hike it is Videos 2 through 5.

JAN to BOU Segment; Length 10.70 (Mine 10.96)
Elevation; Up 2510 (Mine 2529 up, 3179 AEG)
Last edited by tibber on Fri Sep 08, 2017 9:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Boulder Pass Trail from Goat Haunt and back

Post by Heff936 »

Enjoying your trip report. The section of the trail between Lake Francis and Boulder Pass is probably my favorite in the park. Of course the Highline and Daw-Pit are amazing too, but since you pretty much have to backpack to get through this section makes it that much better. We were there just a couple of weeks ago.

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Re: Boulder Pass Trail from Goat Haunt and back

Post by teapot57 »

I watched two of your videos already and will watch more as time allows. I was supposed to be in this area of the Park around the same time (Aug 9-12) but we had a change of plans, so I am interested in seeing what we missed.

Looking forward to hearing more!
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Re: Boulder Pass Trail from Goat Haunt and back

Post by tibber »

Aug 11, 2017 Day 3 at Boulder Pass Campground (BOU) and then the hike to Hole in the Wall Campground (HOL)
Didn't have to be in a hurry as we had less than a 5 mile hike back up and down Boulder Pass to Hole in the Wall (HOL) Campground, our last stop on this incredible journey. We got up late and ate late and let our tent flys dry. Nice to linger at the privy a bit just to take in that view and wonder how on earth you got so lucky to see all of this. I filmed my way back to the Food Prep area where we shared an apple crisp for breakfast. Next we headed over to a little waterfall to water up for our hike. It was a beautiful area too with the wildflowers and views.

We hiked up and out of Boulder Pass Campground (BOU) via the bedrock taking a little different track then what we took in. Once you're back on the trail you continue hiking by falling water and lots of wildflowers with astonishing views in every direction including toward BC, Canada at the cool looking Akamina Ridge. Of course the view back to Gardner Point and Kinnerly/Kintla Peaks was nothing to sneeze at either let alone Boulder Peak to our right. After negotiating a little snow field and before you know it, you are hiking on a glacial moraine. We hiked over the Pass in much better weather this morning; no need to move quickly.

And down we go hiking by the moraine (I learned later we could have stayed on the moraine, darn!) and now next to the snow banks on a rocky basin. Still had to find dry spots to step to avoid the runoff from the melting snow. We came to the tarn where we saw a marmot enjoying the view from his pitch between some rocks. Sadly it was smokey so the view far into the Olson Valley in front of us was dimmed. We made our way up and around and down the rock outcropping to take us back onto the shelf above the Hanging Valley below. You could see the trail on the other side that we had come around yesterday and it looks like there is no way there is a trail there being as it's a serious drop into the Valley. Of course the trail is nice and fits very nicely on the side of the mountain.

We were overjoyed to get back into the ostentatiousnous of this shelf area with the falling water and wildflowers with views up, down and all around. Once again we were in slow down mode to soak it all in. This is a time when I'm glad I get the movies to re-live our hike through here over and over. It was just so beautiful all the way to our campsite below. I could go on and on about the beauty but the pictures and video will do a much better job of describing what we got to experience. We made our way off the shelf and along the scree field where we saw two waterfalls coming from a valley above us and below Mount Custer.

We had already decided we would have lunch at AW Falls (short for Angela and Wendy). We had the Mountain House Chicken Wrap with tortillas and with a little hot sauce, they were great. Sadly, near as I can tell, they don't make that Wrap anymore. What's great about it is you just add cold water. A couple backpackers stopped to visit with us for a moment (they like the name of the Falls :lol: ) and told us about the new privy they're putting in at Hole In The Wall. Wendy might be able to help with remembering the details. We would later run into the ranger as he would have to hike back 14 miles to go get some missing parts. Anyway, it's supposed to be the latest and greatest privy in the backcountry. I think he said there were a couple others like this one elsewhere.

After our break we continued our hike above the hanging valley and thru the beautiful wildflowers all the while yelling out "heh Molly". We were told that the momma bear and two cubs were wandering around HOL and Brown Pass so we stayed pretty vigilant in these areas. We decided instead of yelling "heh bear" that we would name the bear and we went with Wendy's mom's name cuz Molly had two kids. Good thing my mom had three as "heh Meradel" just doesn't have a good ring to it, ha! We slowly made our way around the east side of the cirque getting anxious to get to the junction with the Hole in the Wall Trail. Strangely at the very same time we had a "the hills are alive moment".

When you get to the junction, it does seem like a long way down and then across the Valley to where the campsite was. As we switchbacked into the Valley we enjoyed some more patches of beargrass and fireweed plus views over toward the smokey Bowman Creek area below. We were finally glad to be on flat ground where we saw a marmot scamper up a rather large boulder for his perch. We enjoyed the view of the waterfalls and up and out of the Valley to the mountains that almost surrounded us. We crossed Bowman Creek and a few minutes later we were at the Campground... the first ones in too around 2:15. We decided on the campsite with a view that was on the way to the food prep and privy area past that.

We broke out the wine and chilled before setting up our camp. We spoke to the ranger for a bit as well and then just wandered around camp until dinner time. Oh, and of course, checked out the privy with a view. Once again pretty amazing but I still think I like Boulder Pass's better. A few of the other campers were wandering in now so we got to visit with them and find out where they had come from and what kind of permits they had. We enjoyed this part of camping where we got to hang with others. People come from all around to hike in Glacier's backcountry and for the most part say, "haven't seen anything quite like it".

Videos from Boulder Pass to Hole in the Wall:
around our camp (BOU) and hike up to Boulder Pass
Boulder Pass (BOU) area to AW Falls
AW Falls to Hole in the Wall (HOL) Campground
around Hole in the Wall (HOL)

The photoset is here: https://hikearizona.com/photoset.php?ID=46827
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Re: Boulder Pass Trail from Goat Haunt and back

Post by NDjason »

Enjoying your report! Looking forward to reading more!
~ jason
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Re: Boulder Pass Trail from Goat Haunt and back

Post by tibber »

Aug 12, 2017 Day Four Hole in the Wall HOL to Goat Haunt GOA and boat ride to Waterton Marina

This is the trip report I put on hikearizona.com, I have put the link to the photos at the bottom. I do caption my photos. Also I forgot to add that the couple that came up from Goat Haunt told us the FS was considering evacuation because of the fires and smoke. I don't remember when they cut off the permits or weren't letting folks in the backcountry.
after a lovely evening and a quick morning, we headed out in the shade of the mountains over the Hanging Valley. It was hard to leave but you can only get one nite in these camp sites in the Boulder Pass area; in fact that is the case for most of Glacier Park backcountry campsites. We had a long day ahead of us so we set out around 8 I think.

We crossed the beautifully flowing Bowman Creek and looked down the Hanging Valley and over to the mountains. The distant air would be smokey again today. It's a bit of a climb out of the valley up to the ledge and trail we would take to get around the base of Chapman Peak. It was in the shade though so it was nice. We started our "heh Molly" and would eventually change that up when we got down the Olson Valley headwall. And the names we came up with :lol:. I will share later in the report.

We looked back at the Boulder and Hole In the Wall Falls (1200 ft headwall) that fell straight down; Boulder Falls starts around 7500 and the Bowman Valley is 4000 feet. Still am baffled why Boulder Falls is not labeled on the topo. It was hard to turn our back with Boulder Peak behind us. We were now hiking into the morning sun being dulled a bit by the smoke in the air. We passed through much beautiful flora on our way toward Brown Pass. We were most looking forward to visiting the Beargrass again and it didn't let us down. It really is spectacular :arrow: .

And now it was down Huckleberry Hill as we counted 11 switchbacks and ate many berries. The next highlight was the beautiful Thunderbird Pond before finally getting to Francis Lake which would be our lunch stop. It is really steep getting down to the lake and it was starting to get a bit warm too. We went onto the rocky beach and set our packs down for an extended stay. We did the triple selfie of Wendy and in spite of the bad lighting and slight smokey haze, it turned out pretty good (see the FYI below regarding Throw a Wendy). We made our way out of there but not before checking out the campsite. It has an indoor pit toilet and while the campsite is nice because it's fairly close to the water, I think ours at Lake Janet was nicer. However, the ideal itinerary with easy logistics for this trip is from Waterton: FRA BOU HOL and back to Waterton. The likelihood of getting that itinerary is not very good but I came close. However, I had my request in the moment we could hit submit on Mar 15th.

This is where the fairy tale starts as Wendy decided to tell our story about walking thru the Thimbleberry Forest in her fairy tale voice. It was priceless. And that got us to Lake Janet campsite where we decided to take another break. We had plenty of time as the boat would not pick us up until around 5. From there, it once again was getting a bit monotonous as we were back in the forest with limited views, for us and for the bears. By this time you are getting a little tired of the same old "heh bear" click poles three times so we started coming up with other names for the bear, like big fur ball, hairy bear, etc. That provided us some entertainment as we came close to trying to remember the "Winnie the Pooh" story.

We took one last break right on the trail with a couple miles left. It was quite warm (we later learned 85 and it felt very humid since a storm was right behind us). I'm trying to remember now if we even ran into any hikers. Oh ya, at Frances there were a few guys that had come in as we were leaving. We continue our trek thru the forest trying to remember what it was like when we came thru a couple days ago. And when we got to the 1 hiker bridge, we knew we were almost done. At the border, the agents remembered us and didn't seem to care to check our passports or anything. They seemed to be on a break. We would later see them get off the next boat that had arrived in Waterton after us.

We headed for the VC where the boats come and took off our packs and washed up using the restroom. Wendy washed off in the lake. The boat arrived in about 45 minutes. Before boarding you fill out a form they will give to Customs later. The boat ride was pleasant though the weather was slightly threatening. We got to see the other side of Mount Custer where we had just been 8 hours ago so that was pretty cool. At Waterton Marina, they hand you a cell phone to give your passport information and how many days you planned to stay.

From the marina we walked back to where we had left our car in the hopes it would still be there. It was. We changed our tops and then headed back to Trappers Grill as I had a hankering for smoked trout. Let me tell you, between that whole smoked trout and the fall-off-the-bone ribs (their house specialties), that was one of the best post hike meals I've ever had. Plus we each had a big beer.
And now to check into the Prince of Wales that was celebrating its 90th year and some major renovations. Our reservation was on the 5th floor so you have the bell person take you up in the very small elevator to the 4th floor and you walk up the stairs to your very small bedroom and bath on the 5th floor. Gladly, the Lodge survived the Kenow Fire http://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/ ... 674283001/ that took out the Visitors Center just down the road that comes into the Lodge.


Videos:
around Hole in the Wall Campground
Hole in the Wall to Brown's Pass
Brown's Pass to Lake Francis
Francis to Goat Haunt and boat ride
Here is the link to the pictures: https://hikearizona.com/photoset.php?ID=46908. I have to say, this trip lived up to what I had hoped and though it was hard at times for me as I didn't get to really hike enough prior to this, with my friend Wendy's encouragement and just being in Glacier, it was so worth every step. Would I do it again, yes. But I think I'd like to come up from the UPK side. Quite honestly, it would be great if a person could just hike back and forth between Boulder and Brown's a couple times and call it good, ha!

FYI Throwing a Wendy: Since 2009 we've been watching people throw their hands up in celebration: whether inside or out, underwater or upside down, alone or with a hundred people. When you feel that touch of victory and joy in the air, you just can't help but 'Throw a Wendy'! And as you can see in this photo, even Glacier Park trees get into it https://hikearizona.com/photo.php?ZIP=662270 (at Boulder Pass area)
There is a THROW A WENDY page on Facebook too, this is the one on HAZ https://hikearizona.com/dexcoder.php?PID=371

PS I took pics and videos of our two scenic drives of Red Rock Canyon and Akamina Parkways. Thank goodness as a lot of that is burned now. I'm always glad when I've made movies of areas that subsequently burn; like I did for GTTSR and the hike to St Mary Falls.
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Re: Boulder Pass Trail from Goat Haunt and back

Post by MarxMN »

Great narrative and I especially enjoyed your pictures - especially the flowers. You have pictures of wonderful flower gardens.

Bill
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Re: Boulder Pass Trail from Goat Haunt and back

Post by tibber »

MarxMN wrote:Great narrative and I especially enjoyed your pictures - especially the flowers. You have pictures of wonderful flower gardens.

Bill
Thank you for both compliments. The flowers just made us so joyful. And when my hiking partner is impressed on a trail, that's saying something as she's hiked some awesome places.

I forgot to include the hike from HOL to Boat Dock was 11.27 miles including the jaunt down and back from Lake Francis (Frances). 719 AEG, -2,103
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