Fo Sho JayW, a destination worthy! I like how Tina put it...a Lolligag there. On the map, it may seem a valley just to traverse to get to higher places but being there on the shore on a windless morning taking in a perfect reflection or a breezy afternoon with full-on sun stepping out in cool shallows, one wishes that time would stand still for awhile.Jay w wrote:Glenn's head and Margaret, eh? Wow. Those look great and you had some fantastic weather. Belly River has been on the to-do list for a while. The other one is the second floor of Granite Park Chalet. What a great view.
Thanks for the report.
Jay
Tibber Hey!!tibber wrote:sad it's over. I enjoyed the read and all the details, good and bad.
I'm going to try and make it up next year again. Would love to hang around the Belly River area for a couple days but also would like to do Pitamakan to Cut Bank. We'll see. Sometimes it's a matter of finding someone to play with and then the logistics.
anyway, enjoyed your great trip report. you really made the most of everything and it showed in both your words and pictures!
Hey There Ralph!Ear Mountain wrote:Definitely enjoyed your trip report. I always like those longer backpacks. Hope you find better boots next time.
Thanks for the Complement SUE!Sue Z wrote:Thanks for the delightful trip report! Loved hearing about all the people you met. I also appreciated the unusual itinerary - long days, short days, zero days - it gives me ideas. I traveled the Belly from Chief Mtn. Customs to Waterton, but didn't have time to explore the Mok Lake area. Should have included an extra day. The huckleberry patch below Stony Indian Pass was a lifesaver - gave me the energy to get up and over!
Regarding that lil "mention" above...TnTammy wrote:
...And ya know who introduced us to The Belly...accompanied us on our first backpack in Glacier, in bear country (i was kinda scared of it back then), who had the instructions to take us on a bushwhack & scramble up to Margaret....Yup, your friends and ours. Thank You PeteE.
Sometimes a joke isn't funny. Part of the "trying to be funny" rather than just "being funny." After sleeping on it, I deleted the "lucktad" bit.TnTammy wrote:
And Wait...Wait a Minute....I am missing your earlier post and afraid its gone for good! :
AWwwww Pete....Huge Smile There!!PeteE wrote:Regarding that lil "mention" above...TnTammy wrote:
...And ya know who introduced us to The Belly...accompanied us on our first backpack in Glacier, in bear country (i was kinda scared of it back then), who had the instructions to take us on a bushwhack & scramble up to Margaret....Yup, your friends and ours. Thank You PeteE.
Shows folks here just what genuine, kind, decent people you and Mike are.
Epic trip for sure. You and Mike put together a great report.
Tammy, I don't know what to say other than a heartfelt "Thank You".
pete
How did I get the "high ground" at that site?
I remember poor Mike having to trench around your tent.
Truly "lame video" circa August 3rd, 2012
My trip was two years ago, so I missed you by quite a bit! I appreciate the valuable intel about those other easy-to-find berry patches.TnTammy wrote:Sue Z wrote: If the berries were ripe for you at Stoney then we couldn't have been too many days from missing each other. How was your trek? Good weather, smoke not too bad? Bear Encounters? Well, I'm just trying' to cheat and find out ahead of your Trip Report, aren't I.
Be funny Sue to run across each other in a ripe Berry Patch, justa chowin' down
Sweet Travels,
Tam
Jay w wrote:Sometimes a joke isn't funny. Part of the "trying to be funny" rather than just "being funny." After sleeping on it, I deleted the "lucktad" bit.TnTammy wrote:
And Wait...Wait a Minute....I am missing your earlier post and afraid its gone for good! :
Actually thought you pulled off Lucktard rather well based on the chuckles elicited here.
BTW, in retrospect, would you bring everything you brought?
Love this subject and hearing what others do.
Things we wouldn't take again:
1) Ratsacks, the rodent proof mesh bags. We took a large and 2 smalls which weighed prolly 2 lbs. Unlike other Parks which have a major rodent problem in the food prep area, we did not encounter them crawling on our food items the moment we turned our heads. Also don't think any of the campers encountered them going up on the cables and down into their food bags. The only concern Mike had was that there were gnaw marks on food packages in the bear box at ELF from a previous trip...this i think was averted by having our food in Opsaks, the smellproof ziploc bags.
2) Sawyer Mini and squeezebags. It was our first time using the Platypus Gravityworks water filter which worked great so didn't need the Sawyer. We had plenty of Micropur tabs as our backup.
Things we doubled up on or didn't use but would probably take again:
1)YakTrax. At the time, the BC Office couldn't confirm the status of the Ahern Drift, we only knew that it had been blasted the week prior. We brought Microspikes in our luggage but were pretty sure that wasn't needed. Yaktrax seemed lightweight enough to afford a bit of insurance.
2)Mosquito head netting. Mike permethrin'ed our clothing/hats/bandannas. There were clouds of skeeters at Helen, we got away without a single bite for 12 days 'cept for mean horseflies? near MOJ.
3)2 PLB's. Given that its good trail all the way, a fall of several hundred feet being quite unlikely, prolly no need for redundancy on the PLBs. Mike always has one in his pocket.
4)Fuel. We carried 2 of the larger 8 oz fuel cans. One canister seems to last about 6 days or 12 uses with the Pocketrocket. Thats morning coffee and hot drinks with dinner. Arguably one large and one small would have been plenty but the weight seemed nominal.
5)Food. Always a spare Mountain House meal and thats about all we came out with. We had maybe 1-2 cereals left. As far as lunch, we exhausted all tuna packets, jerky, cashews, cookies, cheetos , dried mango & pineapple without feeling hungry.
6)Additional batteries for headlamps, GPS, GoPro and 2 Anker power packs for phones. Bit heavy. The Anker's were great, probably only need one. He took 10 GoPro batteries, used 6. 4 AA's for GPS, 6 AAA's for headlamps.
7)Blister kit and Med Kit. Over the years i have tried to pare down these items but being a medical person, i feel like i may be in a position to help others so i carry a bit more quantity, especially in the blister kit category. I Love Leukotape and 2nd Skin. New addition this year: Kinesiology tape for support of knees or ankles...stays on for several days.
What we didn't take and didn't miss:
1) The Nikon, camera bag and tripod. Cut about 7 lbs off Mike.
Fun Question, Thanks. T
Jay