Siyeh pass

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southernguy
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Siyeh pass

Post by southernguy »

We plan to do Siyeh pass next week :arrow: . Would you recommend an out and back or descend to sunrift gorge?
We plan to start at Siyeh bend.
Thanks
Jim
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Re: Siyeh pass

Post by indiana hiker »

I would go down to Sunrift. It is an extra thousand feet elevation loss than the other side, but the scenery is great.
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Re: Siyeh pass

Post by PeteE »

indiana hiker wrote:I would go down to Sunrift. It is an extra thousand feet elevation loss than the other side, but the scenery is great.
I agree. Much better scenery coming down through the Baring Creek drainage.
Good views of Sexton Glacier, one of the few larger ones that people can get a good look at on a day hike.

Fairly simple bushwhack can get you pretty close to the glacier.
The side trip adds a couple of miles and is up and down...tough going walking on the rocky moraine.

Need good joints for all of this hike...imo.
Lots of "down hill".... and rough terrain on that side trip.

pete :wink:

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Sexton Glacier
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Re: Siyeh pass

Post by llholmes1948 »

Since you haven't done it before, I would recommend the whole hike, then after that you can make up your mind if and how you might like to do it again. If you do an out and back from Siyeh Bend, you should go down on the Sunrift Gorge side far enough to get a nice view of Sexton Glacler. Years ago their was an official trail to Sexton Glacier but it has been discontinued.

In my opinion the Siyeh Bend side is much more scenic than the descent down to Sunrift Gorge but the next time I do this hike I plan to do the whole hike just to refresh my memory of the Sunrift Gorge side. My son and I did a quick out and back from Siyeh Bend in 2005 while my wife, (who had unfortunately gotten scraped up in a fall on the Grinnell Glacier trail a few days earlier) and our daughter decided to laze around the lake at Apgar. My son and I were very delayed getting started and there was a lot of construction that year. I don't think we started our hike until about 2 pm. We got to Siyeh Pass around 5 pm and had the place to ourselves. We had encountered about 6 people on the hike up and no one on the hike back until we were almost back at the car. I don't know how those numbers would stack up with the visitor numbers today! We had also stopped at Logan Pass on the way over just to use the facilities and we probably wouldn't find any parking to do so today.

I recall that the descent from Siyeh Pass to Preston Park (which had followed the descent from Ptarmigan Tunnel a few days earlier) was where I had a sudden epiphany that hiking poles just might be a good idea and I got some before our next trip to Glacier.

In his early guidebooks to the park, George Ruhle used to recommend starting at Sunrift Gorge and doing the hike counterclockwise because he felt that the scenery unfolded much better when going in that direction. I can understand his point of view but due to the added elevation gain, I have never fired up for that suggestion. I guess I would just prefer to look backwards now and then. Of course Ralph (Ear Mountain) pointed out that Ruhle did a lot of his hiking on horseback.

It is a great hike and I hope you will post a report of your trip.

Lyman
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Re: Siyeh pass

Post by flatlander »

I subscribe to the George Ruhle recommendation mentioned in Lyman's post. I've done the hike several times both ways, and think the scenery going up from Sunrift Gorge was more attractive than the descent down the same trail. And with my knees, climbing is less painful than the descent.
Regardless of which direction you choose, doing the entire hike is well worth the effort!
southernguy
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Re: Siyeh pass

Post by southernguy »

Thanks everyone
I think we will do the whole trip to sunrift
Jim
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