2017 "Snaps" Around Glacier plus...

Glacier presents some great photographic opportunities, talk about it here.

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Re: 2017 "Snaps" Around Glacier plus...

Post by PeteE »

Ok
I'll post the first batch pictures and then do my narrative afterwards when all the pics are up.



The climb begins at the bottom of this steep gully where it ends on the mountaineering trail. Hidden Lake below.
The gully is chock full of loose scree and rock of all sizes. We tried to stay on either side of the gully and climb in the ledges.
Walking up in that loose stuff is tiring.

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Red dot marks the approximate start.
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The view towards Bearhat from near the top of the gully
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A look back at the goat trail on the north face just before we reached the end of it where we rested a while and eat a snack.
Hidden Lake and you can see the mountaineering trail on the first saddle bottom right of frame.
The next few shots will be from that rest area which is where the trail goes around the mountain to the SE side. Great place to stop, rest, take pics, and have a snack.

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Hidden Lake with the "un named ridge" pointed right at Clements Mt. Oberlin just right of Clements. Mt Gould and the Garden Wall on the right. One of many stunning views in person.
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Shifting view to the right, the visitor's center is just left of dead center.
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Looking to the SE over the spur ridge that runs off of Reynolds. I hiked out on that ridge during the 2015 Reynolds Fire. It's a nice hike with different looks at places.
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Shifting a little left of the above pic...St Mary Lake with part of Heavy Runner on the left
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Another view over the spur ridge. Blackfoot Glacier in the distance. Twin Lakes below right.
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Farther to the right. Fussilade on the left Gunsight Mt and Sperry Glacier center. Dragon's Tail right.
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Nice look at the Dragon's Tail's SE side. Edwards behind it on left. Mt Brown and Little Matterhorn right
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Nice look at Gunsight Mt and Sperry Glacier
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A couple more of the Dragon's Tail---a great name for it, isn't it? :)
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And finally we made the top a little before 1PM
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Try to get the rest posted in the AM and work on the video.
I have some good video from Helmet Cam on the final short ridge walk to the peak.
Watching Helmet Cam might require taking Dramamine® for some of you
8)

later
pete :wink:
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Re: 2017 "Snaps" Around Glacier plus...

Post by ND »

Congratulations Pete! What an accomplishment!!
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Re: 2017 "Snaps" Around Glacier plus...

Post by PeteE »

ND wrote:Congratulations Pete! What an accomplishment!!
Thanks Ken:

And it was a big deal for me. Make no mistake--partly for personal reasons.
I have a lot more self confidence now. I learned a lot from Ear Mountain.
Not so much anything that would be "news worthy" here, but very important to me.

However, Reynolds Mt. is climbed every year by probably 100's of people--some are just kids.
Most "average hikers" like me go up the popular SW Talus route.
But I feel pretty good knowing I got to do it via the Grand Tour route, a route which far fewer people do.

A NOTE:
I think Ear Mountain would agree that the Grand Tour route should not be attempted unless done with a partner who knows the way well.
Since it is not used nearly as much, good route finding skills are required.
There are parts of the route all along the way where no "trail" as such exists, or is not apparent to the unaccustomed eye.
And there are lots of cairns all over that mountain.
Many of them lead to "nowhere". You really need to have a leader who knows the way.
I remember parts of the route, but I wouldn't try it again alone.

Thanks again Ken :)
Looking forward to seeing you guys in a couple weeks!

pete :wink:

PS
I'm working on video now. Hope to have some up later tonight.
"If you are not curious, you will learn nothing" -Goethe-

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Re: 2017 "Snaps" Around Glacier plus...

Post by NDjason »

Looks awesome! What's your next target?
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Re: 2017 "Snaps" Around Glacier plus...

Post by PeteE »

NDjason wrote:Looks awesome! What's your next target?
It is awesome Jason!
I'm going to try Pollack on Sunday. :D
Gotta do these peaks while the weather is good.

Here is some of the video I have from Reynolds.
Sorry for all the "heavy breathing"; I guess that's what I get for smoking all those years :(

Here is the video on the way up beginning at the big gully where the actual climb begins.
Runs 8:45



This clip is "Helmet Cam" on the final few yards walking up the summit ridge.
Runs about 2:45



I have more Helmet Cam video coming, hopefully tonight.

pete :wink:
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Re: 2017 "Snaps" Around Glacier plus...

Post by ND »

Loved the video, Pete! Terrific views! It's fun to see what the climb looks like.
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Re: 2017 "Snaps" Around Glacier plus...

Post by calicotraveler »

I'm so glad you posted these videos! This hike has more exposure than I'm comfortable doing, so this is a great way for me to see what this trail looks like. Beautiful!!! :arrow:
The mountains are calling and I must go.
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Re: 2017 "Snaps" Around Glacier plus...

Post by Jay w »

Pete, Glad you got to climb with Mt Mountain. Quite a climb. Good on ya. (Old hat for Ear.)

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Re: 2017 "Snaps" Around Glacier plus...

Post by PeteE »

Jay w wrote:Pete, Glad you got to climb with Mt Mountain. Quite a climb. Good on ya. (Old hat for Ear.)

Jay
Thanks Jay. :)

pete
Last edited by PeteE on Tue Aug 01, 2017 7:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
"If you are not curious, you will learn nothing" -Goethe-

"When you're born in this world, you're given a ticket to the freak show.
And when you're born in America, you're given a front row seat."

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Re: 2017 "Snaps" Around Glacier plus...

Post by Ear Mountain »

Pete,
Enjoyed your photos and videos.
Ralph
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Re: 2017 "Snaps" Around Glacier plus...

Post by PeteE »

These Big Horn Sheep pics are from our hike to Grinnell Glacier Sunday, August 6.
Me, ND, his cousin Larry and their lifelong friend Bill.

We didn't see any animals on the way up. There were 3 rams initially feeding around the area where the trail disperses at the melt pond.
These two hung around browsing paying little attention to the dozens of people all around them.
This first ram I named Jimbo is a pretty nice ram, but pales compared to his older, much larger companion that follows that I named Brutus 8)
I really enjoy being around big horns and photographing them. They are beautiful animals.

Jimbo

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He walked over pretty close to where I was standing on a rock to check me out
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Jimbo in profile
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Brutus is a really good example of an older, mature, and likely dominant ram. He briefly pushed Jimbo out of his way when they were browsing in those shrubs.
He has a massive body already with magnificent horn bosses. It's hard to imagine what' he'll look like in October. I believe he'll go 300lbs plus in the fall. He might be there now!

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I like this picture a lot with his eye surrounded by that horn. Brutus is a big, powerful ram.
That huge, massive body along with his great horns will give him an advantage when the pushing, shoving and head butting commences in the fall.

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later

pete :wink:
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Re: 2017 "Snaps" Around Glacier plus...

Post by PeteE »

Thanks Doug!
Those sheep are really fun to photograph.

Here are a few pics from Logan Pass this past Saturday August 5th.
A nasty morning. Chilly, in the high 40's and brisk wind from the east.
Warmed up later on.

pete
:wink:

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The snowfield just before the 1st saddle

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The first saddle going to Reynolds. The mountain is only about 200yards behind my head.

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False summit of the Dragon's Tail is up there in the clouds. Why go? So I didn't. 8)
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This nanny walked on to the platform while it was crowded.
I suggested people get off and stand on the rock areas and just let her go where she wanted.
And what she wanted was to lick that railing :)
She eventually walked off. People did well and gave her some space.
I have video of her licking. Embarrassing because I called this "nanny" a guy.
:oops:

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This was a "billy" 8)
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Flowers are coming along in spite of the lack of rain.
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Parking was slam full when I got down about 2PM. Jaybird is in the #1A spot just right of center. They were parking on both sides of the road there by the Big Drift's remnants


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Re: 2017 "Snaps" Around Glacier plus...

Post by PeteE »

The link below is a slideshow that is annotated.
The pictures are just as they came from the camera.
There is smoke around but it's not as bad as I thought it might be.

It smelled smokey at Lake McDonald early this morning, but was gorgeous when I stopped for coffee around 2:30PM.
At 5:30AM, the cool air and lack of wind allowed the smoke to settle in the valley.
BUT...it was quite breezy and gusty at Lake McDonald Lodge this afternoon.
That cleared the air out nicely. Never would know a fire was just a couple miles away.
The BAD news is that brisk wind was blowing straight up the hill towards Mt Brown---at least down low by the lodge.
The store manager said they were bringing in more crews to do some hand work below the fire to keep it from burning back towards the road.
The wind is worrisome since no rain is expected any time soon.

All that said...I would say that Glacier Park is still looking good for visitors. The East side is less smokey from folks I talked to who came up this AM from Many Glacier and Two Med. That's "anecdotal" so take it that way.
So those hiking and backpacking on the East side should be OK for the next few days---barring any new fires or old ones blowing up.
West side hikers and packers will be ok as well; they will have slightly less good views depending on wind direction, fire activity, all those impossible to predict variables.

I don't know what it looks like in CA, but based on what I saw today and heard, I would keep my "GNP" plans if I were coming out today.
Please understand that the nice conditions that obtain today could go bad very quickly depending on the fire situation and the weather, especially the wind.

pete
:wink:

Story type slideshow
http://s1374.photobucket.com/user/Geeze ... Tail/story
Altocumulus clouds above the Garden Wall See link https://www.weather.gov/abq/features_acsl
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Looking west from the False Summit.
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"If you are not curious, you will learn nothing" -Goethe-

"When you're born in this world, you're given a ticket to the freak show.
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Re: 2017 "Snaps" Around Glacier plus...

Post by Jay w »

Pete, I appreciate the (almost daily) updates even though I don't respond much.

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Re: 2017 "Snaps" Around Glacier plus...

Post by PeteE »

Jay w wrote:Pete, I appreciate the (almost daily) updates even though I don't respond much.

Jay
No worries Jay!

I FAILED again at Mountaineering 101 :evil:
I may have to take "yoga" classes to be able to negotiate these skinny cracks.
That and carry a smaller pack with less "stuff".
I'll get there one day though :)

I didn't take many pics since it wasn't a Kodak day.

One note of interest.
I saw two gals at Logan Pass at about 0630 as they headed toward the Highline. Cold wind and they were in skimpy outfits with just a small pack.
They ran past us going down towards Siyeh Bend around 3:30PM telling us they were on mile 29!!!.
They ran from Logan Pass to Granite Park, up over Swiftcurrent to Many Glacier, then up to Piegan Pass and were exiting at Siyeh Bend.
Great to be that fit!!!!!!!!!!

pete :wink:

Smokey sunrise at Logan
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Looking down towards Swiftcurrent from the goat trail to the Pollock-Piegan saddle
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Climbers coming behind me. I was 1st up there to the Great Cleft. Lunch Creek parking far below is at top of frame.
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Two ravens sat on the rock for a long time. Fun watching them earlier doing acrobatic moves in the wind.
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The Great Cleft is up there where you see the daylight in the crack.
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I got to the red dot. All I needed to do was get to the green dot :(
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This group of eight ladies at Piegan Pass bailed on doing Piegan because of the cold wind. I don't blame them. I have bailed because of the wind up there in the past. I met them up at the Piegan-Pollock saddle on my way down.
These ladies are VERY experienced hikers and scamblers. They belong to a ladies' hiking club in Lethbridge where most of them live. Lots of fun walking down with them. They can GO too :shock: . Said they needed to get down and go have a beer.
:arrow:

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"If you are not curious, you will learn nothing" -Goethe-

"When you're born in this world, you're given a ticket to the freak show.
And when you're born in America, you're given a front row seat."

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