Glacier Park Chat
I want to start by thanking everyone who helped me plan my recent trip to Glacier. This board is the BEST resource for trip planning - you guys are awesome!
One thing I did find lacking was recent trip reports - here's my contribution. (BTW, if you have problems seeing the pics, let me know and I'll use a flickr link instead).
Before's
On arriving, we used AirBnB for our first night's stay. We stayed with this very interesting local guy named Life Noell in Whitefish. He runs what I would consider a hiker hostile out of his house. As our first introduction to Montana, he was great and made us feel right at home. He also lended us a can of bear spray, and had an extra IsoPro tank that a previous tenant had left. Did you know bear spray costs $50 ? We were glad to have the freebie.
We checked out a local townie bar in Whitefish. I can't believe you people in Montana charging $3.50 for a pour of Deschutes and not charging tax. Beer is $7-$10 a pour in Massachusetts. Stay thirsty, my friends.
The next day, we went to the park and visited the one-of-a-kind Polebridge Mercantile, and devoured their outrageously delicious Huckleberry Bear Claws. I've destroyed some French Bakeries in my time, and I have to say, whoever is the head pastry chef at the Merc is definitely professionally trained. Those were the best pastries I've had outside of France. Amazing. We car camped the first night at Bowman, and did a fair amount of swimming watching the sun set against Rainbow Peak.
Day 1 - To UPK
We made it out to Kintla Lake with no problem (after another stop at the Merc, more bear claws, and some stuffed breakfast pastries). I should mention here that on going back through the ranger station, we simply asked if they had some bear spray, and they were happy to sign one out to us. We were told by almost every other hiking group we encountered that they also asked, and were told the park doesn't issue spray because of liability. If I didn't mention it, bear spray is fifty bux a can, so we went into the woods with $100 of free bear spray - thanks!
If your hike begins with an 11.5 mile trek to UPK, be warned that the "400 ft elevation gain" is a joke. The PUDs (pointless ups and downs) equate to around 1500 ft of total elevation gain on that stretch. It's not "a few hills to try and tire you out" - it's a haul... especially when it's 80 degrees and the sun is beating down on you. I ditched pack and wound up in Kintla lake a few times. We rolled into UPK around 9:30.
Speaking of which, what's up with the sunset at 10:00p? That was an unexpected surprise.
Day 2 - UP UP UP to Boulder Pass
We set out to Boulder Pass. Encountered some sleet along the way which made us instantly grateful that our discussion on whether a tarp was worth the extra weight ended with an agreement to take the tarp. We should've pressed on - we made better time than planned, and were much closer to the pass than we thought. We arrived at Boulder Pass to bright sunshine, and set up camp... only to have a hail storm show up 5 minutes later. This set the pace for the whole trip - pack up, move, set up, hunker down through a thunderstorm, rush out to cook dinner, hunker down for another storm, sleep, rise and repeat. Each day, we hiked in GREAT weather, and each afternoon we hunkered down for the 2-3 hour thunder show.
While heading up to BOU, we got our first glimpse of the Agassiz. I saw pictures in the ranger station from the 1930s, and seeing this massive hulk of ice being reduced to puddles made me rather emotional. Go to Glacier NOW... this beautiful Glacier isn't going to be around much longer. I live in New England where the impacts of glaciation are apparent, but watching the glacier actively work to carve out a mountain was a spectacular site.
By the way, Boulder Pass is BEAUTIFUL!
My wife and I have been talking about adding a half bath. This is the view from the toilet at Boulder Pass - I have some ideas for a bathroom now...
There's also a VERY curious inhabitant at BOU - we saw this guy a few times:
To HOL
If you can do one hike in your life, make sure it's the 5 mile stretch from BOU to HOL. This is the most spectacular site I've ever seen. Best five miles of my life. There are no words to describe it.
On leaving BOU, we passed the notorious moon-scape rock field on the side of Boulder Peak, along with some pretty awesome up-close views of the retreating glacier and snow fields. As you reach the crest of the pass, you start to see Thunderbird mountain, and then you know you're in the wilderness.
At the beginning of the trip, we discussed whether or not to bring ice axes and traction. We're glad we did. No only did we need them, we had to lend them to other people coming up from FRA who were apprehensive about crossing the field. The proof was in the pudding - there was a group an hour behind us, and one of them took quite a slide after losing his footing. That said, the worst part wasn't the snow crossing, it was the slippery muddy scree field a few minutes before. Extreme care was required.
We arrived at HOL (after raiding the huckleberry bushes at the trail junction), and went about our routine: set up, then hunker down for the thunderstorm. I'm glad the storm came because it filled up the waterfalls and gave us quite the light show with the sky.
At this point, I have to comment about preparation. At 9:30, a couple rolls in completely soaked to the bone. All of their gear was soaked as well. No rain gear, no pack cover, AND... cotton clothes. Some folks at HOL contributed some dry clothes to the couple, but I'm a bit surprised they made it through the 45 degree night. I don't know if they were aware just how close to death they were - hypothermia is more dangerous than a grizzly.
Back to BOU
We hated to leave HOL - it's just beautiful. There are waterfalls in every direction - it's just mesmerizing.
But we headed back up to BOU (barebooted the crossings this time - what a difference a day makes), and were treated to fantastic weather all day.
Not only that, but the the wildflowers decided that they'd been sleeping long enough, and almost overnight, the meadows were FILLED with flowers. I don't think you guys mentioned the flowers - they are EVERYWHERE. Just beautiful.
We spent two nights at BOU just enjoying the surroundings. When the morning came to hike down to UPK, the temp dropped to around 30 degrees, and we were treated to an hour-long snow storm. Finally, we had a window, and made a long, wet descent back down to UPK. We were the only campers at UPK. Yes... we were the ONLY campers at UPK... which means I got some great pictures come morning:
And out...
The 11.5 miles back out went twice as fast as the way in. We had 65-70 degree weather, and it was a perfect hiking day. We stopped often to chat with other hikers, taking an excessively long lunch at Kintla Head.
We arrived back to our car and proceeded to our AirBnB in Kalispell. The next couple days, we explored what Montana had to offer - we visited a few microbreweries, and went shooting (we live in Massachusetts - they DO NOT like guns here). I also made sure to buy as many huckleberry items as I could reasonably take. You guys have no idea how good you have it with all those hucks around... and I have to say, the flathead valley has some of the finest cooks in the country. So many awesome huckleberry desserts. Yummy.
Summary
This was the trip of a lifetime. I took close to 700 pictures! Out of all places I've been in my life, the Boulder Pass trail from Kinta to Hole in the Wall is the most spectacular. The scenery is always changing, the challenges are non-stopped and ever evolving, and the experience is one-of-a-kind.
Some things I learned:
1. Ask for bear spray - you might just save a fortune
2. Listen to the rangers - when they say you'll need traction, YOU WILL NEED TRACTION
3. The campsites are flood plains - ice axes make great irrigation tools
4. The more you prepare beforehand, the better your trip will be. We saw so many people fumbling to "make their gear work", or trying to figure out "geez, what do we do now?" We had a plan for everything, and took gear for every situation. It was the perfect trip - we used everything in our packs except the first aid kit. We even had to give gear to people who didn't quite prepare properly. So... the more time you put into planning your trip, the more you'll be able to enjoy it.
I know I'm leaving out a lot, and there are 100 times as many pictures on my roll than what I posted here. If there's anything you want to see or know, feel free to reach out to me.
Thanks again for all the help you guys provided. This was the best trip of my life, and I owe you guys a huge debt of gratitude.
And if you're local... always remember just how awesome you have it. Glacier National Park IS the Crown of the Continent.
wooo hooo