The Cradle of Aviation Museum is a beautiful facility that opened in 2002. It has a large number of historic exhibits, a few reproductions, and many dioramas providing a history of the aerospace industry, with a heavy focus on Long Island’s contributions to that industry.
Dioramas explain man’s ancient desire for flight, and the realization of that dream with balloons. However, balloons were subject to the wind, until the internal combustion engine allowed for some semblance of control. Here is an example of one such engine:
Curtiss 20hp airship engine, 1908
However, balloons were still very delicate and not easily controllable, which led to greater emphasis on the development of airplanes.
The first successful flight on Long Island was that of the Herring-Curtiss No. 1 Golden Flyer, in July 1909. The New York Aeronautic Society paid Glenn Curtiss and Augustus Herring $5,000 to build the aircraft, which was the first commercial aircraft sale in the United States.
Herring-Curtiss No. 1 Golden Flyer, 1909 (replica)
Aircraft were soon used for military applications. Grumman was a big player, manufacturing planes such as this Navy fighter, the F3F, which was manufactured in Bethpage, New York. This airplane was the end of one era: the last American biplane fighter aircraft.
Grumman F3F-2, 1938 (replica)
The Grumman G-21 Goose was intended for wealthy private buyers, who would take off from the waters near their Long Island mansion and land at a seaplane base near Wall Street. In the end, the Navy ended up being the largest buyer. A total of 345 were built between 1937 and 1945.
Grumman G-21 Goose
During World War II, Grumman expanded its workforce and output tremendously. Even that wasn’t enough to keep up with demand, and Grumman licensed General Motors to produce the Grumman TBF/TBM torpedo bomber. The TBF’s were made by Grumman, and the TBM’s by General Motors. A total of 9,839 of the TBF/TMB series were manufactured. This is a TBM-3E:
Grumman TBM-3E Avenger, 1945
During the Korean War, Grumman’s F9F Panther was well-received, but the Russian MiG-15 was significantly faster, which was a problem. That led Grumman to redesign the F9F into the swept-wing F9F Cougar, which was about 12% faster than the Panther:
Grumman F9F-7 Cougar, 1953
This tiny Clarkair CA-1 tractor/bulldozer was sized to fit inside a C-47 cargo plane or CG-4 glider. Engineers could land and rapidly build or repair a runway with equipment such as this:
Clarkair CA-1 Tractor
In 1960, Republic Aviation Corporation won the first NASA contract for an experimental spacesuit. This replica led to the suits eventually used.
Lunar Exploration Spacesuit, 1960
This is Grumman’s LTA-1 (LEM Test Article 1), which was used for pressure, electrical and vibration testing of the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM). I didn’t find it to look anything like the LEM, which surprised me.
Grumman LEM Test Article
However, in the adjacent room they had this easily-recognizable lunar module. This is LM-13, ordered for the Apollo 19 mission, which was eventually canceled. [LM-13 has been modified to appear like LM-5 at the Apollo 11 landing site.]
The Great Falls of Paterson, New Jersey is a 77-foot high waterfall on the Passaic River. It was designated as a National Historic Landmark District in 1976, and elevated to a National Historical Park in 2009.
Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park, New Jersey
Among waterfalls east of the Mississippi, many are taller, but in terms of width and volume the Great Falls of Paterson is said to be second only to Niagara. Alexander Hamilton recognized the waterfall could be used for industry, and canals were dug allowing the falling water to power watermills, which were used for producing cotton, paper, and mechanical devices and machinery.
In 1914, a hydroelectric plant opened, together with an auxiliary coal-fired steam plant that produced electricity when water levels were low. The steam plant was demolished in 1960, but the hydroelectric plant remains. It ceased operation in 1969, but was refurbished with new turbines and controls and resumed operation in 1986. The plant can supply power to 11,000 homes.
Here is the view from Haines Overlook Park, with the hydroelectric plant at left and the Falls at right. Note the footbridge over the Falls gorge:
Paterson Great Falls, from Haines Overlook Park
Zooming to a closer shot:
Paterson Great Falls, from Haines Overlook Park
An 1871 bell from Troy Bell Foundry. I don’t know what the connection is to the Falls:
1871 Bell from Troy Bell Foundry, at Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park, New Jersey
Sign providing a map and description of the park:
Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park, New Jersey
The view of the falls from the footbridge over the Falls gorge:
Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park, New Jersey
Video from the footbridge:
Many people are not aware that there is such a prominent waterfall so close to New York City.
[Photographed with my Panasonic FX35; I’m sure that my GF1 would have done a nicer job, but I was traveling light.]
With a few variations, this was a repeat of my June 12, 2011 solo hike. I therefore did not take many photographs and will not offer much of a description, as I described the hike in my earlier post.
This day, I went with three friends. I had originally planned to organize a larger group and go to Connecticut for an easy hike involving a shuttle, but the disinterest/unavailability of hikers and especially the unavailability of a second driver ruled out that plan, and therefore we opted to do this more strenuous hike.
As before, I parked in the Elk Pen on Arden Valley Road in Harriman State Park, and we followed the Appalachian Trail (AT) south, walking along Arden Valley Road as it crossed the Ramapo River and I-87, then we crossed New York Route 17 and entered into the forest. We climbed Agony Grind and continued on the AT.
View from Agony Grind
Instead of turning left (south) onto the Sterling Forest blue trail as soon as we came to it, we instead continued on the AT, as the Sterling Forest map shows a scenic view from Arden Mountain, close to where the AT crosses County Road 19. Either the view was not that impressive, or else we did not walk far enough to find it, as we did not walk all the way to the road.
We then backtracked north on the AT, took the blue trail into Sterling Forest, then the yellow-blazed Indian Hill trail to the left.
Sterling Forest State Park
Sterling Forest State Park
Sterling Forest State Park
On my first trip, I had then taken the red-blazed Furnace Loop trail to the left (clockwise), but this time I took it to the right (counterclockwise). In my first post, I mentioned crossing a small brook coming from a tiny unnamed lake. On this return visit, by taking the red trail to the right we got to visit this little lake.
Sterling Forest State Park
We continued on, visiting Southfields Furnace.
Southfields Furnace, Sterling Forest State Park
We then walked along Orange Turnpike back to Route 17. We crossed Route 17, walked up Railroad Avenue, along the tracks, through the woods and across the pedestrian bridge over the Ramapo River and then across the Southfields Pedestrian Bridge over I-87 into Ramapo.
Whereas on my first visit the 1894 Arden Road was overgrown and I had to climb the Nurian trail to the Stahahe Brook trail to return to the Elk Pen, on this trip we found that the Arden Road was not quite as overgrown. We were able to hike along it, detouring into the woods only a couple of times to get around overgrown areas. While walking through the weeds and thorns wasn’t so much fun, it allowed us to avoid the elevation gain of the Nurian trail. We also saw two deer, and I photographed the first one:
Whitetail deer, Harriman State Park
Whitetail deer, Harriman State Park
The Arden Road then came to an end at Stahahe Brook, which we crossed. I had remembered a bridge here and was confused that I wasn’t seeing it, but upon reviewing the Trail Conference website I see that the bridge had been destroyed by Hurricane Irene and that the decision was made just to place stepping stones in the brook, which served us fine. [It may not be possible to cross the brook in the Spring season, though.] We then followed the Stahahe Brook trail and Arden-Surebridge trail back to the Elk Pen.
I went hiking with four friends, selecting the western part of Black Rock Forest, which I remembered featured a pretty waterfall. As I had been on these trails previously, almost two years earlier, I didn’t document the entire hike, and therefore only have a few photos.
Two of the party only wanted to hike four miles, so they parked their car at the junction of Mineral Springs Road and Old Mineral Springs Road, about 1/2 mile from the waterfall, and then we shuttled in my car about 3 miles to the parking area near the Mine Hill trail.
As we were driving up Mine Hill Road, I was recounting a bit of the history of the forest, and mentioned that there are deer there, though there was no guarantee we would see any. Just then, I spotted a family of three deer off the right side of the road. I stopped the car and slowly walked to the trunk to get my camera, but even though I took about four or five photos, none of them came out. The shutter speed was a little slow due to the tree cover, and either my hands were shaking or the deer were moving, and they came out blurred. But my friends enjoyed seeing them.
View to the north, from the Mine Hill Trail
From the Mine Hill trail, we turned west onto Sackett Trail. I pointed out to my friends the confusing nature of Black Rock Forest having yellow-blazed trails with diamond-shaped blazes, circular blazes, square blazes, and triangular blazes. That still seems nuts to me!
This impressive railroad trestle is the Moodna Viaduct, the highest and longest railroad trestle east of the Mississippi River, constructed by Erie Railroad in 1904-08.
Moodna Viaduct
From the Sackett Trail we continued on the Stillman Trail, then took the Short Cut trail to Hall Road and thence to the Highlands Trail.
On a previous hike, I tried and failed to take a photo of an orange salamander (also called: red-spotted newt, or a red eft) as it was getting late in the day, was in a shaded area, and the salamander was moving. Here, I was at least able to get a photo of one of the critters, though it’s far from being critically sharp, as the slow salamander was moving a bit faster than my even-slower shutter speed. I also don’t have a macro lens, which may be a factor. Perhaps one day I’ll get a sharp picture of one of these little creatures.
Orange salamander
This Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) butterfly was perched on a tree and flexing its wings for us.
Red Admiral butterfly
We stopped at Jupiter’s Boulder, which most of the crew climbed to enjoy the view (although the view from the base of the boulder was equally fine). I photographed the boulder on my last trip and didn’t get any good shots this time.
We then continued on, reaching Mineral Spring Brook, with the trail making two unnecessary crossings of the brook, no doubt just for fun. At one of the crossings was a rickety bridge that I do not remember from two years ago–I suspect it is a recent addition. We all made it across safely, though it did wobble a bit, and I almost would have prepared crossing the brook by hopping from rock-to-rock.
We descended on the Highlands Trail and I missed the turn off the trail to the upper portion of the falls. Thus, we first investigated the lower portion of the falls. (I don’t even recall the lower portion of the falls from my first hike there, and it’s entirely possible that I missed it and thought the upper falls were all there was to see.)
Posing at the lower falls of Mineral Spring Brook
I recognized that this wasn’t the same falls that I had seen on my first trip here two years before, so after lunch, we hiked a couple hundred feet back up the trail to the upper falls, which were also very nice.
Upper falls of Mineral Spring Brook
Two of our party then descended the Highlands Trail back toward the lower falls, at which point the trail became an old woods road. That led them about 1/4 mile to Old Mineral Springs Road, and from there another 1/4 mile back to their car.
The remaining three of us retraced our steps east, passing Jupiter’s Boulder and returning to Hall Road, where we took a short detour onto Compartment Trail and Split Rock trail to visit the scenic view overlooking Sutherland Pond. Sutherland Pond is the only place in the park where swimming is allowed, but as it was a little cool, no one was swimming today.
Sutherland Pond
Switching to my telephoto lens, I photographed the Manhattan skyline in the hazy distance:
Manhattan skyline
We returned to the Hall Road, missed the turn back onto the Short Cut trail and instead took the Stillman Trail back to Mine Hill trail and the car, with one last photograph to the north on the way out.
View to the north
It was a beautiful day to go hiking, with the temperature not being too hot or too cold. There also weren’t many people in the park: we had two bicyclists pass us on the Hall Road, and we saw a number of people at the falls (who had probably come in from Old Mineral Springs Road). On the way back, a man and his dog passed us. Otherwise, we had the trails to ourselves.
A friend and I visited Old Bethpage Village Restoration, a collection of 19th Century buildings from Long Island that has been assembled to form a representation of a village. The site was originally Powell’s Farm, and became county property in 1963. Today, the site has 209 acres and is home to 51 historic buildings and seven reconstructions.
Upon entering the grounds, we saw a group playing an old-style baseball game. Pitching was under-handed (overhanded pitching wasn’t allowed until 1884).
Old style baseball game
While most of the buildings were restored and open for touring, a few were closed and in various stages of restoration. One was the Bedell House, which dates from c. 1835. Hiram K. Bedell was a farmer in West Hempstead, from where the house had been relocated.
Bedell House
Another building under renovation was Dr. Searing’s Office. This tiny building dates from c. 1815. It has originally stood on the west side of Henry Street in Hempstead, though it was relocated in 1920 to Washington Street, and then in 1956 to Bellerose, Queens, and then finally in 1993 to Old Bethpage Village Restoration.
Dr. Searing Office
John M. Layton kept this store in East Norwich. It dates from c. 1866.
Layton Store & House
An interior view:
Interior, Layton Store & House
The back yard and outbuildings:
Back yard and outbuildings, Layton Store & House
Behind the Noon Inn, a six-man band played period music on historic instruments:
Band
Adjacent to Noon Inn were two barns used for storing wagons and carriages.
Carriage House
I did not get any good photos of the exterior of Noon Inn, but I was able to photograph the interior. John H. Noon was the innkeeper of this establishment, which dates from c. 1850. It was originally in East Meadow, NY.
Interior, Noon Inn
Interior, Noon Inn
Interior, Noon Inn
Interior, Noon Inn
Another photograph of the band, this time from the second floor of Noon Inn:
Band from Interior of Noon Inn
Storm clouds gather over the Kirby House. This home, originally from Hempstead, dates from c. 1845. It had been owned by Richard D. Kirby, a tailor.
Kirby House
This home, built in 1829 in Northville, had been owned by William Benjamin, a Congregational minister and farmer. He had been pastor to the Shinnecock and Poosepatuck Native American tribes. His brother Simeon was a prominent merchant and a founder of Elmira College, the first institution of higher learning for women. The Benjamin House was constructed in the late Federal country style; its furnishings reflect the lifestyle of this relatively affluent farmer and respected minister.
Benjamin House
Interior views:
Interior, Benjamin House
Interior, Benjamin House
Interior, Benjamin House
Interior, Benjamin House
Interior, Benjamin House
Interior, Benjamin House
Not far from the minister’s home was the Manetto Hill Church, a Methodist congregation from Plainview, which dates from 1857.
Manetto Hill Church
A cemetery, most likely not anyone’s actual resting place, is not far from the church.
Cemetery
The Williams House and Carpentry Shop was brought from New Hyde Park, and dates from c. 1860. Henry R. Williams was a farmer and carpenter.
Williams House
Interior views:
Interior, Williams House
Interior, Williams House
Interior, Williams House
Walking toward Powell Farm:
Fields
Bull
Hog
The Powell Farmhouse, c. 1855, is on its original site. Richard S. Powell had been the farmer.
Powell Farmhouse
Interior, Powell Farmhouse
Powell Farm
The farm included a barn, though this was not original, but rather than been brought from the Samuel S. Underhill Farm, Jericho.
Powell Farm
Lamb
This is the Cooper house. While “cooper” as a profession means a maker of barrels, this particular owner, Peter Cooper, was an inventor. The home, relocated from Hempstead, dates from c. 1815.
Cooper House
Interior view:
Interior, Cooper House
The Lawrence House, c. 1820, had been relocated from College Point, where Gilbert Lawrence had been a farmer. The home was under restoration and therefore not open.
Lawrence House
The Hewlett House, c. 1840, came from Woodbury, where Lewis Hewlett had been a farmer.
Hewlett House
Interior view:
Interior, Hewlett House
There were a few buildings that I visited but failed to document, including a schoolhouse c. 1845 from Manhasset and the Ritch House and Hat Shop, c. 1830, from Middle Island. I don’t remember the Ritch House, but the Hat Shop was open and I enjoyed stopping in there and watching a craftsman fashion fine men’s hats.
I failed to visit a few other buildings. One was beside the baseball field, and we walked by it while following the band to their performance. That was the Schenck House, from Manhasset. A map we were given with our admission tickets shows the house dates to c. 1765, while the website shows it as c. 1730 and says it is one of the oldest surviving Dutch farmhouses remaining in the U.S. In any case, I’m sorry that I missed it.
I also missed the Conklin House, c. 1853, from Village of the Branch, and the Luyster Store, c. 1840, from East Norwich.
Tuesday, late afternoon: Leaving the Avalanche Creek area, where I had enjoyed a hike to Avalanche Lake as well as a walk around the Trail of the Cedars, I resumed driving east on Going-to-the-Sun Road.
5:02 p.m.: I passed Triple Arches, a three-span, 65′ long bridge:
Triple Arches
I soon arrived at Logan Pass, where the rainstorm had left cooler temperatures, wind and clouds.
5:18 p.m.: Climbing the stairs past the Visitor’s Center, I found the trailhead to the Hidden Lake. I had planned a 6-mile hike to Hidden Lake, which would take me up 500′ over the course of 1.5 miles to Hidden Lake Overlook, and then drop me 800′ over the course of the next 1.5 miles down to Hidden Lake. The return to the parking lot would be on the same trail. However, a sign was posted at the trailhead that the trail was only open as far as Hidden Lake Overlook. Because of bear danger at the lake, the trail was closed from the Hidden Lake Overlook down to Hidden Lake itself. Someone said that a grizzly bear with cubs had been sighted at the lake.
The Moon guide had indicated that the rangers supervised the trails and would close a trail if they considered it to be dangerous, and apparently that was true. I was lucky that none of my earlier planned hikes had been disrupted by bear danger. I decided that a three-mile hike would be better than nothing, and began my climb.
The Logan Pass area provides nice views to the South of Reynolds Mountain (right) and Heavy Runner Mountain (left).
Reynolds Mountain and Heavy Runner Mountain
5:33 p.m.: A man with binoculars alerted me to mountain goats on a distant ridge. They were about 1/2 mile away, so even with my 200mm lens, I could barely make them out:
Mountain goats on a distant ridge
A detail of the previous photo:
5:36 p.m.: Much closer, an adorable marmot devours wildflowers about 15′ from the trail:
Marmot
5:38 p.m.: About 3/4 of a mile or a mile of the trail consisted of boardwalk. I do not know exactly why the Park Service decided to install the boardwalk: it included dozens of steps, so unlike the flat boardwalk of the Trail of the Cedars it was not suitable for wheelchair users or for strollers.
Clouds of mist blew around the mountains:
Hidden Lake Trail
The boardwalk was solidly constructed:
Hidden Lake Trail
The boardwalk ended and I continued on a dirt path.
6:03 p.m.: I made it to Hidden Lake overlook, and was rewarded with a pretty view of Hidden Lake and 8684′ Bearhat Mountain:
Hidden Lake and Bearhat Mountain
A rope was stretched across the trail at the Overlook, reminding hikers that the trail was closed down to the lake:
Trail closed due to bear danger, Glacier National Park, Montana
As the crow flies, it’s only about two miles from Hidden Lake to Avalanche Hike, where I’d been earlier in the day. But Avalanche Lake is in a basin 2500′ below Hidden Lake, with steep walls surrounding Avalanche Lake (other than to the northwest, which is the direction taken by Avalanche Lake Trail), and no trails connect the two lakes. Hiking cross-country (i.e., off-trail) between the two lakes may be possible for skilled and well-equipped explorers, but at least two untrained and ill-equipped men had died attempting to cross those two miles in the preceding four years, one in 2008 and one just three weeks before my trip. Thus, while the National Park Service works hard to provide trails that are relatively safe, the off-trail areas of the park can be deadly. Unless people have the knowledge, training and equipment to go off-trail in a place like Glacier, they shouldn’t do so.
6:25 p.m.: After enjoying the view for a few minutes at the Overlook, I began heading back to Logan Pass. This panorama shows the upper part of the trail, the dirt path, and also shows Heavy Runner Mountain to the south:
Hidden Lake Trail and Heavy Runner Mountain
A ground squirrel poses for a photo:
Ground squirrel
6:31 p.m.: Another view of the wooden boardwalk with its many steps:
Hidden Lake Trail and Heavy Runner Mountain
6:44 p.m.: On ascending the boardwalk, I don’t think I noticed that it had been constructed around a large rock, but I spotted it on the way down.
Boardwalk of Hidden Lake Trail
6:55 p.m.: Another ground squirrel posed a few feet from the trail:
Columbian ground squirrel
6:57 p.m.: I returned to the trailhead, having completed the 3 mile round-trip hike. As the map shows, the trail crosses the Continental Divide a few times, and I imagine that the Overlook is right on the Divide, between Reynolds Mountain and Clements Mountain.
Sign for Hidden Lake Trail
And that was the end of my hiking adventures in Glacier National Park, which added up to, approximately:
Thursday: Apgar Lookout Trail, 6.8 miles, 1650′ gain, 1650′ loss
Friday: Highline Trail/Loop Trail, 11.6 miles, 900′ gain, 2000′ loss
Sunday: Iceberg Lake Trail, 9.8 miles, 1200′ gain, 1200′ loss
Monday: Grinnell Glacier Trail, 8 miles, 1200′ gain, 1200′ loss
Tuesday: Avalanche Lake Trail, 5 miles, 500′ gain, 500′ loss
………………Trail of the Cedars, 0.7 miles, flat
………………Hidden Lake, 3 miles, 500′ gain, 500′ loss
TOTAL: 44.9 miles, 5950′ gain, 7050′ loss
Not a bad amount of hiking for a week’s vacation!
7:03 p.m.: Back at Logan Pass, I was walking to my car when I noticed a bighorn sheep across Going-to-the-Sun Road from the Logan Pass parking lot. At first, he was 100 yards away, and I began taking photos of him. Other people spotted me and/or the sheep and joined me, as he walked down the hill toward the road, drawing to within 25 yards of us. (He actually then crossed the road, getting so close to us that he made me a bit nervous, while other photographers moved to get even closer to him, which spooked him so that he crossed back to the far side of the road.) Of the many shots I took of him, I would say these four are the best, when he was about 25 yards away:
Bighorn sheep
Bighorn sheep
Bighorn sheep
Bighorn sheep
I had noticed ravens landing on people’s cars and photographed one. In fact, when I returned to my rental, I discovered some raven poop and also what looked like an apricot pit on the top of the car. I tossed my backpack in the trunk of my car, and left the trunk open for a few minutes when I noticed two ravens standing on the open trunk of the car and peering inside. I shut the trunk before they hopped inside and began tearing apart my backpack (which probably had a Clif bar inside). They definitely were not at all shy of people. I guess in big cities we have pigeons, and in Montana they have ravens.
Raven
7:44 p.m.: Driving back West to Apgar Village, I made two stops along Going-to-the-Sun Road. The first was at an overlook of 8987′ Heaven’s Peak:
Heaven’s Peak
7:50 p.m.: My second stop was at the 192′ long West Side Tunnel (there is also a 408′ long East Side Tunnel). There was a pullout with room for one or two cars, so I parked there and walked to the tunnel, being sure there were no cars coming:
West Side Tunnel
Inside the tunnel, a narrow sidewalk is provided:
West Side Tunnel
There are two large windows that provide light, as well as views of Heaven’s Peak and McDonald Creek Valley. This is a view from the platform outside one of the windows, looking back toward the tunnel:
West Side Tunnel
Lighting conditions were bad, but this is a view from the West Side Tunnel of McDonald Creek Valley. Heaven’s Peak is at right:
I returned to Apgar Campground for my last night. After my shower, I put a few items on a clothesline to dry, but during the night I heard a bit of rain hitting my tent and removed the items from the line. At least my tent was nice and dry.
Wednesday: I packed up my tent, knowing that since it was damp, I would have to set it up when I got home to let it dry.
10:04 a.m.: My flight was not until 1:00 p.m., so I had still had a bit of time left. I drove northeast on Going-to-the-Sun Road one last time, about 11 miles, passing the long shoreline of Lake McDonald. I stopped at the McDonald Creek Overlook, where I took a number of slow-shutter photographs with bracketed exposure compensation, which I later fused into an HDR image:
McDonald Creek Overlook
A normal photograph of McDonald Creek:
McDonald Creek Overlook
Reluctantly leaving the park, I drove west toward the Thrifty rental location.
10:57 a.m.: I stopped in Columbia Falls, where I took photographs of the murals I had seen across from the supermarket on my first day in Montana:
Mural by Clark Heyler
The murals, painted by Clark Heyler, represent historic moments from the area.
Mural by Clark Heyler
It sounds as though there are a number of such murals in the town, but I only saw the ones on that building.
I then gassed up the car and returned it to Thrifty, where the same lady who had checked me out welcomed me back, and gave me a lift to the airport. At the airport, I saw Ed Lee, our hiking partner from the Iceberg Lake Trail, and spoke with him until it was time to board.
Boarding the airplane, I was seated next to a man who was wearing a University of South Carolina hat, and he noted my Auburn hat and said that it appeared that they were seating all the southerners together. His name was Beau, and his wife was kind enough to allow him to take a backpacking vacation each year with male friends. He had spent a number of days in the back country at Glacier.
The rest of my flight to Chicago was uneventful, as was my flight to LaGuardia, which amazingly got in at time, without the long delays to which I am accustomed. My trip to Glacier was fantastic, and I would wholeheartedly recommend it to others.
Tuesday: This was Julie’s last day in the park. With a flight leaving at 2:00 p.m., she had arranged for the shuttle to pick her up at Apgar Village at noon. Thus, she had very little time left for adventure.
Of my list of hikes that had interested me before the trip, the only one that remained was the Siyeh Pass Trail. Similar to the Highline Trail/Loop Trail, this left from one shuttle stop on Going-to-the-Sun Road and returned to the road at a second shuttle stop. Both hikes were north of Going-to-the-Sun Road. Whereas the Highline Trail was to the west of the Continental Divide, the Siyeh Pass Trail was to the east of it. The Highline Trail roughly paralleled the road, though, whereas the Siyeh Pass Trail diverged from the road to circle Going-to-the-Sun Mountain.
While it sounded like a good hike, it also had the reputation of being a tougher hike than the Highline Trail/Loop Trail, with possibilities of strong winds. The Moon guide also indicated that grizzly bears enjoyed that part of the park, and I wouldn’t have Julie along for company and to fight off grizzly bears. I decided that I would have to skip the Siyeh Pass Trail. Instead, I would go on shorter, easier hikes.
Julie packed her tent and most of her other belongings, and around 9:15 a.m. we walked down to the boat ramp at Lake McDonald, where we rented kayaks. We spent about 75 minutes on the lake, paddling about 1-1/2 miles to the northeast, almost as far as Rocky Point, before returning the 1-1/2 miles to drop off the kayaks. I didn’t take a camera with me in the kayak, as I hadn’t brought an inexpensive camera on the trip that I was willing to risk on the water.
We walked back to the campground, where Julie finished packing, and shortly before noon I drove her and her bulky duffel bag the short distance to Apgar Village, where the shuttle was waiting. I was sad to see her go.
I then drove to Avalanche Creek, where we had briefly investigated the Trail of the Cedars. This day, I intended to first hike to Avalanche Lake, and then on the way back find out if there was any more to the Trail of the Cedars. The sky had turned cloudy and the temperature had dropped. I had previously used most of the clothing I had brought with me, except for my rain gear and a few cold-weather items. However, this was a good day to have rain gear, and I put it in my backpack.
12:36 p.m.: A flat asphalt trail led from the parking lot to the head of the Avalanche Lake Trail–it only took a few minutes to cover the distance. At the trailhead, a sign said that the lake was only 2 miles away, and I also knew from the Moon guide that there was only a 500′ elevation gain. In addition to the bear warning sign that I had seen at all of the trailheads, there was also a mountain lion sign, which I had not seen before:
Bear and Mountain Lion Warning Sign
And Julie wasn’t there to protect me! But at least there were other hikers on the trail, including some with small children, and I presumed that the mountain lion would prefer one of them to me.
12:38 p.m.: The trail immediately climbed a bit, leading to a view of a gorge through which Avalanche Creek ran:
Drop from Avalanche Lake Trail into gorge
Avalanche Gorge
Avalanche Gorge
12:47 p.m.: The gorge did not run far, but Avalanche Creek runs the two miles from Avalanche Lake to Going-to-the-Sun Road, where the creek ran into McDonald Creek. Here is a flat section of Avalanche Creek:
Avalanche Creek
12:57 p.m.: The trail passed through a nice forested area. Here, a tree grew around a rock:
Tree growing around rock
1:01 p.m.: The trunk of a dead tree:
Trunk of dead tree
The sky grew quite dark, and it began to rain earnestly. I was already wearing my rain jacket and put on my rain pants, and put my camera in my backpack, which I covered with the built-in plastic cover.
1:42 p.m.: I reached the near end (the northwest corner) of Avalanche Lake just as the rain stopped. There were a few people there (most of whom had no rain gear), but I suspect there would have been many more people if it had not just finished raining. I set my camera to shoot a bracket of shots at different exposures, and the next four images are each fused together with High Dynamic Range imaging software.
Avalanche Lake and Monument Falls
Avalanche Lake and Monument Falls
Avalanche Lake and Monument Falls
Avalanche Lake and Monument Falls
1:55 p.m.: I had a late lunch and then asked one of the other hikers at the lake to take my photo:
Charlie in Front of Avalanche Lake and Monument Falls
2:11 p.m.: Two men were not far from me, and I heard one of them say, “Hey, I was just talking to that family and they pointed out there’s a black bear over there.” The bear was about 175 yards from us, along the east shore of the lake, and I only had time to get off a few shots before it walked into the woods.I wonder how long it had been in sight before I learned about it. I’m glad that I heard the man, as otherwise I would not have seen and photographed the bear.
Black Bear along shore of Avalanche Lake
I continued hiking on the Avalanche Lake Trail, which followed the west side of the lake (opposite the bear). Along the way, I passed two people heading back toward the trailhead, and one man fishing in the lake.
2:50 p.m.: The trail ended at the southeast end of Avalanche Lake, which I had all to myself.
Southeast end of Avalanche Lake
I soon left the lake, returning along the trail. As it was now dry, I was able to take a few photos that I hadn’t been able to take earlier, when it was raining.
3:55 p.m.: This nicely-textured boulder was beside the trail:
Boulder beside Avalanche Lake Trail
4:03 p.m.: I’m not sure what this is. Remnants of a strangler fig? After all, the nearby Trail of the Cedars was called a rainforest, but could a tropical or subtropical plant survive in Montana?
Avalanche Lake Trail
4:09 p.m.: A tree was somehow surviving being swept away by Avalanche Creek.
Avalanche Creek
4:16 p.m.: I returned to the trailhead. I think the sign indicating 2 miles to the lake meant to the near end of the lake, and that I added an extra 1/2 mile by continuing to the far end of the lake. Thus, my round trip hike was 5 miles.
Adjacent to the head of the Avalanche Lake Trail was a wooden bridge and boardwalk, marking another portion of the Trail of the Cedars, a different part of which Julie had explored earlier.
Bridge over Avalanche Gorge
The bridge provided a beautiful view of Avalanche Gorge, which I think was a prettier view than the upstream part that I had seen from the Avalanche Lake Trail:
Avalanche Gorge
Avalanche Gorge
I followed the boardwalk:
Trail of the Cedars
4:22 p.m.: The trail passed a rock wall:
Rock Wall, Trail of the Cedars
4:24 p.m.: The verdant Trail of the Cedars was nicely shaded, and I began to get a sense of what they meant by rainforest.
Trail of the Cedars
Trail of the Cedars
I completed the 0.7 mile loop and returned to my car. There was still about four hours of daylight left, and I had “only” hiked about 5.7 miles so far, with 500′ of elevation gain. I decided that I had time for one more hike before the end of my vacation. Therefore, I resumed driving west on Going to the Sun Road.
Monday: For the second day in a row, we woke up early and were on the road by 7:00 a.m. The “rush” today was that we wanted to cut the distance we would be hiking by taking a boat shuttle part of the way, the same boat ride that Julie had taken on Saturday. We were aiming for the 9:00 a.m. trip. We had no reservations and thus would count on successfully making it onto the boat as standby, which had worked for Julie and Ed on Saturday.
We arrived around 8:40 a.m., and Julie dashed for the dock to add our names as standby, while I took my time parking, putting on moleskin, Injinji socks and then heavier wool socks and my boots, and stopping for a couple of photos as I made my way from the parking lot to the hotel.
Many Glacier Hotel, Swiftcurrent Lake, and Mount Wilbur
I visited the hotel for a bathroom break, then made my way to the boat dock. Julie’s name was called, and we boarded “Chief Two Guns.” The boat quickly made its way across Swiftcurrent Lake, which is only about a mile long. We walked across 1/4 mile of land that divides Swiftcurrent Lake from Lake Josephine.
9:27 a.m.: At the second lake, we boarded “Morning Eagle.”
Boarding “Morning Eagle”
Lake Josephine was a little larger than Swiftcurrent Lake, and deeper, but still not much more than a mile long.
9:39 a.m.: Here we are drawing closer to the southwest end, and we have a view of Salamander Glacier, with Mount Gould being the highest peak on the left, and Angel Wing being the foreground peak on the left that’s closer to the center of the photograph. I believe you can see the peak of Mount Grinnell on the right of the photo, peaking out behind a foreground ridge which is part of the Mount Grinnell prominence.
Lake Josephine, Mount Gould and Angel Wing, Salamander Glacier
9:45 a.m.: The boat captain pointed out that there was a moose in the water! At the ranger talk on Thursday night, we had learned that moose can dive up to 20 feet underwater and hold their breath for as long as a minute!
Cow moose
Cow moose
I tried the video feature on my camera, which I have not used very much. I’m sorry about the shaky image. This video, and the preceding still shots of the moose, were taken with my 45-200mm lens, at the 200mm setting.
On Saturday, Julie had taken these boats across the lakes, and then had followed a flat trail 0.8 miles to Grinnell Lake. Today, we would hike 3 miles from Lake Josephine, climbing 1200′, to Upper Grinnell Lake and Grinnell Glacier.
10:04 a.m.: After leaving the boat, we circled around the southwest corner of Lake Josephine on a path through the forest, then took the pedestrian bridge across a stream running from Grinnell Lake to Lake Josephine, and began hiking up the prominence of Mount Grinnell.
Southwest end of Lake Josephine
10:17 a.m.: This is a fused HDR image featuring Grinnell Lake, Angel Wing and Mount Gould, as well as Salamander Glacier:
Grinnell Lake, Angel Wing and Mount Gould, and Salamander Glacier
10:48 a.m.: Once again, there were pretty wildflowers in places:
Wildflower
10:59 a.m.: More wildflowers:
Grinnell Glacier Trail
11:00 a.m.: In one spot, hikers have to balance their desire to stay far from the edge with their desire to avoid cold water dropping down onto them.
Cold water sprays on hikers
11:05 a.m.: Julie stops to let me rest:
Grinnell Glacier Trail
11:07 a.m.: Another shot of Grinnell Lake:
Grinnell Lake
11:12 a.m.: Grinnell Glacier Trail climbing far above Grinnell Lake:
Grinnell Lake
11:20 a.m.: This shot is interesting because I’m shooting toward the northeast, and in the foreground one can see Grinnell Lake, and then above that and to the left one can see Lake Josephine, and then a little past that one can see Swiftcurrent Lake:
Grinnell Lake, Lake Josephine, and Swiftcurrent Lake
11:25 a.m.: Julie admires the view, which includes Grinnell Falls, Gem Glacier, and part of Grinnell Glacier:
Grinnell Falls and Gem Glacier
11:32 a.m.: Wildflowers:
Wildflowers
11:41 a.m.: We reached a clearing that included an outhouse, a ridge with a snowbank, and this bighorn sheep, which was about 100 yards away. A sign said something about Grinnell Glacier, confusing us momentarily as to where the glacier was.
Bighorn sheep
In previous outings I had worn a floppy hat to keep the sun out of my eyes, and also to protect me from rain. However, I decided that they looked “nerdy” and therefore I switched to a baseball-style hat. I wore one with Auburn’s logo, as Auburn is my undergraduate alma mater. Auburn’s rallying cheer is “War Eagle,” and the alumni magazine includes articles describing “War Eagle Moments” around the world, when alumni who are in some exotic place (i.e., far from Alabama) meet a fellow Auburn alumnus. I had a number of quasi-War Eagle moments there, not meeting other Auburn alumni, but meeting people who recognized my hat and commented on it.
One was the day before, on the Iceberg Lake Trail, where as we neared the end of our return leg to the trailhead we passed a couple heading toward the lake. The man, who had been wearing an Atlanta Braves shirt, called out “War Eagle,” and I responded in kind, but neither of us stopped to talk. About this point on the Grinnell Glacier Trail, we passed a group of people, and I heard one of them say “War Eagle,” and I looked behind and repeated the cheer. The lead man said that he was not an Auburn fan but rather from Mississippi State. (I do not know if he was the one who had said “War Eagle,” or if it had been someone else in his group.) He was apparently a guide of some sort, though he was not in uniform and I don’t know who he worked for. I asked him where his cowbell was, and he laughed, as Mississippi State fans have a tradition (strongly frowned upon by the Southeastern Conference) of smuggling cowbells into football stadiums and ringing them to annoy opponents. I had coincidentally encountered another man with a cowbell on the trail about half an hour before, and asked him if he was a Mississippi State fan, but he was from Missouri and was just carrying the cowbell to scare off bears.
Anyway, the Mississippi State man may have been the one who straightened us out about the confusing Grinnell Glacier sign near the outhouse, and we continued on the trail, gaining more altitude.
11:55 a.m.: Salamander Glacier came into view, with a waterfall running off of it:
Salamander Glacier
11:56 a.m.: Almost there! More of Grinnell Glacier became visible, and we still had nice views of Gem Glacier and Salamander Glacier:
Grinnell Glacier, Gem Glacier, Salamander Glacier
11:57 a.m.: Finally made it! Julie enjoys an expansive view that includes partially frozen Upper Grinnell Lake (right), Grinnell Glacier (left), Salamander Glacier (top center), and tiny Gem Glacier (top left):
Upper Grinnell Lake, Grinnell Glacier, Gem Glacier, Salamander Glacier
12:14 p.m.: The Mississippi State man walked out onto the frozen surface of Upper Grinnell Lake, and having determined that it was safe enough, we decided to do the same. Here’s an action shot of Julie leaping around on the ice:
Julie jumping around on the frozen surface of Upper Grinnell Lake
And posing:
Julie posing on frozen surface of Upper Grinnell Lake
Here I am, not only wearing my Auburn cap, but also coincidentally dressed in Auburn’s colors of orange and blue:
Charlie posing on frozen surface of Upper Grinnell Lake
A shot of me without the hat:
Charlie posing on frozen surface of Upper Grinnell Lake
12:39 p.m.: After a quick lunch, we followed the bedrock along the shore of Upper Grinnell Lake, making our way toward Grinnell Glacier. The round marks are stromatolites, which are “layered accretionary structures formed in shallow water by the trapping, binding and cementation of sedimentary grains by biofilms (microbial mats) of microorganisms, especially cyanobacteria”:
Stromatolites adjacent to Grinnell Glacier
12:45 p.m.: Julie and I were disappointed that we couldn’t get to the glacier. We had not planned to walk on the glacier, as there are crevasses in glaciers and we were not trained or equipped for such an adventure, but I had hoped to get closer.
Warning Sign Near Grinnell Glacier
The problem was that we saw no way to get past the stream of water that was spilling from Upper Grinnell Lake to form Grinnell Falls:
Runoff from Upper Grinnell Lake to Grinnell Falls
Runoff from Upper Grinnell Lake to Grinnell Falls, with Salamander Glacier Above
The Mississippi State man showed up with some of his group, having enjoyed an impressive lunch at the lake. He had contended that there was a way to get to the glacier, but he seemed surprised to see the water running off from the lake. Perhaps at times it is frozen, or dry. He scampered downhill in a flash, trying to find a place to cross, but I believe that was hopeless, and suspect that he eventually gave up.
12:56 p.m.: Julie and I left the stream at that point and returned to the part of the lake where we had enjoyed lunch.
Charlie posing in front of Upper Grinnell Lake, with Salamander Glacier overhead
Charlie Posing in Front of Upper Grinnell Lake
The scenery without me in it:
Upper Grinnell Lake and Salamander Glacier
Upper Grinnell Lake, Gem Glacier, and Salamander Glacier
I saw a couple taking photos of each other and volunteered to capture both of them, and they returned the favor for the two of us:
Charlie and Julie at Upper Grinnell Lake
A closer shot:
Charlie and Julie at Upper Grinnell Lake
This was probably our favorite hike of the park, and we lingered longer there than we had at Iceberg Lake, staying about 90 minutes.
We finally began our descent, and I photographed a butterfly visiting a wildflower:
Wildflower and butterfly
Descending the trail, we passed the man from the day before who had greeted me with “War Eagle,” and he repeated the greeting and I again answered but passed him without a chance to talk. But then a few moments later we passed his wife, who was sitting on a rock to rest, and she called out that she recognized us from the day before, on the Iceberg Lake hike. I asked if she was from Atlanta and she said that they were. She said that her husband had gone to “Tech”–presumably Georgia Tech–a one-time Auburn rival, but that they had many family members who had attended Auburn.
As we reached Lake Josephine, we realized that we had just missed the boat and that it would be another hour before it returned to the dock. We therefore decided to continue hiking on the trail along the lake back to Many Glacier Hotel. While it would add 1.7 miles to our hike, it was relatively flat. Thus, our total hike for the day was about 8 miles, with a climb and descent of 1200′.
3:39 p.m.: Back at Swiftcurrent Lake:
Swiftcurrent Lake and Grinnell Point,
4:10 p.m.: I took another photograph of Many Glacier Hotel, from the parking lot on top of a hill.
Many Glacier Hotel and Swiftcurrent Lake
Climbing to the parking lot, a man stopped to ask me if I was from Alabama, and said that he had grown up there and had supported Auburn, though most of his family had preferred the University of Alabama. He said that he had lived in Louisiana for the past 16 years and now supported LSU. Julie was pretty amazed at all the attention that the hat was getting, and that grew when later another man approached me and said that I was supporting the wrong Tigers. I was going to ask him if he was an LSU fan when he volunteered that he was a Clemson Tiger. Julie said that she didn’t think she would have attracted much notice if she had worn a Carnegie Mellon baseball cap.
8:12 p.m.: As we drove back to Apgar, we stopped at Glacier Park Lodge, which we had driven past on Montana Highway 49 the day before. Its architecture had impressed me and the Moon guide said that it was a worthwhile place to visit. There was a pretty lawn in front:
Glacier Park Lodge
The interior was especially nice:
Interior of Glacier Park Lodge
I had hoped to see a mountain goat up close on the trip, but so far had not seen one. This fellow was awfully close, but also was long dead:
Stuffed Mountain Goat
After another long but rewarding day of hiking and sightseeing, we returned to our campsite at Apgar around 10:15 p.m. It looked as though it had rained a bit, and it was threatening to rain a little more.
Saturday: This was my Sabbath, from about 8:30 p.m. on Friday to about 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, so Julie knew that she was on her own as far as traveling and sightseeing.
Julie decided to wake early and travel to explore the Many Glacier area on the east side of the park, even though we were planning to go there together on Sunday to hike to Iceberg Lake. She left camp by around 6:30 a.m.
With nowhere to go, I slept and/or rested until later, finally got up, said my prayers, limped around Loop A of the campground a couple of times while wearing sandals instead of boots, ate lunch, limped the short distance to the Lake McDonald boat ramp, rested a bit, and read some of a book that I had purchased on Thursday afternoon at the visitor’s center in Apgar Village. (Julie had recommended Stephen E. Ambrose’s Undaunted Courage, the story of Meriwether Lewis and the Lewis & Clark Expedition, and I’m slowly making my way through it.) Julie returned around 7:00 p.m. and reported on her adventures in the east part of the park.
From Many Glacier Hotel, she had ridden a boat across Swiftcurrent Lake, walked 1/4 mile across a little strip of land to Lake Josephine, and then caught another boat to take her across that lake. From there, she walked about 0.8 miles across relatively flat terrain to Grinnell Lake. Attorneys seem to gravitate together, and on the boat ride she had found one traveling alone: Ed Lee, an Intellectual Property professor from Chicago. She invited Ed to join us for our planned Sunday hike.
Sunday: When planning the vacation and listing the hikes we had been interested in, I had hoped to get a good view of a glacier. One option had been an optional detour from the Highline Trail (our previous hike) to an overlook of Grinnell Glacier. But the Highline Trail was a long hike to start with, and as we had approached the turnoff to the overlook, neither Julie nor I had especially been interested in adding the extra distance or elevation. [Also, I had to be back at camp before the Sabbath started, which was another reason not to add the detour to the overlook.]
Another option to see a glacier had been to hike to Grinnell Glacier from the east side of the park, as it was accessible from Many Glacier hotel and/or the boat shuttle that Julie had taken on Saturday. However, Julie had wanted to hike to Iceberg Lake in the Many Glacier area, and I agreed we would do that on Sunday. I decided that I didn’t have to see a glacier up-close.
We woke early and drove east. Instead of taking Going-to-the-Sun Road, we took U.S. Route 2, which passed south of the park. While it was a longer route, the speed limit was higher. Upon reaching the east side of the park, we turned north onto slow, winding Montana Highway 49.
Highway 49 only ran 12 miles, and then we took U.S. Route 89 north to Many Glacier Road, where we turned west and entered the park. Whether taking Going-to-the-Sun Road across the park, or Route 2 to skirt around the park’s southern border, the trip from Apgar to Many Glacier is about 2-1/4 hours.
We met Ed at Swiftcurrent Motor Inn, where he was staying, and walked from the parking lot to the trailhead.
10:12 a.m.: Like the Apgar Lookout Trail, this was another hike that would enter and return on the same path. In fact, the Highline Trail/Loop Trail was the only hike I did in Glacier that didn’t involve hiking in and out on the same trail.
The hike to Iceberg Lake begins on the Ptarmigan Trail, and then upon reaching Ptarmigan Falls, follows the Iceberg Lake Trail the rest of the way.
10:35 a.m.: Here we are on the Ptarmigan Trail, with 9321′ Mt. Wilbur visible behind the ridge on the left:
Ptarmigan Trail, Mt. Wilbur visible behind ridge at left
11:01 a.m.: The Ptarmigan Trail included a forested area of pine and fir:
A forested area on the Ptarmigan Trail
11:08 a.m.: Here, the trail followed a U-bend around a valley. The path may be visible both on the left and the right of the photo.
View from Ptarmigan Trail
11:15 a.m.: After 2.6 miles, we passed Ptarmigan Falls and turned left onto the Iceberg Lake trail.
11:34 a.m.: Iceberg Peak came into view. Iceberg Lake is nestled into that bowl, below the ridge and therefore not visible in this photo:
View from Iceberg Lake Trail
11:42 a.m.: The path took us by many colorful wildflowers:
Wildflowers
11:43 a.m.: Colorful rock strata:
Rock strata
11:48 a.m.: Iceberg Peak is getting closer, though we still can’t quite see Iceberg Lake:
Iceberg Lake Trail
11:58 a.m.: I can’t figure out what this mountain is:
View from Iceberg Lake Trail
12:01 p.m.: A plank bridge let us cross an outlet creek of Iceberg Lake:
Crossing Iceberg Creek
12:03 p.m.: We passed a tiny turquoise pond:
View from Iceberg Lake Trail
12:09 p.m.: After 4.9 miles from the trailhead, and a gain of 1200′ elevation, we reached Iceberg Lake, really making excellent time:
Iceberg Lake
The lake is only a little more than 1/2 mile long, so it’s not huge.
Iceberg Lake
I had also envisioned massive icebergs with peaks projecting far above the surface, and the reality was much more modest. Still, it was a fun spot to visit.
Iceberg Lake
We asked Ed to take our photo in front of the lake. Wow, Julie is almost as tall as I am:
Charlie and Julie at Iceberg Lake
Oh, wait a minute . . .
. . . nevermind.
We ate lunch at Iceberg Lake, where the water temperature was 38 degrees. One hiker stripped down to his shorts and first waded into the water and then jumped in. It was enough for me to dangle my fingers in it for a few seconds.
12:55 p.m.: We began returning via the same trail. This is another view of the turquoise pond beside Iceberg Lake. The pond isn’t named on my map.
Pond adjacent to Iceberg Lake
1:21 p.m.: More scenery from the trail:
View from Iceberg Lake Trail
1:31 p.m.: Upon passing a tree with a hole through its center, I decided to get creative. This is a photo in which the foreground (tree) is focused, while the background (Julie) is out of focus:
Julie through hole in tree, shallow depth of field with foreground in focus
A detail of the previous photo:
Closeup of Julie through hole in tree
And a different shot, in which I shifted the focus to Julie, though the tree is also more or less in focus:
Another version, with Julie in focus
1:40 p.m.: This is Ptarmigan Falls
Ptarmigan Falls
2:04 p.m.: A view from the Ptarmigan Trail:
Ptarmigan Trail
2:33 p.m.: We returned to the trailhead, having completed the 9.8 mile hike. Ed claimed not to hike very much, but he led us out and both Julie and I thought that he had been moving at a very fast pace. Covering 4.9 miles in a little more than an hour and a half is very impressive (though that was going downhill).
I had put some moleskin on my blistered foot before beginning the hike, and that helped a lot.
We walked back to Swiftcurrent Motor Inn, where Julie and Ed bought something to drink, while I opted for ice cream. Ed wasn’t planning to do other hikes, and we bid farewell, though I had learned that he was going to be on my flight from Kalispell to Chicago on Wednesday.
3:32 p.m.: Julie and I drove east on Many Glacier Road, encountering a “bear jam,” a group of cars stopped with people standing around and pointing cameras and binoculars up the adjacent ridge. We had seen such a gathering on our way to meet Ed in the morning, but not wanting to be late, I hadn’t stopped then.
We learned there was a momma grizzly and two cubs on the ridge, about 300 yards away, and I put my telephoto lens to work. Even with the telephoto, the bears were small specks, so these images are crops of the original photos:
Grizzly bears
Grizzly bears
Detail of last photo
Grizzly bears
As we continued driving out of the park on Many Glacier Road, we drove by Lake Sherburne, a reservoir formed in 1921 following the construction of Lake Sherburne Dam, which that controls the flow of Swiftcurrent Creek.
3:52 p.m.: Passing the dam at the east side of the reservoir, the road then continued toward the east for a while, paralleling Swiftcurrent Creek:
Swiftcurrent Creek
Returning to Route 89, we drove south to Saint Mary, and drove up Going-to-the-Sun Road.
4:31 p.m.: We stopped at Sun Point to appreciate Saint Mary Lake, which is the second largest lake in the park. The lake is almost as long as Lake McDonald in the west of the park, but is narrower and not as deep.
St. Mary Lake
St. Mary Lake includes a tiny island, Wild Goose Island:
Wild Goose Island is a tiny bit of land in St. Mary Lake
4:46 p.m.: Returning to Going-to-the-Sun Road, we also stopped at the Jackson Glacier Lookout, where I photographed Blackfoot Glacier and Jackson Glacier. At one point, they had been a single large glacier.
Blackfoot and Jackson Glaciers
We continued driving west, over Logan Pass, and stopped at Avalanche Creek. I had mentioned to Julie that I thought we should hike the Trail of the Cedars, and she moaned that she was tired after the 9.8-mile Iceberg Lake hike. But I reminded her that she was tough and that this might be our only opportunity to be at this park. The Moon guide described this as a boardwalk through a rain forest. I wasn’t sure what to expect from a rain forest, but thought that there would be a cloud hanging overhead, and rain, and colorful parrots flitting about, and snakes hanging from the trees. Of course, it wasn’t like that at all.
5:39 p.m.: We parked right beside the trail, where a sign indicated the Trail of the Cedars was to the left, where we saw a boardwalk, and that the Avalanche Lake Trail was to the right, where we saw asphalt. We followed the boardwalk to the left.
Trail of the Cedars
Trail of the Cedars
I pose in front of a dead tree:
Posing on Trail of the Cedars
After about 100 yards, we came to the Going-to-the-Sun Road. We were confused, as it appeared that the Trail of the Cedars was only 100 yards, and we returned to the car and the campground. Reviewing the Moon guide, I saw that the Trail of the Cedars formed a 0.7 mile loop, but apparently to complete the loop one had to walk down part of the asphalt trail that marked the way to the Avalanche Lake Trail.
Julie remembered that I had originally been interested in hiking to Grinnell Glacier, and she said that she had heard good things about it, and that the long car ride between Apgar and Many Glacier didn’t bother her that much. Thus, if I wanted to return to Many Glacier on Tuesday, she was up for it. I was quick to agree!
Friday: While planning the trip, Julie and I had each read the Moon Guide and listed the hikes we were interested in. We both agreed that the 11.6-mile Highline Trail/Loop Trail sounded good.
These trails run between Logan Pass and The Loop. Logan Pass is a pass over the Continental Divide that has a Visitor Center and a large parking lot. The Loop is a switchback on Going-to-the-Sun Road that has a small parking area. The Loop is about 23 miles from Apgar Village, while Logan Pass is about 30 miles away. A shuttle runs between the two locations, so getting back to the car was no problem.
We had a choice of traveling from Logan Pass to The Loop, or vice versa. What’s the difference? Well, The Loop is at a much lower altitude, so starting at Logan Pass meant a climb of about 900′ on the 7.6-mile Highline Trail section, but then a descent of 2000′ on the 4-mile Loop Trail section. Starting at The Loop meant a climb of about 2000′ and then a descent of 900′. Some people find it easier to climb than descend, but I was ambivalent. The descriptions of the hike assume hikers will start on the Highline Trail and finish on the Loop Trail. Another factor was that a ranger-led hike was available, starting at 9:00 a.m. from Logan Pass. We therefore decided to start at Logan Pass with the Highline Trail, and to get there in time for the ranger-led hike.
The visitor center at Apgar Village told us to allow 1-1/2 hours to travel the 30 mile distance to Logan Pass. Not only is the road narrow and winding with steep drop-offs, but there was also construction on the road that resulted in only one lane being open. We therefore left around 7:15 a.m.
We arrived at Logan Pass around 8:45, easily found parking, and wandered around for a few minutes before we found the group gathering for the hike. While waiting for the ranger, I snapped a few photos.
8:42 a.m.: This is Reynolds Mountain, a 9125′ peak on the Continental Divide, south of Logan Pass.
Reynolds Mountain
9:01 a.m.: Julie and I pose behind the sign at Logan Pass, with Reynolds Mountain behind us on the left.
Charlie and Julie at Logan Pass
9:19 a.m.: Our ranger actually didn’t show up until around 9:10, as she hadn’t allowed enough time for the drive from West Glacier/Apgar to Logan Pass. There were about a dozen hikers, and we quickly got started, crossing to the west side of Going-to-the-Sun Road and climbing the trail.
The Highline Trail ran roughly parallel to the road, though generally out of sight of it. The trail also paralleled the Continental Divide for most of the way, except that the mountains quickly gained in altitude above Logan Pass, while the trail followed at a lower level.
The guidebook had said that the beginning of the trail was the most narrow part, and made some people nervous, as there was a sheer drop to the road below. I found the trail to not be so narrow, and there was a cable attached to the rock wall to the right to assist those who felt nervous.
The Highline Trail climbs above Going-to-the-Sun Road
Having mentioned Going-to-the-Sun Road, I should add that while it travels from the west side of the park to the east side, its name is not developed from the fact that it follows the path of the Sun across the sky. Rather, the road is named for Going to the Sun Mountain, in the northeast part of the park.
9:28 p.m.: Here is another view of Reynolds Mountain, on the left:
Reynolds Mountain
The mountains to our right were Pollock Mountain, Bishops Cap, and Mount Gould. At the beginning of the hike, the Highline Trail passes the “Garden Wall,” an alpine area featuring wildflowers and other vegetation. Thus, the hike offered more than just panoramic views of the mountains to the south and west.
Wildflowers
Wildflowers
10:04 a.m.: This is 8987′ Heaven’s Peak, which was about six miles southwest of us:
Heaven’s Peak
10:40 a.m.: Heaven’s Peak is also visible in the middle of this wide-angle panorama.
View from the Highline Trail
At this point the Highline Trail was about 7000′ or 7250′ in elevation, close to the highest point on the trail. The next photo shows the wall to our right (northeast), which was about 2000′ higher. At least part of the wall is an arête, a thin ridge of rock that separates two valleys, formed due to glacial action. The triangular white area between the arête and the blue sky is a corner of Gem Glacier, with most of it only being visible from the east side of the Continental Divide.
A glacier is a persistent body of ice that is at least 25 acres in size, and 100′ thick, that slowly moves across the landscape. Gem Glacier is too small to officially be considered a glacier, but as it is still moving, the park continues to call the ice field a glacier.
Arête and Gem Glacier
The ranger told us a bit about the geology of the park. Much of the rock in Glacier was argillite, formed as muds were compacted into rock, 1.6 billion to 800 million years ago. It is therefore “rotten rock” not suitable for technical climbing, as it will crumble rather than hold support anchors. It is also noticeable that the argillites include both red and green colors. The red represents iron oxide compounds, and the ranger said that the green rocks were formed without oxygen being present, whereas the red rocks were formed with oxygen present, leading to the formation of the red iron oxide.
Red and green argillites
Some of the rocks also had nice patterns. For example, as mud dried, it cracked, and when the pressure led to the mud’s lithification into solid rock, the cracks remained as a pattern:
Rock with mud cracks
10:55 a.m.: More scenery:
View from the Highline Trail
11:06 a.m.: Another panorama:
View from the Highline Trail
11:16 a.m.: We stopped for a break, and I photographed a Columbian ground squirrel from about 12 feet away:
Columbian ground squirrel
11:36 a.m.: Our break ended, but others were still enjoying the day by sitting on a boulder:
Resting on a boulder
Looking south again, with Reynolds Mountain at center:
Reynolds Mountain
11:50 a.m.: This is a view toward the southwest, with McDonald Creek being visible.
Southwest view from Highline Trail
12:16 p.m.: Looking to the wall above us to the northeast.
Highline Trail
12:29 p.m.: In this view toward the southwest, one can see a bit of Lake McDonald in the valley between the two mountains.
Southwest view from the Highline Trail
1:31 p.m.: An hour later (and after a lunch break), the view had not changed much toward the southwest, with Lake McDonald still being visible in the upper left of the photo:
View from the Highline Trail
2:30 p.m.: The Granite Park Chalet, built in 1914, came into view. At the time, rich tourists enjoyed vacations in the Swiss Alps. An effort was made to market Glacier National Park to attract some of those rich tourists (as well as those of more modest means), by exhorting them to “See America First.” These remote buildings were called “chalet,” with the architecture invoking those of the Alps. The chalets are not accessible by vehicle, but are nonetheless very popular. Many hikers spend a night at one or two of the park’s chalets, using them as a base for other hikes.
Granite Park Chalet, Highline Trail
We stopped at Granite Park Chalet to use the outhouse, and we also peaked into the store/cafe. This marked the end of the 7.6-mile Highline Trail, and all we had left was the 4 mile Loop Trail and its 2000′ descent to The Loop.
We also learned that we were losing our ranger at this point, as she announced that the ranger-led portion of the hike was over. I guess when the park publication said that it was a ranger-led hike on the Highline Trail, they really meant only on the Highline Trail, and not including the Loop Trail back to the road. Julie and I began our descent on the Loop Trail. The ranger soon caught up and flew past us downhill, and we never saw her again.
The views on the Loop Trail were not as inspiring as those on the Highline Trail, though at times it was still pretty. I’m undecided as to whether I prefer hiking uphill or downhill. Uphill is definitely harder on my cardiovascular system, but downhill is harder on my feet. As we descended, I began developing a blister on the bottom edge of my right heel.
3:44 p.m.: Julie leads the way on the Loop Trail:
Descending the Loop Trail
4:16 p.m.: A few minutes before reaching The Loop, we caught sight of the parking area there. It seemed very close to me, and I was surprised that it then vanished. Apparently we had to circle around a bit to get to it. We also crossed a pedestrian bridge across a stream.
Loop Trail, near The Loop
We finally reached Going-to-the-Sun Road at The Loop, and caught a shuttle back to Logan Pass, where we had parked the car. We then drove back to the campsite at Apgar.
I drove from there to the KOA campground and their showers. Julie had never heard of KOA before. I had heard of the chain of campgrounds before, though I never stayed at one. They are more expensive than the public campgrounds offered by the Federal and State governments, but Julie said that she could understand why KOA would be a draw for families. KOA offered a pool, a nice store, and was very well maintained, with a nice lawn and flower beds.
