Going to the Sun, Part 2

Friday morning I got up around the same time as the sun and ventured out for a run.  With us being on the north end of Kalispell I basically just followed some bike paths out of town and wandered on some back roads.  It felt a lot like running in Logan, only the Flathead Valley is much wider than the Cache Valley so I couldn’t run to the mountains.

Back at the hotel, Susan and I grabbed breakfast and packed the car for the day.  We went straight back to Glacier NP through the West Glacier gate and proceeded past the areas we saw yesterday.  The main agenda item was to take on the entire length of the Going to the Sun Road, which is the main artery of the entire park.  It is only open for full transit a few months of the year due to the extreme road conditions, which we would discover later.

A quick stop along the road

First stop for Friday though was only a few miles past Lake McDonald at the Trail of the Cedars.  This is about a mile loop hike on boardwalks through a cedar forest.  It would be a great stroll any time of the day since the large cedars provide ample shade, but the temps were especially pleasant this morning.  The lushness of the wildlife was surprising, especially after having been exposed to the dry Utah wilderness as long as we have.  The trees and undergrowth were almost jungle-like by comparison.  The trail also provided a small waterfall overlook at the back of the loop and had access to other more aggressive hikes splitting off from the trail.  We opted to not take on aggressive hikes on this trip since we had so much park to see in a little time and also because “little lady Kissel” is limiting our extended hiking capabilities.

 
Sights along the trail, including an uprooted tree

Leaving Trail of the Cedars we drove along the river valley for a few miles more and into the glacier-cut mountains (very sheer) we saw from the boat cruise yesterday.  Before long, we were climbing.  After a large switchback called the Loop, the road really narrows and starts heading up and up toward the Logan Pass.  Along the way up the road, there a number of small pull-outs with incredible views in all directions.  We stopped numerous times to take shots of the river winding through the valley, the snowmelts on the slopes above, the sheer mountains and bowls across the valley, and the few small glaciers we could see. 

Behind us is Jackson Glacier

The car gives some perspective along this route
  
Beautiful views

Triple Arches

There were sections as we got closer to the pass where melting snow created waterfalls that were pouring onto the narrow ledge that was the road.  It’s amazing to think the engineering technology and tools were available in the 1930’s to create this road in the first-place and we could understand why it normally is still closed at the higher elevations until June.  Eventually, we reached Logan Pass which is the peak of the road and has a (very crowded) visitor’s center.  Here I was able to finally view bighorn sheep in the wild (I’ve been searching for them for years).  A small group of 6 or 7 were grazing the hillsides across from the parking lot, so Susan and I got lots of pictures of these majestic animals.  Apparently the mountain goats also can be found at Logan Pass most of the time, but we were so enamored with the sheep we missed the goats completely and continued east toward the St. Mary’s Lake side of the park.

Jeff with the sheep

Tunnel along the road

The descent down the east portion of the road was still breathtaking, but not quite as dramatic as the west side.  Also, we were hungry and it was getting to be late lunch time so we made less stops along the way out to St. Mary’s.  After leaving the east gate, we hunted around a little before finding a roadside café in Babb, MT.  From the café, we were less than 10 miles drive from the Canadian border…but we didn’t bring our passports so this would not be an international vacation.

Refueled, Susan and I ventured back into the park via a dead end road to the Many Glacier area.  This section of the park has a historic hotel designed to look like a chalet that sits on a lake that is perfectly framed by the surrounding peaks.  From here there are hikes leading to many of the larger remaining glaciers, but we did not have the time or energy to take them on so instead opted for a stroll along the lake shore.

A picturesque view on our route

Many Glacier Lodge

Us down by the lake

After stretching our legs at Many Glacier, it was time to head southward.  Outside the park again we moved down to the Two Medicine campground area, which is another dead-end entrance.  About halfway to the end of the road we pulled off and hiked a nature trail that led to a fairly large waterfall.  It was a nice .75 mile walk to get our energy back up from the afternoon lull.  Two Medicine would be the last area of the park we would tour.  To make the loop back to Kalispell we took the southern highway that parallels the railroad that defines the southern border of the park.  This was obviously a much quicker route and got us back to the Flathead Valley around dinner time.

  

For dinner, we ate at Hops, which was well reviewed from our research.  It was a small gastro pub with a large local beer selection and a menu skewed toward gourmet burgers.  The food was good, particularly Susan’s duck wings with huckleberry barbeque sauce.  Beat after dinner, we called it a day and returned to the hotel.

Saturday morning, I was up early again for a bike ride where I headed west on the flat valley roads.  It was a short ride and I was nearly back to the hotel when I flatted and Susan had to rescue me (I used my spare the previous evening when getting the bike prepped.  After the rescue, we loaded up the car, picked up Derby, and got on the road.  We took the roads south along Flathead Lake, which is beautiful and enormous so provided ample distraction as we made our way toward Missoula.

I had heard that Missoula was an interesting city, so we decided to use a day visit there as a way to break up the drive home.  We got to town and dropped off Derby for daycare and headed downtown for lunch.  Lunch was at the Riverside Café, which was fresh and delicious.  Susan’s carrot burger was especially interesting.  From there we made a loop down to the famous Carousel for Missoula and through downtown but were bummed that we had just missed the Saturday Market which had just closed on our arrival. 

Carrot burger and chick pea salad

Carousel     &     Playing in the park

Back at the car, we realized we were a little burned out of being out in the heat so looked for some indoor entertainment options.  Unfortunately we didn’t come up with much, so took a quick visit to the Bayern Brewery tasting room, drove around the University of Montana campus, and visited the Good Food Store (that’s right, a grocery) before picking up the pup midafternoon and leaving town.

The original plan had been to leave Missoula in the evening and crash for the night a few hours further south, but as we got going we decided to just haul it all the way home and save ourselves from an extra Motel 6 stay.  We arrived back in Logan late Saturday night and were gassed, but earned a full day of relaxation before kicking off another work week.

Derby finding alternatives to sleeping (since his mommy no longer has a lap for him to sleep on)

Rainbow in Idaho

Overall the trip was great and Glacier NP is definitely one of the must-see national parks.  It has a ton of variety and can be enjoyed by both the active outdoorsman with its ample hiking (which we’ll have to try and get back to) and the auto-tourist with the stunning Going to the Sun Road and the historic lodges.  This is our last real road trip while in Utah…the move back to Cincinnati is less than a month away now…time flies!

Going to the Sun with a 4th of July Weekend in Montana, Part 1

With one more holiday weekend out in Utah, Susan and I decided to take advantage of our (relative) proximity to Montana and venture northward for the long 4th of July holiday.  We hit the road Wednesday evening with the main focus of the trip being to visit Glacier National Park.
Wednesday evening, we set off after work and drove toward Butte, MT.  In Idaho near the Montana border we came drove under cloudy skies and through the first significant rainfall we’ve seen in weeks.  As the air cleared about 2 hours south of Butte, we were provided a beautiful sunset to guide us to our overnight destination and caught most of the Butte fireworks show as we were settling into our hotel for the night.

 
Montana sunset

Butte fireworks from our Motel 6 hotel room

Thursday morning it was back on the road bright and early to make sure we could drop Derby off at his boarding site (PBR Kennels…the official beer kennel of summer?) in Kalispell.  Most of the route from Butte to Kalispell was on back highways through small lake towns, very scenic.
By 10am we had arrived in Kalispell and dropped off Derby for a couple days, then ran some quick errands before heading into Glacier NP just to the Northwest of town.  Today the plan was to just view the “tip of the iceberg” (pun intended) so we wouldn’t be venturing far into the park.  After driving through a plethora of tourist towns and huckleberry themed souvenir shops, we hit the park boundary.

Only a couple miles past the West Glacier park entrance we came across the edge of Lake McDonald, a long and narrow glacier fed lake that dominates the western valley of the portion of the park viewed from the Going to the Sun Road.  The Lake McDonald Lodge would be another 8 miles or so along the lake and was our main destination for the day.
Once arriving at the lodge, Susan and I wandered through the lodge lobby and to the back porch where we grabbed some rustic rocking chairs overlooking the boat dock and had a picnic lunch.  Not long after lunch we were scheduled to board the DeSmet, a tour boat that has been in service since the 1930’s for a guided lake cruise.  The tour was interesting but the highlight was our guide who had been giving this same tour for the past 50 years.  He tended to ramble at times and you could tell he was a little too proud of his catchphrase “…a land formed from water, ice, and fire!”, but he was certainly well informed and amusing to listen to.  As we cruised we were able to take in dramatic views of the glacier carved mountains to the west, the forested hillsides to the north and south, and the evidence of a 2006 forest fire on the northwest shore.

Picnic lunch

DeSmet on the lake

Our tour guide

On the rooftop of the boat during our trip

Back on dry land Susan and I were feeling pretty rundown from the early start to the day, so we ventured back toward Kalispell with a quick stop at Apgar Village, the first lodging area on the west side of the park.  En route back to town, we made a pit stop at HuckLand for some ice cream and to ogle all things huckleberry.

Totem pole outside the lodge

Horseback riders

By Lake McDonald
 
Huckland     &     Susan enjoying huckleberry ice cream

Late afternoon back in Kalispell and it was time for a nap!  We lazed around the hotel until around 7pm before venturing out for dinner.  The plan for the evening was to catch the Whitefish Lake fireworks about 20 miles to our north.  Looking for dinner options in Whitefish, we kept coming across places that were closed for the holiday and were afraid we’d get up to town and have no options for dinner.  To make sure we were fed, we settled on Applebee’s before leaving Kalispell.  This was a poor decision since we found plenty of interesting local options open once we reached Whitefish (the Applebee’s itself was fine).
Either way, we hiked from our parking spot in downtown Whitefish, which is a small ski village that reminded me of a smaller and less tacky Jackson in the downtown section, to the city beach at the southern outflow of Whitefish Lake.  The small public beach was buzzing with families, but seemed to be a mostly local crowd.  We setup chairs overlooking the water and hung out until show time around 10:30 (the sun stays up a very long time in summer this far north).  The firework show itself was nothing to write home about, but we thoroughly enjoyed it for a couple reasons:

1. Susan had her tripod and was able to take awesome pictures.
   
2. The backdrop for the fireworks show of lake surrounded by mountains was a perfect setting.
   
3. The barge shooting the fireworks caught fire near the end (no one injured) and provided some extra late show intrigue.
   

 

After the show we hiked along the river back to the car and watched as some of the locals kayaked back to their houses…very cool.  Then it was back to the hotel to bed.  Another big day loomed ahead on Friday.

Cache Valley Hiking 6–Swan Peak Trail

Behind the numbers:

• 4.5 miles out and back (Jeff went 5 with backtracking)

• ~1300 feet elevation gain/loss – 600+ feet in first .75 miles

• 4 hour round trip at leisurely pace

Swan Peak is a mountain peak on the eastern edge of the Bear River Range that overlooks Bear Lake.  The elevation at the peak is about 9080 feet, so it’s a substantial mountain in the range.  The Swan Peak hike starts at Swan Flats, a small mountain valley about 4 miles off the canyon highway at about 8300 feet.  The trailhead is not well marked with a wooden signpost like many of the other more popular hikes in the area…this would be indicative of the remainder of the trail as well (poor markings).  Susan and I drove past the trailhead before reading the Cache Trails book more closely and backtracking to it.

The trail starts with a very short descent to a dried creek bed and then gets serious with the climbing.  The next ~.5 miles are basically straight up the face of the mountain, gaining ~650 feet over this stretch.  One positive of this is that there is good foliage to provide some shade and the higher elevation is a little cooler than the usual summer Utah heat.  However, this stretch is slow and strenuous.  A couple areas along the climb, downed trees and brush have obscured the trail and we managed to walk off course twice before reaching the next section of the hike.

Susan picked up a walking stick to help her up the steep part

After taking a breather when you hit around 8900 feet and the path levels, the next ~.7 miles are almost flat along open meadows just below the ridgeline.  This section provides spectacular panoramic views of the surrounding mountains, had pleasant breezes despite being exposed, and had a lot of colorful wildflowers growing along the trail.  This stretch alone would make the initial effort worthwhile in my opinion.

  

The next portion of the hike climbs quickly to the ridgeline (only about 100 feet vertical) and then drops over the other side and back down a little bit to pick up an old jeep road.  The guidebook talked about a pond in a fir tree forest to the east, so Susan and I walked there and found a woodpecker, but then couldn’t find the jeep road (or any trail out of the forest).  The jeep road trail actually continues south before the forest and pond so going to visit that area is really an aside and not part of the hike proper.

Mr. Woodpecker

Once we navigated out of the forest and picked up the trail again we wandered along the jeep road through relatively flat exposed terrain.  The jeep road continues until it starts to descend a bit, and this is where things get sketchy.  The guidebook indicates that to get to the peak you need to leave the jeep trail for an “indistinct path heading eastward” once you approach the south-facing slope.  If indistinct was supposed to mean nonexistent, then the book nailed it.  I left Susan and scrambled with Derby through brush up the climb to the east until I stumbled upon the peak (noted by a stack of rocks and a metal antenna).  I assumed from the peak the trail would become evident…it did not.  However, the view at the peak was spectacular allowing you to take in the entire Bear Lake Valley in one unobstructed panorama.  Unfortunately, I was now lost from Susan without a trail back to the path and was disoriented as to the way I came from so the view was mostly lost on me…Derby also seemed too distracted to take it in.

After scrambling on the hillside again with Derby, I decided to turn on the breadcrumb trail on my Garmin GPS watch.  It showed me how far off the paths I’d previously taken I was (and how much I wandered around) and allowed me to work my way back until I was within vocal range of Susan…whew!  I’d have been pretty bummed about losing my pregnant wife on the mountain alone while I had all the water, food, and technology with me.

Once regrouped, we opted to not repeat my climb to the peak and instead followed the jeep road a little further until it opened up to Bear Lake itself further down the mountainside.  The view did have some obstructions, but was very impressive nonetheless.  In the area near the terminus of the trail we encountered 2 other sets of hikers who each were having the same problems locating the way to the peak.

Turnaround point (Bear Lake in the background)

The return trip essentially backtracked using the same route without the detours with one notable exception.  We stayed on the jeep road longer and it took us above our previous path allowing us to get a bonus view of the north end of Bear Lake from behind Swan Peak.

Susan with the lake in the background

The return route was much less strenuous until the last .6 miles where we had to descend the steep hillside.  Here it was slow going since the trail was so steep and littered with loose debris that footing was difficult at times.  Susan even took to “scooting” portions of the descent.  Eventually, we made it back to the car dried out and tired (Derby in particular, who completed the last mile of the hike under protest…laying down in the shade whenever possible) having completed maybe the slowest 4.5 miles of hiking in history.

Susan scooting down the mountain

Overall, we rated this hike as one of our top 3 favorites of the ones we’ve completed despite the trail confusion and the difficulty.  The variety offered by the open meadows, the mountain views, the pine forests, and the lake and valley views along with the milder temperatures and wind and shade available made this hike a winner.  If someone would just mark the path to the peak it would be near perfect.

Susan wasn’t the only one worn out by this hike!