The Bighorn Sheep at Grinnell Glacier

I hiked over Swiftcurrent Pass and back into the valley, to end my hike of Glacier National Park, but I wasn't ready to leave. On the way to the trailhead to reunite with my car, I took the 11.4-mile out-and-back trip to Grinnell Glacier, bringing the day's total to 21 miles. It felt good to know I can still do a 21-mile day. 

Swiftcurrent Pass
The extra miles to Grinnell Glacier paid off. The hike there was beautiful enough to make it worthwhile, but when I climbed the final hill to look down at the glacier, I found myself in the middle of a herd of Bighorn Sheep.

There are days when I feel like I'm living the best life on Earth.

  
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A Backpacker's Life List by Ryan Grayson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.   

The Deer at Granite Park

The Highline Trail
“Uhh... you piece of shit. I’m tired of chasing deer!” Sorry for the language again, but it is what I yelled at the second deer that stole my trekking pole. Although, to be honest, I loved chasing it through the woods. And this one gave a better chase.

Sprinting behind the deer, seeing that white tail bound up and down as it zigged and zagged through the woods, made me feel like a Paleolithic hunter. It was kind of exciting. Granted, I had no idea what I would do if I caught up to it. I just wanted my pole back.

Fifty Mountain
I hiked to this Granite Park campsite on the Highline Trail, the most popular route in the park. Since I came here without a plan or reservation, I was unable to book one of the campsites along this trail. Then after long conversations with two hikers at Stoney Indian Lake, they invited me to camp with them on Fifty Mountain, so I wouldn't have to leave Glacier without hiking on Highline.

And now they were watching me chase a deer into the woods with a trekking pole hanging out of its mouth.

Sue Lake
As it ran, the trekking pole routinely jabbed it in the mouth when the tip would stick in the ground like a pole vault. In the end, that’s why I still have both trekking poles. The tip of the pole jammed in the ground and was jerked out of its mouth. That’s when it turned and saw me running at it like Braveheart and decided to give up the loot.

Highline Near Fifty Mountain
I wish I could say I leaped onto its back, wrapped my arms around its neck, and tackled it to the ground in order to take back my property. Actually, this is my blog, I can say what I want. Let’s just say I did that.

Marmot on Highline
I clipped my poles onto a clothesline, to dry out the saliva and so this wouldn’t happen again. After retreating to my mosquito-free tent to read, someone ran past yelling, “Hey! No! Put that down!” "That" being a sweaty t-shirt one of those two hikers hung out to dry.

"Ryan, where were you?" he joked. "Aren't you watching for these things now?"

Ahern Pass
“Hmm, yeah sorry about that," I said. "Want to follow it into the woods, see if there's a secret stash of stolen gear out there?”

I actually wish I could have recovered the t-shirt. It's the least I could have done. Inviting me to their campsite at Fifty Mountain meant I could hike one of the most sought after routes in Glacier, even without prior reservations. Thanks guys!

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A Backpacker's Life List by Ryan Grayson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.   

An Uncommon Reaction to Beauty

Sometimes a view leaves me speechless or with only a "wow" said under my breath. I had a different reaction when climbing Stoney Indian Pass. For some reason the views made me want to drop the F-bomb. "Ahh, what the F---, look at that." Then I’d turn a corner and it was, "Un-f---ing-believable. Are you f---ing kidding me, three more waterfalls?"

I apologize if I've offended you, but that's just what was in my heart. I don't know why.

Atsina Lake
When I got to Atsina Lake, I was so taken by the view, which photos could never do justice, I declared Glacier to be my favorite National Park. Granted, I also declared this at Isle Royale, Olympic, Yosemite, and Grand Tetons National Park. I think my favorite park is the one that most recently amazes me.

More photos of the Stoney Indian Lake area below:



  
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The Deer at Mokowanis Lake

As with Helen, to access Mokowanis Lake you must get off the main loop and stroll down a quiet spur trail, so it was another peaceful, less frequented, spot to set up camp.

This will be remembered as my favorite campsite in the park.

As with many of the lakes in Glacier National park, glacial flour, the name for the silt generated by glaciers grinding against bedrock, drifts into Mokowanis Lake, causing the deepest water to reflect a brilliant color, like a polished turquoise stone.

The distant sound of rushing water gave a constant background of white noise while I sat by that unbelievably blue lake for hours reading my book (The Rook, if you were wondering). A deer, grazing in the area, was as approachable and unafraid of people as a stray Labrador Retriever. It even wagged its white tail.

Only two campsites exist at Mokowanis, a friendly German couple occupied the other. I saw them the day before at Elizabeth Lake and on the trail, but I never heard them speak English, so never said more than hello to them.

I retreated to my tent shortly after they retreated to theirs. I was still reading after dark under headlamp light when something moved outside my tent. I poked my head out. It was just the deer, so I went back to my book. Shortly after, I heard my trekking poles clack against the log that I leaned them on while pitching my tent. I looked back out and saw the deer with one of the handle straps in his mouth, sucking disgustingly on the accumulated salty sweat.

“Hey! Stop that!” I yelled. Its eyes shifted over to me for a moment then it grabbed the pole in its teeth and took off with it into the woods. “I paid $80 for those you son of a bitch!” I yelled while shoving my bare feet into my shoes. She didn’t care though, what’s $80 to a deer? Chump change is what. I ran into the woods after it, leaping over logs, and trampling through leaves. After a short chase, she stopped with the pole hanging from her mouth. She looked at me with that long dumb deer face. 

“Drop the pole, you stupid deer!” I yelled and the pole dropped to its feet.

“What? I ain’t got anything,” its expression seemed to be saying. “Nah, nah, man. That was that other deer.” For a moment, we stared each other down like it was high noon in Dodge City. Suddenly, she bolted into the woods, leaving my saliva-drenched trekking pole on the ground.

I walked back to my tent, with my pole in hand, victorious. The poor German couple must have wondered what was going on. I hoped they slept through the ordeal. 

Right after sunrise the following morning, I decided to explore the source of that white background noise. I found it a half mile away up a stream that flows into the lake. It was a huge waterfall of tumbling snowmelt, which I believe originates from Chaney Glacier, the source of the glacial flour turning Mokowanis into a gem in these Montana woods. I sat on the ground to wait for the sun to rise above the surrounding rock walls and provide enough light for a photo.

During breakfast back at camp, the deer came back. I followed her around for a little bit, taking pictures of her by the lake. Maybe I should say she lured me away, because when we were far enough away, she ran for my food. 

"Clever girl," I said.

She didn't get anything though. I made it back in time to scare her away. "You're not going to rob me deer. I may not look it, but I'm spry."

A few days later in my trip, I saw the German couple again and I was surprised to hear them speaking fluent English.

“I’m sorry I sat there so quietly at Mokowanis,” I said. 

"We just thought you wanted to read your book," she said. 

“Wait," I said. "So did you hear everything I said to the deer that night?” 

"Yes, we did," she smiled.

“I feel bad. I said more to the deer than you guys!” And their English was way better.

  
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Helen Lake in Glacier National Park

Redgap Pass
On my first morning in the Glacier backcountry, I woke up from a campsite by Poia Lake then headed to Redgap Pass for lunch. As I sat there eating slices of dried kiwi, I wished I could somehow project everything my eyes were seeing into the minds of everyone I wanted to share the view with: a friend who might be working on a Saturday, family whose health keeps them from reaching such places, a couple of girls from Kentucky that couldn't join me on this trip.

Poia Lake
From my red slate seat, I could see Elizabeth Lake almost 3,000 feet below, but I was still nine trail miles away. When I reached its shore, I continued on the four-mile spur trail to the less frequently visited Helen Lake to set up camp. 

“The guidebook calls it desolate,” a passing ranger said. “But you be the judge.” 

I hiked along the shore to the southern tip of Elizabeth Lake, then through wildflowers where butterflies fluttered about as though a gust of wind blew off petals and whirled them around me. Beyond Elizabeth Lake, the trail became more overgrown and unkempt. 

As I moved forward, I parted a sea of tall grasses and green leaves that had grown above my waist. Much of the trail would have been invisible if not for a depression in the overgrowth leading the way. The head and back of a deer swam by like the world’s most passive crocodile, followed by two fawns barely able to keep their eyes above the green. I wouldn’t call the region desolate, though. I prefer overlooked and secluded, two great qualities for a trail to have.

“Hmm, that bear poop was still moist,” I thought as I stepped over it. Still moist, even though that spot had been in direct sunlight all day. “It must have been recently shat,” I thought. After a year of this, it’s interesting the things you take note of. I also noticed I was in a patch of thimbleberries (i.e. bear food) and began to pay more attention to any rustling in the leaves.

I knew I was close when I began to hear the Belly River, which begins at Helen Lake. I stopped to listen to it with my eyes shut. I absorbed every other sound as well, the beating of insect wings, the wind hissing between branches of pine, three different types of birds chirping, some rapid cheeps, some sporadic elongated whistles, then suddenly the thumping sound of helicopter blades. Was it for a tour or a search-and-rescue? A 19-year old guy who never came back from his recent Glacier dayhike, was still missing. 

The thought of him never exiting the Glacier woods reminded me that I still have a lot to learn about real wilderness survival, something I decided to remedy in the coming months. Then I thought of the person that stopped to ask me a backcountry question a couple of days before. 

Belly River
“You look like you know what you’re doing,” she said before asking. I stopped chasing the ground squirrel in my car and answered her questions. And recently, while in the camping section at a department store, a woman came up to me to ask where she could find an item. “I know you don’t work here,” she said. “but you looked like a guy that knew everything.”

Regardless of how much more I need to learn, I’m happy to look like I know what I’m doing. Maybe it’s because my beard is slowly coming back, because nobody asked me for help when I was in the arts and crafts section. 

When I arrived at Helen Lake, I stood at the shore before taking off my pack and setting up camp. I balanced on flat rocks to keep the small ripples from soaking my feet. Lush green hills and the sheer rocky face of Ahern peak, 3,700 feet above me, enclosed the back half of the lake. Ribbons of water, from the melting Ahern Glacier, fell over and down the mountainside accumulating in the clear blue lake. 

Helen Lake
Only four extra miles from the crowded Elizabeth Lake campsites, and I’m all alone. That’s the real reason this site is overlooked and isolated, the extra miles. The solitude was worth every additional step. 

I spent most of the night eating, reading, and swatting flies, so I don’t have much else to say about Helen Lake. Other than… and I know I’m going to kick myself for saying this publicly, but while staring out at the secluded lake, I had the thought that if it ever became necessary, this is where I would hide one of my horcruxes. In an effort to maintain this mountain man guise, that I apparently have, I’m not going to explain that reference.

  
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A Backpacker's Life List by Ryan Grayson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

   

Glacier National Park

When compared to other national parks, Glacier has a look of underdevelopment. The restrooms, cabins, and other buildings have an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" feel to them. Other than the famous Going-to-the-Sun Highway, one of the world's most beautiful highways ever constructed, roads are scarce, bumpy, and don't take you deep into the park. If you want to see the best the park has to offer, the best of the ancient glaciers and old-growth forests, you'll need to go deeper, and you'll have to walk. And for these reasons, I love it all the more. This is a backpacker's national park.

This is also quite possibly the most wild park in the lower 48 as well. I saw a grizzly and a black bear with two cubs before I even got out of my car. And when packing up, a ferocious ground squirrel tried to car jack me. He sneaked into the passenger side and waited for me to lock up and leave. He must have had a hard time hot-wiring, because he just passed the time by eating my food and pooping all over the floor.

I chased him from under the passenger's seat to under the driver's seat, back and forth, at least ten times. I never actually saw the squirrel leave my car, I just can't find him anywhere. If he's there, he's got to wait for me for 7 more days, because I'm getting ready to start my 75-mile trek through the Glacier backcountry. I've seen at least 30 national parks now, and I can't believe I've kept Glacier off the list for so long, but soon it will be one more "life list" hike to scratch off my list.

I'm not sure if they will have cell service, so you may not hear from me for a little while. Wish me luck!