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| Hiking | 8.10 Miles |
748 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.10 Miles | 4 Hrs 33 Mns | | 2.03 mph |
| 748 ft AEG | 34 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | I offered for Deanna to come with us this morning as she didn't want to do the trail on her own, especially with the bear frequenting warning up. She recruited Joelle and her son to come with us as well. This worked great for me as even though I was hiking with Deborah and Mary, they hiked way too fast for me and would have left me in the dust. Deanna and Joelle both liked to take pictures so this would work well. As I was heading out the door I got to talk a little bit with Kathy, the owner, so that was fun.
We started about 9:15AM in very windy conditions. I would lag everyone as we made that initial climb altho I would catch up when they stopped for pictures or in Mary's case, she was readjusting her pack.
We started down the other side where you would start seeing all the lakes and then veer slightly and down some more. Before we headed on, I was able to get a group photo with a small pond and large snow mass in the background. You drop levels fairly fast as you continue through the forest. Joelle's son that we called Weekend (he had a French name and I never heard it officially), hiked ahead with Deborah and Mary while the three of us lagged behind. Before you know it you start switchbacking around and down the mountain with views of Swiftcurrent Glacier. I always pay homage to the one area that we hiked over in 2011 (today I was hiking 12 years and a day later) that a massive snowfield was covering a waterfall; as it was a dicey crossing [ photo ] .
Eventually you come to a short-lived view of Windmaker Lake. I wonder how many of my group even saw that lake as you kind of need to know where to look. It's such a pretty little lake that is not well known in the park as you can't access it. Around the corner, Devils Elbow, the cliff switchbacks begin in earnest where you have views of all the waterfalls coming off the mountain, some from the Swiftcurrent Glacier and some just from snow. I am in constant awe of all that water  . We also had several encounters with some marmots, including Deanna who had an up close and personal photo session.
We came to a corner where we would meet up briefly with the lead hikers but just like that, they were gone again. It's really too bad as I would have liked to get some more pictures of them in the environment. I would take pictures of the various flora along the way and of course, took movies. This would cause me to always lag the group but I didn't see the need to be in a real big hurry. Finally we hit the really long switchbacks that took you through tall foliage on each side of the trail. I always find this part a bit tedious. And then we hear the water and just like that, we are at the bottom.
We did see about a dozen hikers on our way down. They all had a long but beautiful climb up, that's for sure. Joelle's son Weekend had waited for us here across the planked Swiftcurrent Creek. There was also a volunteer ranger that we discussed the unpreparedness of some of the hikers we saw at the Chalet. For example, one couple thot the shuttle was at the Chalet, they didn't know they needed to hike four miles and 2500 feet down on a very exposed trail. We had a quick snack and I took off my vest as it was now heating up a little.
From here, as we headed toward Mount Wilbur, the trail was pretty much flat as we crossed over some various flows of water including one area that involved stepping stones. We rounded Bullhead Lake and made good time as we started to encounter more people, which was to be expected. There were still wildflowers to admire. We came upon the side of Red Rock Lake where there is a side path you can take to get closer to the water, however, we continued on. A little further there was a small little waterfall as the Creek went around the corner heading toward Red Rock Lake. We hiked to the north of the Lake and encountered the intersection that takes you to the Falls. The others didn't seem interested in stopping so we continued on. Soon you are hiking right back to the lake where there is a beach and that's where we caught Deborah, Mary and Walker.
We swung wide and continued through some tall foliage of thimbleberry bushes. The thimbleberries are about to ripen fully and I found a few to eat  . The only thing is that they're a bit messy. Needless to say when we get closer to Fishercap Lake the people traffic is freeway-like. We did encounter a group from Road Scholar which is the touring group I'd like to hook up with so it was interesting to see them and the ranger pointed out to me where I could nibble on some huckleberries . We weren't going to go down to the lake but we heard there were moose. When we got to the beach a ranger was giving her presentation and we got to see five moose. We hung here for a little while but I decided to go on as Joelle was sticking around. Deeanna would come until we met Weekend and then once she hooked them back up again she would meet me at the Trailhead.
We made plans with my other hiking partners to meet up at Froggies for Indian Fry Bread tacos but sadly, they only opened for dinner so we had a late lunch at St Mary Lodge Snowgoose Grille. The girls had fried pickles for the first time. I've had better. I then drove Deanna to Rising Sun so she could catch the shuttle to Logan Pass where her car was parked and she would head for Spokane. I met my hiking partners at St Mary VC where we had left the other vehicle that had my stuff. They drove home to Big Arm and I headed up to Red Eagle Motel where I had made a reservation a couple nites prior. I would walk over to Johnson's to get a piece of Huckleberry Ice Cream pie which thankfully they had. The last couple times they haven't had it. I enjoyed every bite 
I had intended on staying another nite but I got a low tire warning the next morning so, after putting some air in the one tire, I decided I better head to Great Falls to get it checked out as technically I was in the middle of nowhere for service. The folks at Big O said there was no need to be concerned as it was only a couple pounds of air and only one tire. I headed to Taco John's as I was starved and texted Kim, my cousin's girlfriend, to see if she could meet. We visited for a short time as she had an appt. Then I called Cousin Connie about coming out to the ranch but it sounded like it might not be a good time, and quite frankly, I think she was sick of me. After all, she did get stuck with me for an extra three days since I came early after not doing the 6-nite backpack.
triplog and photoset from 2018 (has pics of the Chalet's interior) [ photoset ]
[ youtube video ] from Chalet to near Devils Elbow
[ youtube video ] to near the bottom
[ youtube video ] from above Bullhead Lake to Swiftcurrent Creek and beyond
[ youtube video ] from the hanging bridge to the end, including moose
WATCH 9:15AM-1:47PM, 7.7 miles, 5090-7599 elevation. 116 avg bpm/158 max. Temp showed as 80.9 and 23% humidity but I don't know when it recorded that. |
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Wildflowers Observation Moderate
Pearly Everlasting, Showy Aster, Fireweed, Paintbrush, Arrowleaf Groundsel, Beargrass (mostly non-blooming), Elderberry, Thimbleberry, Huckleberry |
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For me, sometimes it's just as much about the journey as the destination.
Oh, and once in awhile, don't forget to look back at the trail you've traveled. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
. We weren't going to go down to the lake but we heard there were moose. When we got to the beach a ranger was giving her presentation and we got to see five moose. We hung here for a little while but I decided to go on as Joelle was sticking around. Deeanna would come until we met Weekend and then once she hooked them back up again she would meet me at the Trailhead. 
. So now we had to come up with a Plan C 
. Wendy had been discussing with the ranger some options with Red Rock Falls being one of them, and a trail I had never done and wanted to do so we decided to do that. It's not a long hike so I thot we could throw in the 2 hr horseback ride 
who was our ranger from 
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lingering in the area. The Swiftcurrent Valley is PRIME bear country 
and this year even more so cuz they had to come down low to eat due to lingering snow cover. (Come to find out, this little trail leads you toward an off-trail hike called the ShangriLa that takes you right by the waterfall and over to Iceberg Lake. Vaporman, it's calling your name.)
along the shore looking around until he sees us. And of course, I am filming and shooting pics thinking any minute he's going to dash off but he keeps walking toward us 
. I can still see the expression on her face and I think I have captured it in a picture.
in their mountain climbing/major hiking gear including high boots and yellow rain jackets and hats. And of course, while we were commenting about the wife's attire, the husband pops up behind us (he was taking photos) and says that's his wife 
. Fortunately our tone was light even though we thot their attire was a bit of an overkill for a 4.5 mile hike on a clear day on a clear trail with mostly level ground.
that the Swiftcurrent Pass Trail was closed at the start of the switchbacks) There were all sorts of waterfalls coming down from it as well. We pondered where the Pass might be 
Next we decided to follow a suggestion from a fellow hiker to go below the Falls (no crowd now) and toward the lake on a supposed trail that would take us to the main trail. Well not exactly. We ended up on a bit of a peninsula. However, we were able to get some better photos toward the Falls and of Red Rock Lake. Wendy now calls it Angela's Point 
. I like it.
