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| Hole in the Wall to Goat Haunt, MT | |
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| | Hole in the Wall to Goat Haunt, MT | | | |
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Hole in the Wall to Goat Haunt, MT
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| Hiking | 11.27 Miles |
719 AEG |
| | Hiking | 11.27 Miles | 8 Hrs 14 Mns | | 1.56 mph |
| 719 ft AEG | 1 Hour Break | | | |
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| Partners |
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| partners | | after a lovely evening and a quick morning, we headed out in the shade of the mountains over the Hanging Valley. It was hard to leave but you can only get one nite in these camp sites in the Boulder Pass area; in fact that is the case for most of Glacier Park backcountry campsites. We had a long day ahead of us so we set out around 8 I think.
We crossed the beautifully flowing Bowman Creek and looked down the Hanging Valley and over to the mountains. The distant air would be smokey again today. It's a bit of a climb out of the valley up to the ledge and trail we would take to get around the base of Chapman Peak. It was in the shade though so it was nice. We started our "heh Molly" and would eventually change that up when we got down the Olson Valley headwall. And the names we came up with  . I will share later in the report.
We looked back at the Boulder and Hole In the Wall Falls (1200 ft headwall) that fell straight down; Boulder Falls starts around 7500 and the Bowman Valley is 4000 feet. Still am baffled why Boulder Falls is not labeled on the topo. It was hard to turn our back with Boulder Peak behind us. We were now hiking into the morning sun being dulled a bit by the smoke in the air. We passed through much beautiful flora on our way toward Brown Pass. We were most looking forward to visiting the Beargrass again and it didn't let us down. It really is spectacular  .
And now it was down Huckleberry Hill as we counted 11 switchbacks and ate many berries. The next highlight was the beautiful Thunderbird Pond before finally getting to Francis Lake which would be our lunch stop. It is really steep getting down to the lake and it was starting to get a bit warm too. We went onto the rocky beach and set our packs down for an extended stay. We did the triple selfie of Wendy and in spite of the bad lighting and slight smokey haze, it turned out pretty good. We made our way out of there but not before checking out the campsite. It has an indoor pit toilet and while the campsite is nice because it's fairly close to the water, I think ours at Lake Janet was nicer. However, the ideal itinerary with easy logistics for this trip is from Waterton: FRA BOU HOL and back to Waterton. The likelihood of getting that itinerary is not very good but I came close. However, I had my request in the moment we could hit submit on Mar 15th.
This is where the fairy tale starts as Wendy decided to tell our story about walking thru the Thimbleberry Forest in her fairy tale voice. It was priceless. And that got us to Lake Janet campsite where we decided to take another break. We had plenty of time as the boat would not pick us up until around 5. From there, it once again was getting a bit monotonous as we were back in the forest with limited views, for us and for the bears. By this time you are getting a little tired of the same old "heh bear" click poles three times so we started coming up with other names for the bear, like big fur ball, hairy bear, etc. That provided us some entertainment as we came close to trying to remember the "Winnie the Pooh" story.
We took one last break right on the trail with a couple miles left. It was quite warm (we later learned 85 and it felt very humid since a storm was right behind us). I'm trying to remember now if we even ran into any hikers. Oh ya, at Frances there were a few guys that had come in as we were leaving. We continue our trek thru the forest trying to remember what it was like when we came thru a couple days ago. And when we got to the 1 hiker bridge, we knew we were almost done. At the border, the agents remembered us and didn't seem to care to check our passports or anything. They seemed to be on a break. We would later see them get off the next boat that had arrived in Waterton.
We headed for the VC where the boats come and took off our packs and washed up using the restroom. Wendy washed off in the lake. The boat arrived in about 45 minutes. Before boarding you fill out a form they will give to Customs later. The boat ride was pleasant though the weather was slightly threatening. We got to see the other side of Mount Custer where we had just been 8 hours ago so that was pretty cool. At Waterton Marina, they hand you a cell phone to give your passport information and how many days you planned to stay.
From the marina we walked back to where we had left our car in the hopes it would still be there. It was. We changed our tops and then headed back to Trappers Grill as I had a hankering for smoked trout. Let me tell you, between that whole smoked trouts and the fall off the bone ribs (their house specialties), that was one of the best post hike meals I've ever had. Plus we each had a big beer.
And now to check into the Prince of Wales that was celebrating its 90th year and some major renovations. Our reservation was on the 5th floor so you have the bell person take you up in the very small elevator to the 4th floor and you walk up the stairs to your very small bedroom and bath on the 5th floor. Gladly, the Lodge survived the Kenow Fire greatfallstribune.c ... 001/ that took out the Visitors Center just down the road that comes into the Lodge.
Videos:
around Hole in the Wall Campground
Hole in the Wall to Brown's Pass
Brown's Pass to Lake Francis
Francis to Goat Haunt and boat ride |
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Wildflowers Observation Substantial
Wildflowers were substantial from Hole in the Wall to Brown's Pass and from there the berries were substantial to Goat Haunt |
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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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