Waterfall Week #4

Saturday couldn't have been more different weather-wise; we had a gorgeous sunny day with no haze--we call this a "bluebird day."  Lovely weather to wrap up our camping trip.

Warren set off at 8 a.m. to go on a GMS climb up Ptarmigan Spire.  I had an earlier post about Ptarmigan Lake; they hiked up the same way and on up to the high ridge above it to a rocky perch. Here are his photos:

Ptarmigan Spire--they had to navigate this rocky ridge via goat trails.

Looking down at Ptarmigan lake--Warren is showing his artsy side!

Warren's hiking companions on top of the Spire.

Dramatic view of the Ptarmigan Wall, over to Iceberg Peak and Mt. Wilbur;
Iceberg Lake is nestled in the curve of the Wall--you have seen these places
from other directions in our previous hikes.

Lynn and I went over to another area of the Park, to Grinnell Lake, actually above the lake toward the glacier.  But there were still snow hazards on the upper part of the trail, so we got up to another waterfall and then had to go back to camp.  Enjoyed the sunshine, warmth, and spectacular scenery!

Mt. Gould above Lake Josephine

Fireweed on the way up..

Lynn on the trail with Salamander Glacier behind.

Grinnell Lake basin and waterfall coming from the glacier.

We had a wonderful cooling shower from this part of the waterfall! 

Lynn took photos of me doing the same thing!
Maybe I can get them from her before too long and add another post 

The first snow hazard on the trail where we decided not to try to go further.
I know my mom is thinking, "Good girl, Anna!"

Warren and I needed to leave and head back to Kalispell that evening.  On the way out of the Park, this little black bear came right out to the road, checked traffic, and then turned around and went back up the hill.  Guess he changed his mind.

What a wonderful summer we are having!  Could it get any better?

We are off to Oregon on Thursday and the internet access will be limited.  I will try to blog at least once or twice at a cafe.  All of my Norwegian family should know that I am really looking forward to sharing photos of our trip in June with my family here, especially my sister Ingrid.  I would love to bring her to Eigeroy some day!!  Hilsen!

Waterfall Week #3

We woke up to a cold, rainy morning.  Oh well, you know the show must go on!  We dressed for it (you know, no bad weather, just bad clothing), and all headed for Apikuni Falls, a steep 1 mile hike up to a waterfall in a rocky headwall.  Apikuni is a Blackfeet Indian word for the surname Spotted Robe, which was given to one of the early explorer/developers of the Park. 

We got Bob set up to paint the waterfall along the trail; Warren headed on up to climb Apikuni Peak, and Lynn and I took our time doing our flower thing.  We climbed above the falls, and actually found another climbers' trail that took us up into the alpine bowl above.

Can you find Bob? Look for the dead tree and the trail.  You can see
Lake Sherbourne and Apikuni Flats below us where the truck is.

Warren has a red shirt on and is climbing on above the falls.

The first stretch above the falls on the Apikuny side was very windswept and barren--no flowers.  After crossing a gully and turning west toward Mt. Henkel, the vegetation returned and flower gardens abounded.

Mt. Henkel is on the left, Apikuni is along the long ridge up to the right.

Warren radioed us from the peak and said it was snowing!  We were wearing fleece, down jackets, and raingear, gloves and hats! Cold!!  Wait, this is August!

Warren coming down--look for red jacket.

The waterfall behind us is coming down from Natahki Lake, below Mt. Henkel--we want to take a trip there sometime. 

Lynn and Bob heading back to the road.
Bob's easel and paints all fit into a backpack that he takes with him. 

On the way back to Camp, Lynn asked Warren to "go find us a bear." What do you know, but just down the road, there were lots of vehicles stopped along the road, watching bears up on the hillside!  We were able to see and photograph (on a big zoom) a sow grizzly and her blond cub.

Waterfall Week #2

Dell returned early the next morning to hike with Warren.  They summitted Mt. Allen--#101.  Warren didn't take any photos, but this is a photo of Mt. Allen that I took later.

the northwest side of Mt. Allen from the Grinnell trail

the northeast side of Mt. Allen from Apikuni Falls

Lynn and I hiked up the trail to Red Rock Lake and explored some more waterfalls.  This was supposed to be an easy day, and we took our time photographing wildflowers. 

Swiftcurrent Peak and Glacier above the creek.

White Angelica near an upper waterfall.

Harebells

Paintbrush and Cinquefoil

 But it wasn't long before the "adventure bug" attacked us and we decided to figure out a way up to a waterfall on the side of Mt. Wilbur.

We climbed up--bushwhacked--through meadows full of fireweed, bear grass and huckleberries and picked some to bring back to camp.  We did keep an eye out for bears, but we never saw any.  Bushwhacking means going where there isn't any trail, and you just pick your own way.
                         

Then the weather started turning a little more threatening. 

As we climbed over and down, we could see another long arm of the waterfall. 

We descended through a field of beargrass--this is starting to feel familiar!

The minute we got back to the trail back to camp, the sky turned loose and it rained hard for our hike back to camp.  Warren and Bob had the tarp frame up over the picnic table, and hot tea ready for us before we started supper.  It was so cold we ate in the camper, but we really enjoyed our dessert of brownies, ice-cream and fresh huckleberries!

Tommorrow I'll get day 3 and day 4 posted.

Wonderful Wet Wild Waterfall Week!

I'm going to try to catch up on the camping trip we took last week with friends.  We had four fun-filled days and each one deserves significant attention!  Warren and I are leaving on Thursday for our family reunion with my mom, so the pressure is on to get this caught up!

Summary:
Wednesday, August 1st: Hike to Shangri-la with Lynn, Dell and Gail

Thursday, Aug 2nd:  Warren and Dell climbed Mt. Allen; Anna and Lynn bushwacked up Swiftcurrent Creek and Mount Wilbur.

Friday, Aug 3rd:  Apikuni Waterfall

Saturday, Aug 4th: Anna and Lynn on Grinnell; Warren climbs the Ptarmigan Spire with GMS group.

My hiking buddy Lynn and her partner Bob went over to the east side of Glacier Park in their motorhome ahead of us to secure a camping space in the Many Glacier area of the Park.  We came over Tuesday evening and camped in our tent with them the rest of the week.  Wednesday morning we also met some of our friends from Cut Bank (where we used to live); Dell and Gail Meuchel came to hike with us for the day and we had a wonderful visit.

Shangri-la is a little gem in Glacier Park with no official trail, although we found a very good climbers' trail that took us most of the way.  In this photo you can see Mt. Wilbur, Bullhead Point (pyramid shaped), the jagged ridge above Iceberg Lake and a darker horizontal "shelf" where Shangri-la is nestled.

Just to the right of the big snowfield in the crack is a waterfall. We climbed up to the base of the snow, and then proceeded to climb up the cliff face next to the waterfall.  You can see it better in this photo:

we were on the grassy bank to the right, and then up the cliff. 

Looking at the chain of lakes down the Swiftcurrent valley.

Gail and Dell Meuchel

Lynn, Anna, and Gail at the top of the waterfall.

Once we got above the waterfall the climbing got a little easier. 

Shangri-la is a lovely alpine spot with a cascading creek coming out of a snowmelt lake.  We enjoyed lunch at the lake and more visiting.  Found lots of gorgeous wildflowers as we climbed up above the lake and over to Iceberg Lake.

Wild chive was one of the blooms we found there.

Indian Paintbrush and Purple Penstemon

Ridge above Iceberg Lake

Sliding down the scree slope to Iceberg Lake.

Our hike out the Iceberg Lake Trail was uneventful, but it was fun reminiscing about our earlier hikes with our children.  Gail and Dell stayed and had dinner with us in the campground, before heading back home.  Stay tuned for Day #2.