Moonlighting in Glacier Park

Photo by Adam Grim

Late last night I checked off another one of the goals that I have wanted to accomplish for quite some time. I biked Going to the Sun Road after dark, at near midnight under the luminous glow of a full “big-sky” Montana moon.

Awesome!

[ left to right: Ryan, Justin, Garren, Bryan -Not pictured - (he went for a quick hike :) ]

I was joined by my three friends and fellow adventure seekers, Garren, Justin, and Bryan. I borrowed the above picture from Garren, because the batteries in my camera went dead shortly after our ride commenced. (You can see Garren’s blogging of the experience here).

We started from “The Loop” and rode approximately 8 miles up to the summit at Logan Pass gaining about 3,500 feet in elevation. Yeah… a bit intense. Especially considering that we had to share the roughly 12 foot wide road with two lanes of traffic and construction equipment (Glacier Park closed the road today for road maintenance and construction).



Several of the motorists and motor cyclists who passed us along the way cheered and gave us the “thumbs up” to say “good job… keep going… you got more stamina and guts than we do.” That helped us press on in several of the spots were the climb was steep and the legs were jello.

We started the ride at about 6:00pm and arrived at the summit shortly after 9:00pm but we stopped several times along the way to watch the sunset over the Glacier horizon and beautiful Heavens Peak.

A little over three quarters of the way up to the summit we passed a few of our friends who had picnicked on the east side of the park and were now driving back home. They were kind enough to bless us with some nourishment (a fatty submarine sandwich which was one of the tastiest sandwiches I think I have ever eaten in my life. ;-)

We got to the top just after the moon ascended the 10,000-plus Glacier peaks, and chilled at Logan Pass for a little while, resting, enjoying the moon-lit scenery and adding to our layers of cloths in preparation for the brisk ride back down the mountain.

The moon-glow on the face of the cliffs and mountain sides was breathtaking, a whole different experience than driving the road in the daylight. Truly an experience I will not soon forget.

As we started back down the mountain after night-fall under the quiet glow of the starlight and moon, you could see the twinkling lights of a few straggling motorists as they curved and winded their way down the Sun Road several miles ahead.

The muted flashing lights of the construction zones added to the midnight ambiance as they lit up the mountainside in colorful red, amber and green hues.


The trip back down the mountain was over much quicker than the laborious ride up, but it certainly made the previous strain and pain well worth the effort.

What a blessing to live at the feet of such an awe-inspiring natural paradise like Glacier park and have the ability to visit and enjoy its natural beauty in every season, every month and every hour of the day.

..::GREAT Northern::..

Yesterday I had the opportunity to fulfill a goal that I have had for several years now. I was able to summit “Great Northern” – one of the more impressive peaks (in my opinion) of the Flathead Valley/Glacier Park region.

The magnificent monolith resides near the eastern shoreline of Hungry Horse Reservoir in the buffer zone that separates the massive reservoir and the rest of the Flathead Valley from the rugged and seemingly endless peaks of Glacier National Park.

The trail that leads to the summit is pretty strenuous at times and offers a wide array of varied terrain, but it is also EPIC beyond compare!

Here are a few photos of some friends we met along the way...

The first half of the trail slices its way through fairly dense forest and it feels like you are walking straight up the mountain. There are hardly any switchbacks and the path is steep. But around midpoint along the journey you break out above the tree line and immediately you get your second wind. At this point the peak of Great Northern comes into view and her stunning profile fills you with the motivation to press on.

The majority of the second half of the journey is a tight rope walk along the mountain ridgeline. This hike gives new definition to the word “views”. My jaw was dangling for most of the trip and the only words I was able to mutter was … WOW! God… this is Awesome! Incredible! Magnificent! … there weren’t really enough words in my vocabulary to accurately describe my emotions, so I just muttered those over and over again.

The views to the north and north east looking into Glacier Park are mind-blowing. The images will stay with me forever. Although I am hoping to make another trip to the summit again very soon as a little “refresher” course (it’s like a drug… once you have experienced it you want more and more).

The final stretch of the journey is certainly not for the faint of heart. You are basically tiptoeing across a two foot wide ridge that separates a massive shale slide on one side and a 3,000 foot drop off a cliff on the other side. Add to that 30 – 40 mile-per-hour winds that are trying their best to toss you off the mountain and it makes things pretty interesting. One false step and the results could be disastrous… but what a rush! It is quite addicting.

There is a snow field on the northeast side of the mountain that is enormous. It made me wish that I had my snowboard with me, of course if I had, I would probably be dead right now.

From the summit you can see across the border of two states, two countries and too many unforgettable views stretching over hundreds of miles in every direction.

The icing on the cake was that I was able to make the journey with four of my closest friends, all amazing guys and all brothers in faith. What a privilege!

Oh yeah, and one more thing before I close. My buddy Seth and his lovely wife Jill were kind enough to have me over for a delicious BBQ chicken dinner following the hike which was VERY MUCH enjoyed and appreciated! THANKS guys!

..:: avalanche hunter ::..

I guess you could call this the weekend of fire and ice. Yesterday's post told you all about my "burn session" -- setting my front yard on fire. That was fun in a devious, anarchist kind of way.

Actually it really is a good thing to do. A good controlled burn keeps the heavy under-growth to a minimum, minimizes future fire hazards and adds nitrogen to the soil, plus it make things look a lot better and saves me from having to do a lot of hard labor. :-)

Now, as fun as it was spending all of Saturday hanging around the house burning stuff, today I was ready to venture out and enjoy a little bit of Montana's stunning back-country.

This weekend was absolutely phenomenal! After eight long months of winter cold and clouds - (okay maybe we had a few sunny days in between there but not enough) - I had some serious cabin fever that I had to work off this weekend and what better place to do that then in stunning Glacier National Park!

My mission for the day is to hike as far into the park as my time will permit, with my ideal destination being Avalanche Lake. Avalanche Lake for those that do not know, is a beautiful little tarn tucked away in a monolithic corner of Glacier's breathtaking mountainous terrain. One of those magical little spots which makes you feel like a more fulfilled, enlightened and more complete human being, just for witnessing its beauty and magnitude.

I have made the hike back into Avalanche Lake many times in previous years, in fact it is one of my favorite hikes in Glacier Park, but I have never been back their this early in the season.

You see, today I am "Avalanche Hunting." I am on a mission to see some live-action avalanches up close, (well relatively close), and in person. I could not think of a better place to accomplish this feat, then the place called "Avalanche Lake".

Unfortunately after entering the park I discover that the road is still closed at the Lake McDonald Lodge gate. That means about a six to seven mile hike lies ahead just to reach the Avalanche Lake trail head. I only have a handful of hours available to me today, so Avalanche Lake is unfortunately not an option, but I am still excited to get out and do some hiking, even if it is just an afternoon stroll down Going to the Sun Road.



The sun is warm, the sky is blue, the surrounding mountains are like whipped cream and chocolate chips. The birds are singing and the conditions are perfect for avalanche viewing. Even if I cannot make it all the way back into the Avalanche Lake, the mountains at the Avalanche Lake trail-head should serve up some beautiful avalanche displays, so that is my new desired destination.

The hike down Going-to-the-Sun road to the Avalanche Lake trail-head is an easy one, but it does take a while. But who cares really, it is so beautiful today, where else would you ever want to be?

I didn't see too much wild life along the way, but I did pause to snap a few pictures of this beautiful little bright-colored moth.



Finally after about two hours of walking, gawking and taking pictures, me and my crew reach the trail head to Avalanche Lake.

Just as I had expected, the conditions are perfect for avalanches today, and Clements Peak is serving up a display.




If you have never had the pleasure of seeing or hearing the spectacle of a live avalanche, let me just say it is incredible. It sounds like a cross between a crack of thunder and the roar of a 747 racing down the mountain, amplified by a continuing ricochet effect as the sound waves echo off all of the surrounding mountains in the vicinity. It really is quite spectacular.



While kicking back and watching the avalanche action, I met an old dude who had trained his optical scope onto what appeared to be a petrified mountain goat standing high up on the side of one cliff. He was almost invisible to the naked eye, unless you looked really carefully. But the kind gentleman allowed me to take a peak through his scope and even take a picture through it with my camera.



The poor little mountain goat appeared to be scared stiff with all the avalanche activity hapening all around him. I wonder if he had a bad experience earlier in life. Perhaps he got blindsided by a
wall of falling snow once before and barely lived to tell about it, and now he figures, "during avalanche season, one can never be too careful."

I don't know what his story is, but he definitely didn't seem to want to move from his secluded little crevice in the rocks.

This post has grown into a much longer blog entry then I had anticipated, and I don't personally like REALLY long posts, so I better cut this off now, before it gets outta control.

But let me leave you with this... if you have never experienced the excitement of "avalanche hunting" up close and in person, I highly recommend it. The sound alone is something that will echo in your memories for a life time, and if you can manage to do your 'avalanche hunting' on a beautiful blue-bird day in Glacier Park Montana... well consider yourself blessed.