Carthew Alderson Hike

We took an easy hike on Thursday (only about 5 km) to give our knees a break before Carthew Alderson. The weather had also been forecast for rain, and the shuttle that the local outfitter's store ran to the trailhead was cancelled. Thursday turned out to be gorgeous weather, but we needed the day off, so it was just as well we didn't do the big hike.

Friday was cloudy in the morning, but not raining. We took the shuttle with about 6 other people, and ended up hiking with a couple from British Columbia. The weather was fine for the first half of the hike, which is where all the views were. It started raining on our way down, but it was fine for hiking.

The hike was wonderful. 11.8 miles, 2,297 feet elevation gain and 3,150 feet loss. Lots of completely different types of terrain, from mature forest to sub alpine forest to lake shore walks to desolate summits to cirques, and views of entire horizons of mountains.

After returning to Waterton Lakes, we had dinner with our hiking friends and drove down to East Glacier. We haven't decided what to do on Saturday. Depends on the weather and how our knees feel.

Waterton Lakes

Today we started with a trip from Waterton Lake in Canada down the lake to Goat Haunt in the US. Boat was built on the lake 80 years ago. They built it right on the lake, on the US side so that it could be registered as a US vessel. The boat was built at the same time as the great hotels served by the trains.

Goat Haunt can only be reached by boat or by hiking in.

After the boat trip and lunch we went to Cameron Lake and rented a kayak. Paddled to the headwall of the cirque (sp?) lake and saw a moose.

Then we drove to Red Rock Canyon. Saw a couple of black bears on the hills above the highway.

Was hoping to do a big hike tomorrow, but they're talking about a 70% chance of rain. We shall see. It's been good weather until now.

Days 3 and 4 - Many Glacier

Monday we arrived in Many Glacier, where there's a wonderful old lodge built back when they tried to entice people out to the park on the train. We decided to give our knees/legs a break and went horseback riding instead of hiking.

Tuesday we hiked about 9 miles to Iceberg Lake, then headed up to Waterton Lakes.

Day 2 - Siyeh Pass

On Sunday we hiked over Siyeh Pass.

"One of the best point to point hikes in the park. Over a high elevation saddle with glaciers and alpine tundra flowers, Siyeh Pass loops 10.5 miles from Siyeh Bend on Going-To-The-Sun Road to Baring Creek. The trail wanders through Preston Park, with one of the most colorful collections of wildflowers as it circumnavigates Going-To-The-Sun Mountain. Piegan and Old Sun Glaciers gleam in the sun, and bighorn sheep often browse in the upper slopes."

"Siyeh Pass is accessed via the Piegan Pass trailhead which is located at the Siyeh Bend on the Going-to-the-Sun Road - 15 miles west of St Mary and 3 miles east of Logan Pass. Of the more than 700 miles of trail in the park, few can beat the climb to Siyeh Pass, an area that boasts some of the Park's most dramatic mountain landscapes."

We saw a wolverine as we were approaching the pass. There was a couple hiking about a hundred yards ahead of us, and we saw them pointing at something, and we looked over and saw a big animal loping away from us. It was about two hundred yards away when we saw it, but the couple ahead of us saw it at much closer range, and clearly saw the racoon faced head. There are apparently about 45 wolverines in the park, and seeing one is very unusual.

We also saw mountain goats sunning on a ledge and a couple of birds -- maybe ptarmigans?

This was a "strenuous" hike. We were nicely tired at the end of the hike. The trekking poles are very nice on the downhills of the hikes (I'm not using them going up), and when the wind is howling and blowing hard enough to knock you over.

Arriving in Glacier and the Highline Trail

Taking the train out to Glacier was quite fun. We popped for a "roomette", which was basically the size of two bunk beds. The lower bunk slides apart into two seats facing each other, while the upper bunk folds up and out of the way during the day. It was much smaller in person than it seemed on the Amtrak website, but it worked just fine, and even though we didn't sleep soundly, we were a whole lot more comfortable than the people we saw trying to find a way to sleep sitting up in the coach chairs. We also got 3 good meals and a free wine tasting as part of the deal. We had a great time talking to people, either in the club car or at the meals. And although we left Minneapolis an hour late, we arrived in East Glacier on time.

We drove up to St. Mary (40 miles, about one hour) the Friday night. Today (Saturday) we took the park shuttle along the Going to the Sun Road and hiked the Highline Trail. It was about 11.6 miles. In theory it was a moderate hike, without a lot of elevation change. We saw big horn sheep, deer, marmots and pikas. The park is beautiful, and we'll have good weather for at least a couple more days.