Just got back from an uber-crunk 2 night backpacking trip in the Tetons.
These pictures are all from the first day. We started a little south of the Grand at Death Canyon Trailhead, and hiked about 8 miles or so past Phelps Lake, up into the Canyon, where we camped.
After 5.7 miles we made it to Grinnell Glacier. The giant steep rock wall enclosing the area is called the Garden Wall, it is part of the continental divide.
If you look at the top of the wall in the 4th picture there is a notch in the Garden Wall above and to the right of Salamander Glacier. You can hike to that point from the Highline Trail. Pictures from that spot from September 2008 are here and from September 2007 here.
On Sunday we camped in Many Glacier and did a hike to Grinnell Glacier. I had attempted this hike with my parents in early June a few years ago. We had to turn back a few miles from the end because there was too much snow in the higher elevation areas. This time there wasn’t any snow blocking the way.
The hike is a little under 12 miles round trip, and offers some spectacular scenery the whole way.
The next day we drove up to Glacier National Park. We got there in the afternoon and being the middle of summer most of the campsites were already full so we drove out on the Inner North Fork Road to Logging Creek Campground.
There was a really excellent thunderstorm that night with a lot of thunder but not much rain. Thunder always reminds me of North Carolina.
The final pictures of the hike and some miscellaneous pictures of our last day in Glacier.
Three mountain goats joined us for a little while as we were enjoying the view. Mountain goats are seen quite a bit in Glacier, but it was interesting to see them in their natural environs rather than right beside the road.
I also added a “Wildlife” category if you want to scope out other pictures of ferocious beasts.
The Iceberg Lake is a 10 mile out and back hike. About 3 miles from the start there is a turnoff for Ptarmigan Lake. Coming back we decided to check it out.
Hilary and I went to Glacier National Park over the weekend. Saturday was spent doing a pretty amazing hike to Iceberg Lake and then to the Ptarmigan Tunnel. Here are some pictures of the Going to the Sun Road from Friday evening and the start of our hike on Saturday.
The third day we rode from Bigfork to West Glacier. The Adventure Cycling Map had a nice backroad to take for much of the way. We camped at Sprague Creek after discovering that Avalanche wasn’t going to open for another 4 days.
The road was closed at Avalanche for cars due to the clearing of the winter’s snow off the Going to the Sun Road. However, bikes were allowed to go 10 miles or so further up to The Loop, the single switchback in the Sun road. It was an unexpected surprise to be able to have the whole road to ourselves for a decent distance.
After the ride we did the short hike up to Avalanche lake.
The next morning we departed, backtracked to Columbia Falls, and headed north towards Eureka, Montana.
Here is a short video I took when when were riding our bikes in Canyonlands. I believe those are the La Salle Mountains. The video messes up at the end when I had to stop myself from eating it.
On the way back we decided to take the scenic route, went south on 191, and then cut west on highway 95. The drive was a part of Utah I had never seen. You go across the Colorado River at the very start of Lake Powell, through the Glen Canyon Recreation Area. Then you drive a little through Capital Reef National Park. Much of the drive was characterized by tall cliffs on either side as you are following various rivers as they cut their way through the the landscape.
The scenic route was our goodbye to the Southwestern landscape as approaching Salt Lake City the red and orange cliffs are replaced by urban sprawl and the snow-covered Wasatch Mountains. Our decision not to backtrack turned what was probably a 12 hour drive to Missoula into a 16 hour one.
The last day we were back on our bikes. We drove about 60 miles south of Moab into the Needles area of Canyonlands. I was amazed at how deserted the road was. I didn’t think roads like that existed in the United States. We probably saw four or so cars total in a span of many hours.
Arches National Park is a pretty special place. Edward Abbey was onto something.
