Glacier Campin trip
19 July - My friend Ari flew in from WA at about 12:30am... yawn, and then I stayed up til 2am w/ her talking and stuff... then got up for work at 5:30... so refreshed...right... haha
She slept in and later in the day came to my work to see what I did. (I left her the car and directions) So that was fun!
20 July - Randi got in about 11pm and we threw her in the car w/ 2 of my other friends from here to go to the bar for a drink. Then I got a call from Nick that him and his GF were hittin the town so we gave them directions to meet up, then headed back to base for catching up and a few "after driving brews" for them. (and yes I was the sober one)
21 July - Headed out to Glacier via wal mart and a gas station. Me Ari and Randi were planning on heading up early to get some good camping spots right on the lake, but then Nick decided they wanted to come with us instead of wait for Dan to get back. So we packed everything while they got ready, then headed out VIA walmart for food and got some gas. It was gorgeous out and hot! Ari pointed out a bunch of bales of hay in a field and said, what kind of animals are those?? hahaha I filled her in and let her know I've done that before too. We stopped at a small town restaurant for some good old fashioned milkshakes about halfway to the park. about an hour later we came to a fork in the road and decided to take the long way which would take us through the park as opposed to just going in the west entrance. I knew by the time we got there, the spots we wanted were for sure gone so I figured they could see a lot the other way. And look for other spots on the way through. Dan was still out in the missile field but everything was ready for him when he got home. So... then we found a campground w/ a bunch of spots open. It wasnt prime, but it was treed... Nicks GF didnt like any spot cuz it was too close to other campers, so the hunt for a good spot continued. We tried about 3 other campgrounds and even contemplated hiking our stuff 2.4 mi into a back country camp spot, but then decided that might not be such a hot idea w/ the amount of coolers/food that we'd have to store from the bears. So we went back to the treed campground after about 3 hrs of driving looking for spots and decided this will do for the night. We figured the next day we could get up and look for another spot early in the AM and set up camp, then go do a hike. Nicks GF is from Whitefish MT which is about 30 min from Glacier so she took off to visit some friends for a while. I started getting worried about Dan cuz I couldnt get any cell reception and didnt get ahold of him from the payphone when I called. So I was hoping he would know where to find us. and about 1 hr after unpacking and everything he showed up. Said he pretty much found us really quick. Only checked out 1 campground before the one we were at, so I felt better. Then Randi and Ari started giving him shots of jager for the drive and to catch up w/ the rest of us (cept me cuz i wanted to be sober just in case to make sure I found him) We walked to the river from our spot and sorta waded in the water and layed on the rocks enjoying the wilderness. Stayed there for a little while and then headed back. Everyone was a little tipsy walking back through the little river creeks (which by the way Dan now refers to river rock as seashells.... lol.... I'll let him tell you that one himself) Randi fell in and then Dan fell in the water trying to step out.. it was pretty comical. We headed back to our camp, got changed into dry clothes and hung out for a bit by the fire when Brittnie, Nicks GF got back. On the way to bed Dan tripped over a "bear trap" (tree branch) and scrached up his leg while falling into the tent....lol poor guy... haha, So then we went to bed.. YAY...
22 July - I woke up early, about 7am. I was ready to get some breakfast and hit up the Hidden lake hike we were wanting to do since last year. Last year we just went to the overlook and this year wanted to get down the the lake! Dan was in need of some tylonal, water, food, and more sleep, but managed to get up eventually. We got everything packed up since we were going to head to this other campground called "spotted bear" that Brittnie was telling us about. So then Brittnie told us her Dad and cousins were going to come hiking with us weren't too far away, so we decided to head down to McDonald creek where you can swim and do some cliff jumping. It was very very cold water but it was also very hot out, so it felt good to dive in. Pretty much after jumping in though the cold knocks the wind out of you and you swim back to the rocks and scramble out at soon as possible to bask in the heat again. We ate some sammiches and had a few "drinks" while waiting and hanging out there. Then after a couple hours headed up to the Hidden Lake trail head FINALLY!!!!!!!!.. It was probably about 1pm by the time we got to walking on the trail. Had to make sure all the coolers and stuff were locked inside the cars and not just the bed of the truck. (we had some rangers come by to make sure we didnt forget) So then we headed down the trail. The first 1/2 mi is slightly uphill. Its on a wooden walkway with about 3 or 4 steps every 10-15 feet, but its really pretty prairie area where we saw some Mountain Goats and Bighorn sheep. Theres also those marmots and mountain squirrels. After the wooden walkway it turns to a dirt trail that has a lot of little creeks running through here and there. You cant really avoid them so you just have to walk through. We stopped a lot of times to check out the views and take pictures! Then we get up to the over look. Brittnies Dad, brother and 2 cousins came for the hike, so here her cousins decide to go back to the vehicles but the rest of us continued down to the lake another 1 1/2 miles. The first part you felt like you were walking right next to a big stone wall since the cliffs to the peak of the mountain were just off to our right. The trail sort of zig zagged down to the lake passing through more prairie area and then getting down to the trees. The flies were out like crazy so I was glad I remember to spray myself and anyone who wanted bug spray before the hike.. cuz I remember how much the flies sucked while hiking Mt. Rainier!!!!! BOOOO FLIES... there were a few people fishing down at the lake. The water was freezing but Me Randi and Ari got in anyway. Any opportunity to cool off in nature was not passed up by us :) Then Dan, Brittnies dad, and me hiked down to see where the hidden lake turned into a creek and then waterfalls! It was really neat to see. We could see Lake McDonald from where we were at also which was pretty neat. Then we decided that it was getting pretty late and we needed to start heading back if we were going to go find another campground and setup before dark. Turns out that this spotted bear campground was a bit too far for travel that night, so we decided not to go there and headed to one that was closer to the park. It turned out to be on the way to spotted bear, but was very trashy and no room to pop a tent up, so we kept on driving down the road. Then found this little dirt pullout where everyone stopped to see if there was any good camping...there was a fire pit at least, but by this time it was 9:45 and we needed to get to sleep since we had rafting next morning. So we set up camp, get something quick to eat and head to bed. I was racked out when Dan woke me up asking if I heard that noise. It sorta freaked me out since we were really in the wilderness now where its known to have a lot of bears (the bob marshall wilderness), so I listen for a minute and hear what to me sounds like the fire crackling and like a horse eating grass, so I was guessing that maybe a deer was in the woods behind our tent eating. Dan said he heard something pretty loud by the truck so he was trying to figure out what it was and what it was doing. He had the gun nearby just in case, lol. Dan yelled to Nick to see if he was still awake but no answer.. so he yelled over to Ari and Randi to see if they could see anything. I guess Ari got really freaked out and froze. Randi said she sorta peeped out of the top of the tent where the net is but they said they didnt see anything. Then they started hearing the noises too. Dan clapped his hands really loud and then it sounded like it took off in the woods. Ari freaked out about bears decided she was going to sleep in the car, and Randi didnt want to stay in a tent by herself with strange noises around us so she went to. All i could hear from my tent was Ari sort of mumbling and Randi laughing like a chipmunk. Then they would lock the doors, unlock the doors, crack the window, roll it up, lock, unlock.. this went on for about 20 min, as well as murmering and laughing. I was laughing to myself in my tent cuz I could totally picture Ari's face all freaked out. I finally fell asleep again, only to wake up about 20 min later to a loud noise. Sounded like an animal paw the ground. I was hoping it was just a deer but it was pretty loud. so I was wide eyed listening to every noise. then i heard the munching noise again all around us, and figured it must be the deer back in our area again. Then went back to sleep. I woke up a few more times to the noise cuz the were literally 1 foot from out tent eating. But got what I could of sleep
........TO BE CONTINUED.........
CONTINUED---WAAAAAY later but oh well ;)
23 July-We woke up pretty early, with little sleep from the night before, Quickly packed all our stuff. Dan, me, Randi, and Ari all left early while Nick and Brit stayed behind. We went to get some better camp spots right on Hidden lake where we wanted from the first day. So we get back to the park and head to the campgrounds. Everyone was still in the spots and starting to wake up. We found this PRIME spot where this cute couple in a VW vannigan was hanging out at. I asked them if they were staying for the night and they said they were just packing up to head out and we could have it. We stayed and chatted for a bit, then went to find another spot for Nick and Brit. After getting our spots next to each other all lined up we went to down the grounds a bit to get changed and ready for rafting. Us girls needed to shave "certain parts." We got back in the truck and headed back to the camp spots to find them empty, so we started pitching what we could leave behind to make sure they were not taken over after we had paid for them already. We found a cute note left by the older couple to take care of the spot... lol, cute. Then we headed out to meet Nick and Brittnie at the rafting place. Got there and got everything ready to go and on the bus. So we got to the drop in point of the river and started out. It was more of a calm rowing down the river than playing in rapids for the first 2 hours. Then we stopped for lunch.. MMMMM had steaks and some had chicken. Good food!! Plus eating grilled food on a river bank in the sun was awesome! We all got back in the boats and started down the river. We started playing games with the other boats splashing each other and trying to get people to fall off their boats. Since one of the other guides was trying to get our guide off, we got close and Randi launched herself over to their boat. She put up a good fight and almost got him in the water, but not quite. So then one of their guys jumped into our boat, and we pushed him out. We finally got Randi back and they got their guy back. We all chilled out some more, and then saw the rapids ahead. We got about 15 min of white water and then were done. I had fun eventhough it was more of a float than a white water trip, but it was also JULY, so all the rivers were pretty low and calm by then. We turned in our gear and then headed back to camp to get everything set up. We got dressed and clean, and then headed down to the bar at West Glacier for a drink. Then headed back to camp and played on the beach of Lake McDonald making rock stacks and taking pictures. It was gorgeous out and the view was breathtaking and relaxing. We made some food and hung out w/ Nick, Brit, and her family. They had decided to camp out w/ us that night and pitched a tent next to Nicks. After chit chatting for a bit we headed to sleep.
24 JULY-In the am me Randi and Ari got up to head out on another hike to see what else there was to see. we decided nothing too strenuous or far from where we were. Dan, Nick, and Brittnie went to a bridge to do some swimming and fishing. So Randi, Ari, and I decided to take the Avalanche lake hike. It was mainly through the woods on up to the lake. We followed a river about half of the way up. It looked like a neat waterslide the way it carved out the rocks, and we were able to stand on rocks above and watch the rushing water. Almost made you feel like you wanted to just jump in for the ride. We continued on up the trail and noticed these little caterpillar things that would hang from a spider web substance all over the place. we kept running in to them having to wipe web off our faces. We also ran into a cute little chipmunk hanging out on a log, watching all the people go by, and a deer in the pathway just walking down not minding anyone in the area. That was pretty neat. Looked like a bambie dear w/ spots if I remember right :) We also found this cool stump on the way that was hollowed out and climbed it taking pictures with our heads popping out the top. We got up to the lake and found a gorgeous view of the lake right at the base of a curved mountain backdrop. There were about 7 rivers running from the peaks down to the lake. For the most part the lake was shallow and warm, but had a lot of dead wood and trees all over with a thick muddy sediment at the bottom. We hung out there for a tad, ate a granola bar, and then headed back down to the parking lot. There wasnt anywhere to pee and too many people on the trail to go in public so we had a nice jog back down the trail. We got back to camp, cleaned up, and hung out for a tad til the boys and girl got back from their adventure. We all ate, hung around the fire, chilled by the lake, and then later on in the evening started playing some cards. We had a few brews and wine and ended up getting a little loud. We didn't realize it til someone from the campground yelled shutup at us... ooops, oh well. It had been raining for the most part of the day so we had a tarp set up and I had dug little trenches to keep water from our tents :) Nothing that would harm nature though, it was already pretty much dirt and gravel. So after a while we ended up calling it a night.
25 JULY- We all got up and packed all our gear. Dan pretty much sat around and watched, punk... So I packed our stuff... lol. We all decided to go out for breakfast that morning and hit up the restaurant at the West Glacier entrance. It was some good food! Specially since it wasnt camping food and we didnt have to make it or clean up after ourselves :) We checked out the gift shops and then got ready to head home. Nick and Brittnie were headed to Whitefish to spend a day or two with her folks, and we all headed back to Great Falls.
She slept in and later in the day came to my work to see what I did. (I left her the car and directions) So that was fun!
20 July - Randi got in about 11pm and we threw her in the car w/ 2 of my other friends from here to go to the bar for a drink. Then I got a call from Nick that him and his GF were hittin the town so we gave them directions to meet up, then headed back to base for catching up and a few "after driving brews" for them. (and yes I was the sober one)
21 July - Headed out to Glacier via wal mart and a gas station. Me Ari and Randi were planning on heading up early to get some good camping spots right on the lake, but then Nick decided they wanted to come with us instead of wait for Dan to get back. So we packed everything while they got ready, then headed out VIA walmart for food and got some gas. It was gorgeous out and hot! Ari pointed out a bunch of bales of hay in a field and said, what kind of animals are those?? hahaha I filled her in and let her know I've done that before too. We stopped at a small town restaurant for some good old fashioned milkshakes about halfway to the park. about an hour later we came to a fork in the road and decided to take the long way which would take us through the park as opposed to just going in the west entrance. I knew by the time we got there, the spots we wanted were for sure gone so I figured they could see a lot the other way. And look for other spots on the way through. Dan was still out in the missile field but everything was ready for him when he got home. So... then we found a campground w/ a bunch of spots open. It wasnt prime, but it was treed... Nicks GF didnt like any spot cuz it was too close to other campers, so the hunt for a good spot continued. We tried about 3 other campgrounds and even contemplated hiking our stuff 2.4 mi into a back country camp spot, but then decided that might not be such a hot idea w/ the amount of coolers/food that we'd have to store from the bears. So we went back to the treed campground after about 3 hrs of driving looking for spots and decided this will do for the night. We figured the next day we could get up and look for another spot early in the AM and set up camp, then go do a hike. Nicks GF is from Whitefish MT which is about 30 min from Glacier so she took off to visit some friends for a while. I started getting worried about Dan cuz I couldnt get any cell reception and didnt get ahold of him from the payphone when I called. So I was hoping he would know where to find us. and about 1 hr after unpacking and everything he showed up. Said he pretty much found us really quick. Only checked out 1 campground before the one we were at, so I felt better. Then Randi and Ari started giving him shots of jager for the drive and to catch up w/ the rest of us (cept me cuz i wanted to be sober just in case to make sure I found him) We walked to the river from our spot and sorta waded in the water and layed on the rocks enjoying the wilderness. Stayed there for a little while and then headed back. Everyone was a little tipsy walking back through the little river creeks (which by the way Dan now refers to river rock as seashells.... lol.... I'll let him tell you that one himself) Randi fell in and then Dan fell in the water trying to step out.. it was pretty comical. We headed back to our camp, got changed into dry clothes and hung out for a bit by the fire when Brittnie, Nicks GF got back. On the way to bed Dan tripped over a "bear trap" (tree branch) and scrached up his leg while falling into the tent....lol poor guy... haha, So then we went to bed.. YAY...
22 July - I woke up early, about 7am. I was ready to get some breakfast and hit up the Hidden lake hike we were wanting to do since last year. Last year we just went to the overlook and this year wanted to get down the the lake! Dan was in need of some tylonal, water, food, and more sleep, but managed to get up eventually. We got everything packed up since we were going to head to this other campground called "spotted bear" that Brittnie was telling us about. So then Brittnie told us her Dad and cousins were going to come hiking with us weren't too far away, so we decided to head down to McDonald creek where you can swim and do some cliff jumping. It was very very cold water but it was also very hot out, so it felt good to dive in. Pretty much after jumping in though the cold knocks the wind out of you and you swim back to the rocks and scramble out at soon as possible to bask in the heat again. We ate some sammiches and had a few "drinks" while waiting and hanging out there. Then after a couple hours headed up to the Hidden Lake trail head FINALLY!!!!!!!!.. It was probably about 1pm by the time we got to walking on the trail. Had to make sure all the coolers and stuff were locked inside the cars and not just the bed of the truck. (we had some rangers come by to make sure we didnt forget) So then we headed down the trail. The first 1/2 mi is slightly uphill. Its on a wooden walkway with about 3 or 4 steps every 10-15 feet, but its really pretty prairie area where we saw some Mountain Goats and Bighorn sheep. Theres also those marmots and mountain squirrels. After the wooden walkway it turns to a dirt trail that has a lot of little creeks running through here and there. You cant really avoid them so you just have to walk through. We stopped a lot of times to check out the views and take pictures! Then we get up to the over look. Brittnies Dad, brother and 2 cousins came for the hike, so here her cousins decide to go back to the vehicles but the rest of us continued down to the lake another 1 1/2 miles. The first part you felt like you were walking right next to a big stone wall since the cliffs to the peak of the mountain were just off to our right. The trail sort of zig zagged down to the lake passing through more prairie area and then getting down to the trees. The flies were out like crazy so I was glad I remember to spray myself and anyone who wanted bug spray before the hike.. cuz I remember how much the flies sucked while hiking Mt. Rainier!!!!! BOOOO FLIES... there were a few people fishing down at the lake. The water was freezing but Me Randi and Ari got in anyway. Any opportunity to cool off in nature was not passed up by us :) Then Dan, Brittnies dad, and me hiked down to see where the hidden lake turned into a creek and then waterfalls! It was really neat to see. We could see Lake McDonald from where we were at also which was pretty neat. Then we decided that it was getting pretty late and we needed to start heading back if we were going to go find another campground and setup before dark. Turns out that this spotted bear campground was a bit too far for travel that night, so we decided not to go there and headed to one that was closer to the park. It turned out to be on the way to spotted bear, but was very trashy and no room to pop a tent up, so we kept on driving down the road. Then found this little dirt pullout where everyone stopped to see if there was any good camping...there was a fire pit at least, but by this time it was 9:45 and we needed to get to sleep since we had rafting next morning. So we set up camp, get something quick to eat and head to bed. I was racked out when Dan woke me up asking if I heard that noise. It sorta freaked me out since we were really in the wilderness now where its known to have a lot of bears (the bob marshall wilderness), so I listen for a minute and hear what to me sounds like the fire crackling and like a horse eating grass, so I was guessing that maybe a deer was in the woods behind our tent eating. Dan said he heard something pretty loud by the truck so he was trying to figure out what it was and what it was doing. He had the gun nearby just in case, lol. Dan yelled to Nick to see if he was still awake but no answer.. so he yelled over to Ari and Randi to see if they could see anything. I guess Ari got really freaked out and froze. Randi said she sorta peeped out of the top of the tent where the net is but they said they didnt see anything. Then they started hearing the noises too. Dan clapped his hands really loud and then it sounded like it took off in the woods. Ari freaked out about bears decided she was going to sleep in the car, and Randi didnt want to stay in a tent by herself with strange noises around us so she went to. All i could hear from my tent was Ari sort of mumbling and Randi laughing like a chipmunk. Then they would lock the doors, unlock the doors, crack the window, roll it up, lock, unlock.. this went on for about 20 min, as well as murmering and laughing. I was laughing to myself in my tent cuz I could totally picture Ari's face all freaked out. I finally fell asleep again, only to wake up about 20 min later to a loud noise. Sounded like an animal paw the ground. I was hoping it was just a deer but it was pretty loud. so I was wide eyed listening to every noise. then i heard the munching noise again all around us, and figured it must be the deer back in our area again. Then went back to sleep. I woke up a few more times to the noise cuz the were literally 1 foot from out tent eating. But got what I could of sleep
........TO BE CONTINUED.........
CONTINUED---WAAAAAY later but oh well ;)
23 July-We woke up pretty early, with little sleep from the night before, Quickly packed all our stuff. Dan, me, Randi, and Ari all left early while Nick and Brit stayed behind. We went to get some better camp spots right on Hidden lake where we wanted from the first day. So we get back to the park and head to the campgrounds. Everyone was still in the spots and starting to wake up. We found this PRIME spot where this cute couple in a VW vannigan was hanging out at. I asked them if they were staying for the night and they said they were just packing up to head out and we could have it. We stayed and chatted for a bit, then went to find another spot for Nick and Brit. After getting our spots next to each other all lined up we went to down the grounds a bit to get changed and ready for rafting. Us girls needed to shave "certain parts." We got back in the truck and headed back to the camp spots to find them empty, so we started pitching what we could leave behind to make sure they were not taken over after we had paid for them already. We found a cute note left by the older couple to take care of the spot... lol, cute. Then we headed out to meet Nick and Brittnie at the rafting place. Got there and got everything ready to go and on the bus. So we got to the drop in point of the river and started out. It was more of a calm rowing down the river than playing in rapids for the first 2 hours. Then we stopped for lunch.. MMMMM had steaks and some had chicken. Good food!! Plus eating grilled food on a river bank in the sun was awesome! We all got back in the boats and started down the river. We started playing games with the other boats splashing each other and trying to get people to fall off their boats. Since one of the other guides was trying to get our guide off, we got close and Randi launched herself over to their boat. She put up a good fight and almost got him in the water, but not quite. So then one of their guys jumped into our boat, and we pushed him out. We finally got Randi back and they got their guy back. We all chilled out some more, and then saw the rapids ahead. We got about 15 min of white water and then were done. I had fun eventhough it was more of a float than a white water trip, but it was also JULY, so all the rivers were pretty low and calm by then. We turned in our gear and then headed back to camp to get everything set up. We got dressed and clean, and then headed down to the bar at West Glacier for a drink. Then headed back to camp and played on the beach of Lake McDonald making rock stacks and taking pictures. It was gorgeous out and the view was breathtaking and relaxing. We made some food and hung out w/ Nick, Brit, and her family. They had decided to camp out w/ us that night and pitched a tent next to Nicks. After chit chatting for a bit we headed to sleep.
24 JULY-In the am me Randi and Ari got up to head out on another hike to see what else there was to see. we decided nothing too strenuous or far from where we were. Dan, Nick, and Brittnie went to a bridge to do some swimming and fishing. So Randi, Ari, and I decided to take the Avalanche lake hike. It was mainly through the woods on up to the lake. We followed a river about half of the way up. It looked like a neat waterslide the way it carved out the rocks, and we were able to stand on rocks above and watch the rushing water. Almost made you feel like you wanted to just jump in for the ride. We continued on up the trail and noticed these little caterpillar things that would hang from a spider web substance all over the place. we kept running in to them having to wipe web off our faces. We also ran into a cute little chipmunk hanging out on a log, watching all the people go by, and a deer in the pathway just walking down not minding anyone in the area. That was pretty neat. Looked like a bambie dear w/ spots if I remember right :) We also found this cool stump on the way that was hollowed out and climbed it taking pictures with our heads popping out the top. We got up to the lake and found a gorgeous view of the lake right at the base of a curved mountain backdrop. There were about 7 rivers running from the peaks down to the lake. For the most part the lake was shallow and warm, but had a lot of dead wood and trees all over with a thick muddy sediment at the bottom. We hung out there for a tad, ate a granola bar, and then headed back down to the parking lot. There wasnt anywhere to pee and too many people on the trail to go in public so we had a nice jog back down the trail. We got back to camp, cleaned up, and hung out for a tad til the boys and girl got back from their adventure. We all ate, hung around the fire, chilled by the lake, and then later on in the evening started playing some cards. We had a few brews and wine and ended up getting a little loud. We didn't realize it til someone from the campground yelled shutup at us... ooops, oh well. It had been raining for the most part of the day so we had a tarp set up and I had dug little trenches to keep water from our tents :) Nothing that would harm nature though, it was already pretty much dirt and gravel. So after a while we ended up calling it a night.
25 JULY- We all got up and packed all our gear. Dan pretty much sat around and watched, punk... So I packed our stuff... lol. We all decided to go out for breakfast that morning and hit up the restaurant at the West Glacier entrance. It was some good food! Specially since it wasnt camping food and we didnt have to make it or clean up after ourselves :) We checked out the gift shops and then got ready to head home. Nick and Brittnie were headed to Whitefish to spend a day or two with her folks, and we all headed back to Great Falls.