Up the Crown of the Continent (not FF)

Got volunteered to Sherpa a herd of flatlanders to see Grinnell, one of the glaciers the Park was named for. A pretty easy hike from Logan Pass along the Garden Wall/Highline but even so they were woefully unprepared and the trip was aborted about a mile short of the goal. Thank God my wife got stuck with walking them down to the Loop while I retraced the 7 miles back to the truck (they were so slow, the last shuttle back to Logan was long gone); a bit of a slog, but I made good time and even managed to see a mama ptarmigan with a pair of chicks and a number of bighorns in the parking lot, cleaning up after all of us sloppy tourists (no pics; sorry).
Amazingly, 2 of the members of the ill-fated trip wanted to try it again so, never one to turn down a chance to hike in the Park, off we went, this time straight up from the Loop.


been pretty dry but still a little water in the creeks

http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/...psn2qkh8tf.jpg


Heaven's Peak (stayed in the clouds the whole day)

http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/...psnctbvamw.jpg


McDonald Creek valley

http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/...psobhcjnpg.jpg


black bear; happy for now, but the berry crop up on the trail looked pretty sparse

http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/...psk4cv9yhi.jpg

http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/...psi0fmt0pv.jpg


lots of these guys around

http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/...pshdo0thjt.jpg

http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/...psj7yhtanz.jpg


had to wait out a nasty thunderstorm (luckily we got to Granite Chalet before it hit); once that cleared we headed on up

http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/...psxwshtwip.jpg

http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/...pssz6ozo0t.jpg


target is the saddle on the far left

http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/...psseku4hfz.jpg

almost there

http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/...psxwgjtyqe.jpg


over the top, looking down the valley to the east (Swiftcurrent Lake in the far distance)

http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/...psx5nuchpb.jpg

what we came for

http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/...pst8rubmhk.jpg

http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/...psg8yqyz28.jpg

Got to find some of the pics we took of the glacier in '96 to see how far it's receeded. Maybe not, it'd just depress me.


Regards,
Scott

Beautiful pictures of some beautiful country.
Thanks for posting, Scott.

Ted

Beautiful country and photos.

I saw a lot of dead trees in some of the pictures. Are they dead because of the drought or did the pine bark beetle get them?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cycler68

I saw a lot of dead trees in some of the pictures. Are they dead because of the drought or did the pine bark beetle get them?

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http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/...psn2qkh8tf.jpg

http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/...psnctbvamw.jpg

http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/...psobhcjnpg.jpg

Most of the ones in these pics burned in 2003 (and 2007, I think); a few are remnants of another fire in 1967. Could be some beetle kill in there, too.

Sadly, over the past 2 days a nasty fire has brewed up on the east side of Logan Pass

http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4405/

Was hoping some of the rain we got Wednesday morning would have crossed over the Divide but all they got was the wind, which just makes things worse. Saw a slurry bomber landing at the airport in Kalispell; things have cooled off a bit from 3 weeks ago and we got a bit of rain, but obviously not enough. We'll see what Mother Nature (and mankind) has in store for us.

Regards,
Scott

Thanks for the info Scott.

I heard the road to the sun was closed. Be safe Scott. Thanks for the pics and tale. Jim