Lake Ellen Wilson Part 2
Day 3 in Montana was another beautiful day. Mid-60s with blue skies and beautiful, cumulous, Toy Story clouds filling the sky.
We enjoyed another late morning and finally made our way around Lake Ellen Wilson and up the mountain to check out Gunsight pass. Since we were the first group allowed up for the season, we didn’t know if we would actually be able to cross over since no one knew how much snow was still left. So we took the hour hike up to check it out, stopping for photos along the way since it was such a gorgeous day.
The other thing I loved about this hike was the colorful stones. So many purples, blues and greens expressed from the different levels of iron content and oxidization. If you want to learn more about the interesting geology of Glacier NP, read geologist Callan Bentley’s article here.
The ranger said we'd have a pretty good view of the rest of the trail from the top. Now, maybe the beautiful weather was influencing our judgment or we really thought it wasn’t that much snow. But we decided that if we could get past these two big patches then we would be good. We were wrong. But more on that later.
We had lunch of salami and cheese with a stunning view at the top. It’s moments like this that make me fall in love with backpacking. You walk and walk while carrying all your stuff but you’re rewarded with an amazing view all to yourself. And sometimes you get these perfect moments when the weather is ideal, you still have some of the “good food” left and everything is working out. I try to absorb these moments when they happen because “this too shall pass.” I remember how something as small as the sun on my face while eating a piece of cheese makes me so elated. I practice appreciating the small things. I feel small too, yet very lucky. These hikes are like school, church and therapy all wrapped in one.
We slid our way back down to camp and right before our last patch of snow Donald spotted a (possible grizzly) bear on the other side of this ~100 ft patch of snow.
We slowly back up like they say to do. We are calm. It sees us and keeps digging around for food. We wait. We watch as it keeps heading lower towards the lake and then disappear into the forest near our campsite. We get to higher ground. We patiently watch and wait for maybe 45 minutes until it’s headed further up the mountain, away from the campsite and headed for the forest. We decided it was safe to head back but watch from the lake in case it turned back. We laid on the pebble beach and soaked up the last bit of sun.
For your knowledge, like most animals, bears are typically not going to get aggressive unless they feel threatened. Here are some quick tips if you ever encounter a bear in the wild:
-NEVER RUN!
-back away slowly from the bear
-Get big. Raise your arms, gather with others or stand on a rock.
-do NOT climb a tree
Slight differences when dealing with black vs grizzly bears as grizzlies are more aggressive. In California, you'll only be dealing with black bears which are smaller and easier to scare. If a bear ever attacks you, keep your pack on if you have it, make yourself into a ball, protect your neck and play dead. The chances of that happening are small. But knowledge is power!
Read more about bear safety from the U.S. National Park System.
Back to the story...
The next morning it's raining. We open the tent and the lake we were next to could no longer be seen. The rain wasn't strong but consistent and it lasted most of the morning. We wait for a break to pack up the tent and head out.
I didn't have a rain fly but did bring a lot of plastic bags. When I was hiking in Patagonia, they advised against using rain flies because the wind is so strong the fly will act like a parachute and pull you back. Instead they recommend storing everything in dry bags or trash bags.
I separated my clothes and belongings into multiple plastic bags. Electronics went in Ziplocks then shoved deeper in the pack. I'm so happy we went up to see the beautiful view the day before because we saw nothing that day. Everyday is different. We stopped in the hut at the top for a brunch of chickpea curry and rice.
The clouds were moving so fast we would watch them float over from the lakeside and rush down the other side to cover the entire valley in minutes. I wish I had a video to share but we just relished the scene.
We decided to skip the big snow patch and try to go off trail to make it safer. So I thought. Typically we wouldn’t go off trail like this but we chose land over snow. Might choose differently next time!
It would have been fine had I not misjudged a large, flat rock I put my hand on to help steady myself. We were going downhill and as I released my hand, the rock started sliding and hit me in the head. The rock was moving really slowly but did give me a good knock as it was heavy. Yet I kept my cool and had it in me to make the rock slide down the wall without crushing my toes or causing me to lose my balance. With a pack on, it’s easy to get pushed backward and I was in a good place to tumble down the mountain. But none of that happened and we hooked back up with the trail. Popped two Tylenol and all was good :)
Except that we were totally wrong about there only being 2 snow passes.
Now, I will preface this here with we probably shouldn’t have been on this trail. And my disclaimer is I do not recommend others to venture into a snowy abyss unprepared like we did. Especially if you have never had any experience hiking in snow.
We had poor visibility. Snow covered the trails. We were sometimes on a ~40 degree slope where if we fell, we would slide down the mountain to an end we did not see. Not wise. Do not recommend.
But we carried on. Snow patch after snow patch. Stomping our boots into the icy snow over and over until there was a flat, secure place for our feet to land. It took a long time, a lot of energy and deep concentration. It was almost like meditation, focused on carefully and methodically creating this path and repeating the same motion over and over.
Our feet were wet. Our arms and legs tired after hours of stomping and jabbing poles into ice. So. Much. Snow.
At one point, we could see where the path continues just a few switchbacks below that were partially covered with snow. We were tired and it looked like a really fun shortcut. So we tightened up our packs and down we slid. And yes! It was fun!
As we crossed the last snow patch, we watched the clouds flow down the mountain and begin to dissipate. We were finally able to see the lake.
The foliage on this side was much more tropical. We hiked a few more miles to the next campground that was swarmed with mosquitos. We didn’t stay long.
However, just past the campground, the bear grass was in full bloom and it was EVERYWHERE!! It was so amazing! I was so giddy and completely reenergized from hiking in the snow all day. And remember, I was really into the bear grass since we learned about it in our Uber. So I was elated and we spent a lot of time here so I could stop every few feet to admire them.
We finally get along and into the forest come upon a nice bridge to sit in the sun for lunch. The weather changes quickly in the park so we wanted to enjoy this bit of sunshine. Because even though there were blue skies, we could see some dark clouds in the distance. We only had under 2 miles left but it’s never fun to hike in the rain.
And right as we started to feel the drizzle come down, we stopped to put our rain jackets on. When we looked past the trees and into the distance we saw a MOOSE!
We had been talking about how cool it would be to see a majestic moose. Neither of us had seen one and we saw some tracks earlier on in the snow
We were elated. We watched it walk across the river and graze. It was amazing. We were torn between watching it and moving since it now was raining and there was no place to stop. We carried on and a few minutes later we saw ANOTHER MOOSE!! What luck! Although this time we decided to only stop for a few seconds since we were getting soaked.
The rain fell hard for about 20 minutes and then the sun started to come back out. We were completely soaked but stopped to change pants. Once we finally made it out to the road, we had our next adventure: finding someone willing to pick up two wet hikers and drive us back to camp. So we were thumbin it for maybe 30 minutes? It was later in the evening by this time and I was getting cold. I mean, who wouldn’t want to pick up these happy souls?
Thankfully, a young guy and his girlfriend in a truck end up taking us back. And as it turns out.. This guy is from the SAME CITY as us back in California! He was a few years younger but he went to highschool with people we knew. Both he and his girlfriend were living in San Diego, where I had lived for the 6 previous years. Small world.
The drive through the park was absolutely stunning. And we filled it with great conversation with our new friends. I love moments like this. How serendipitous life is sometimes. It couldn’t be better even if you planned it. Because sometimes the unknown, the surprises, and the problems are what make the experience memorable. Being in situations you never would have dreamed up, simply because you decided to just see how things go.
