Trails

Hiking

Join ALDHA-West!

Mail Bag

Adventures of the Spirit Eagle - Glacier NP - Day 9

  by Jim & Ginny Owen

Wednesday - August 5, Red Eagle basin to Red Eagle Lake (7.5 miles) -

Ginny: Back at the lake, sitting in the sun. Today was not a lot better than yesterday, though we avoided the hours of bushwhacking through the willows, mostly. We still had our share. We would follow good trail for a while, then lose it at a blowdown. Best part was when we decided to just follow the creek for a trail, following recent horse tracks. We walked in the water for about ½ mile - between ankle and thigh deep. The water was cool but not icy. We had so many crossings we were already soaked, so one more didn’t hurt and it saved us some time and energy bushwhacking. We picked up the trail at a crossing we recognized from yesterday (a tree still had the original metal blaze) and had little trouble from there. We heard two waterfalls that we didn’t see. Saw lots of bear scat and some bear bedding areas, but no bears. Again lots of elk and deer tracks, but we are too noisy in this dense wood to see any wildlife.

I’m really disappointed that we weren’t able to do what we had planned with the Norris Traverse, but as tired as I am, a shorter day is probably best. We still have a lot of miles to go in the next few days, and the two days of semi-bushwhacking took a lot out of me. Of course, it could be partly just that I missed my morning cup of coffee. Still, a nap and a swim both sound good - which shall I do first? The wind is really blowing this afternoon and the usually still, calm lake has some definite waves. I feel like I’m at the ocean. No other people here yet, but two days ago the other campers didn’t arrive until pretty late. It is only 6 miles from the St. Mary’s trailhead, where most people start this section - and a lot of them seem to start really late. This is a beautiful spot surrounded by interesting peaks - I am content.

Jim: We were out early, but it still took us until 1500 to get back to the main trail (Triple Divide Trail). We found the old trail in the valley almost immediately after breaking camp and we followed it right out of the valley with no problem whatever. Looking back on it, there were really 2 areas of willows, one in the valley and another up the hill below the north headwall. In between the two was an area which was only partly overgrown - and the old trail ran right through the valley in that zone. If we'd had another day to explore we'd have kept going - I think we could have found the switchbacks and done the traverse, but we were short on time and food and we were both frustrated with the results of yesterday. On the way out we picked up the broken water filter that we'd passed on the way in - proof of grizzly bear presence. That was obvious because of the tooth marks where he'd broken the carbon canister. The rest of the trip was long, but we managed to follow the old trail for about half of the way out. When we lost the trail, we just started walking downstream (IN the stream) until we found a trail crossing that we recognized, then we got back on the trail. The trail does NOT follow the route exactly as described in the Climbers Guide. There are more stream crossings than are indicated by the book.

Again we got to Red Eagle Lake early enough to swim, dry out our gear and spend some time reading and re-hydrating on the beach before dinner. Others started coming in about an hour after we got there, but we had already claimed our old campsite. There was a family group with mom and pop and 3 daughters whose main interest seemed to be fishing and there were a couple girls who work at Many Glacier for the summer and were out in the backcountry for their "weekend". One of the perks of working at the Park is the fantastic hiking available. Another early night.

Day 8 - Day 10

© Copyright 1998 Jim & Ginny Owen