What About Bob?

My latest escapade took me into the Bob Marshall Wilderness, a vast million plus acre national forest south of Glacier NP. My trail lead me south along the lazy South Fork of the Flathead River, pictured below winding its way north.

I traveled solo and was out for the entire nine days which had its pros and cons. I had to carry a lot of weight and setting up trees took longer, but it was nice to hike at my own pace and listen to the sounds of the forest. Being not as popular as Glacier, few other travelers were seen. I went almost three days without seeing, or even hearing, another person. I was lucky enough to stay in Ranger Patrol Cabins for a few nights and there was usually other people (horse packers, trail crews, etc...) staying there with me. These cabins were built in the '30s and are beautiful, rustic and homey. Enjoying hot cups of coffee, getting ready to start the days were humble moments.


I didn't see any bears, moose, elk or mountain lions, but did wake up in the middle of the night to a wolf howling right next to my tent. I enjoyed the sound for a minute, then realized he was probably calling his friends over for dinner, so I started to yell. He stopped and I fell back asleep and thankfully I was in one piece when I awoke. Butterflies were everywhere, fluttering along side me as I hiked and sometimes there were dozens of them in one spot.


Butterflies weren't the only prevalent beauty throughout the wilderness; flowers, flowers and more flowers were blooming all around me. The sun rising over these gorgeous flowers started my morning off in a good mode.


Towards the end of the hitch I hiked up high enough to see the far reaching South Fork River valley. The sublime cloud cover hung in the setting sun sky making me appreciate even more this excellent adventure that I've taken. Hope you're enjoying it with me.

Mount James

Looking West into the heart of Glacier

Mount Stimpson (10,142') between and behind Razoredge and Triple Divide Mountains. Medicine Grizzly Lake below

The sharp, pointy mountain to the left is Flintch. Medicine Grizzly Lake below Razoredge

A very long way down

A great view of Glacier National Park

Cutbank Valley

Sunset in the valley

Flintch Mountain way in the background

Razoredge (left) and Triple Divide (right) Mountains above Medicine Grizzly Lake

Medicine Grizzly Lake

Red Eagle Lake

Looking west into Red Eagle Valley

East end of Red Eagle Lake

West end of Red Eagle Lake

Indian Paintbrush

Saint Mary

Highline Trail

Mount Oberlin (left)

Lake McDonald

Grinnell Glacier

Flowery meadow below Swiftcurrent Pass

Heavens Peak hidden in the heavens

Mount Oberlin

A view of the route up to the summit

From the summit, looking towards Heavens Peak (sunlit mountain in the center) and the Garden Wall below it

McDonald and Mineral Creeks below the Garden Wall

Beautiful Day

Just A Little Taste

A view north up the Waterton River Valley


North face of Mount Cleveland (10,466'), the tallest mountain in the park

Proof that I actually hike to these places, Otokomi Lake.

The moon rise over a mountain on the North Boundary Trail.

The aptly named Iceberg Lake.

In My Wildest Dreams

Hello all and welcome to another chapter in the life of me. Yes it can be scary, if not frightening at times, but bear (no pun intended) with me and we can explore some amazing places together. Since we last talked I had a wonderful visit from two Colorado natives, Phillip Pierce and Justin Kerr, which was a welcomed event, being that I hadn't seen either of them in over six months. Of course they brought rainy CO weather with them and our plans had to be amended according, but we did make it on a beautiful hike to Numa Lookout on their last day here in Glacier. The view down to Bowman Lake was spectacular.


And yes, the mosquitoes are really nasty up here.


I started my "hitch" the day they had to leave, nine days ago. Thankfully Phil and Justin took all the bad weather with them and I didn't see any clouds since they left. Three days in Many Glacier packed in Many surprises (pun intended). This Moose was the highlight.


A few hours drive into Canada took us to Waterton National Park which is part of the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. A gorgeous boat ride south on the Waterton Lake transported us back into the USA to an area named Goat Haunt. The name does not come from the evil goat spirits that reside in the region, but is actually an English word meaning haven, or so I'm told. This is where we encountered this adult black bear. The picture is a little blurry, sorry, but he was coming straight at us and I didn't really have time to focus. He huffed and puffed, but walked out of our path and continued in the other direction. It's easy to froget, walking on well maintained trails all day, that Glacier is still very wild and dangerous, but this guy just wanted to get on his way with no trouble, as did we.


After five beautful days around Goat Haunt, we took the boat ride back to Canada, then drove back into the USA to Saint Mary Lake. We spent one day hiking in this unbelievable valley, then headed back to West Glacier for some much needed R and R, but this sight will always stay in my mind.


Hope your days are filled with a little excitment, danger, pain and bliss as mine are, because life aint worth living unless all these are combined in equal portions.

Much Love,

zabba