 |
| Mileage |
7.1 |
| Elevation
+/- |
0
/ 0 |
| Fatigue |
 |
| Camp
Rating |
|
| Meals |
|
| Breakfast |
n/a |
| Lunch |
jalapeno
bread |
| Dinner |
Paste
Primavera and pudding |
| Water sources |
No problem |
NOTES:
The hike along Bowman Lake was as easy a
hike you can have in Glacier...Most of the
time we were within view of the lake. |
|
|
Even though we didn't need to get
an early start, I was up by 6:15 AM. This wasn't planned,
but I wanted to get an early morning look at Bowman Lake
and get some killer photos to share with Yumi. The lake
did not disappoint as the rising sun changed the colors
on the surrounding mountains by the minute. It was looking
like it was shaping up to be an absolutely gorgeous day,
and indeed it was with temperatures in the mid-70's and
a few clouds in the sky when we began our hike. Perfect
for a heavy sweater like me.
 |
| Rainbow peak was our constant companion
as we hiked to our first night's camp. |
Mike woke up just before 7 and we
began our day by checking out the lake once again and munching
on treats bought at the Merc the night before. After breakfast
Mike began re-packing his bag while I yakked with "Boogity"
, a NPS employee, and campsite neighbor Jim Berry near the
outhouse. I don't know how much of the things those two
boys told me were true, but if they were I now know to stay
away from Eureka, MT and to not piss off the Carney brothers
there. Jim and his wife Nancy would also be hiking over
to Bowman Lake to do some fishing and I hoped to see him
again as his stories were utterly riveting.
We were finally ready to roll by
11:15 and made our way down to the trailhead which was just
off the boat launch area. While I was carrying around 33-35
pounds, Mike seemed to nearly double my load. Not only was
his mammothpack filled to the max, but he had rigged his
auxillary food bag to the outside of the pack. He had to
be carrying close to 65 pounds which included last night's
left over pizza and 4 cans of Bud. He would eat very well
this trip if he could ever get his pack shouldered. Fortunately,
Mike was built along the lines of a fullback and seemed
to have no trouble carrying his load.
After snapping off a few more pictures
we were off at 11:25. Mike had fashioned an annoying yet
effective "bear bell" from an empty can of Bud
filled with a few stones. I knew we'd have no problems with
bears because of it but I was worried about a retaliatory
attack from the rear from an irate bruin.
We had decided that we'd try to
take a 10 minute break every hour or so and were ready for
our first after traveling along Bowman Lake for an hour.
The jalapeno bread from the Merc was as tasty as it was
last year and it didn't take me long to put it away, nor
Mike his.
Shortly after we finished our lunch
I suddenly felt a tug on my pack from behind. What the %$#*?
I turned around to see a grinning Jim Berry---master hunter
and stalker---and his wife. We chatted with the sneaky couple
for a few minutes and let them pass. Jim had some fish to
catch.
After another break at about 1:45
we made our final push to the campground at Bowman Lake.
We arrived just before 3 PM and found the campground full
of canoeists and canoes but no people other than Maura and
Steve, a couple of nurses from Whitefish. We quickly set
up camp and got our fishing gear assembled. Though not a
very good fisherman I was anxious to see if I'd have any
luck with the Montana trout. We fished for about an hour
without any luck and decided to make some dinner.
 |
| Mike making his finishing touches
at our first night's camp at Bowman Lake. |
Mike had brought his Jetboil and
I quickly had enough hot water to rehydrate my Mountain
House Pasta Primavera Pro Pak. I had bought a few of these
at an outfitter's shop in Estes Park a few weeks earlier.
The meal tasted great, the portion large enough and most
importantly packed very small which enabled me to get 5
nights worth of food into a 7' x 12" stuff sack. Mike
had to make do with cold pizza and beer from our previous
nigh'ts meal at Polebridge. I have no doubts that Mike ate
better in the backcountry than anyone in Glacier national
Park history.
Shortly after we began eating the
rest of the campers began to appear. One large group included
three generations of Montanan's: Rollin and his wife were
the grandparents. Mike, his wife and three small childern
rounded out thier brood. Matt and Rollin were physicians
so I felt pretty safe with at least four medical professionals
nearby. There was also a pair of early 20-somethings named
Cody and "Bob". These guys, I would find out later,
were hilarious despite the misfortune of thier stove conking
out on them in the middle of dinner preparations. They eventually
cooked over the fire Rollin had started before heading out
for a canoe ride after his dinner.
After the doctors had retired for
the evening I sat up with Cody, Bob, Maura and Steve. Bob
and Cody had us in tears as they described the "stoner
logic" of a couple of would-be drug traffickers who
built a tunnel under their home right on the U.S.-Canadian
border to smuggle their goods. The catch was that the DEA
knew what they were doing but let them finish the tunnel.
Another witty line: "At least at Shawshank he was sneaky
about it". These guys were bringing out dirt by the
truckload and dumping it nearby. Stoner logic.
I was finally ready to hit the sack
a bit after 10. It was a good day. No blisters on my feet
and I felt good. I was a little apprehensive about tomorrow's
climb of Brown Pass as I heard it was quite steep, and I
was not in peak physical condition, but figured we had less
than 9 miles to go to the payoff---Lake Francis.
|
