 |
| Mileage |
8.3 |
| Elevation
+/- |
2280
/ 0 |
| Fatigue |
 |
| Camp
Rating |
|
| Meals |
|
| Breakfast |
Oatmeal |
| Lunch |
Beef
sticks & string cheese |
| Dinner |
Chicken
Teriyaki and pudding |
| Water sources |
No problem |
NOTES:
Again the trail was very bushy but provided
an ample supply of Thimbleberies to munch
on...much of this day was spent in a sub-alpine
environment ...more deer at Fifty Mountain |
|
|
We survived the night without getting
any rain but the skies to the west were still threatening.
Our invisible force field was unable to keep the clouds
from penetrating our hiking space and at 6:45 decided to
start packing some of my gear while inside my tent. I also
zipped on my pant legs for the first time during the trip.
It was very chilly and definitely felt like autumn. My noisy
activity didn't sit too well with Mike who wanted to snooze
a while longer. We each got a little testy with each other
for the first time on the trip, but things got worked out
and we trudged to the food prep area for breakfast.
 |
| Looking west while hiking the Highline. |
Surprisingly the moose were not
still stuffing their faces, hence, we were mooseless for
the morning. It was just as well as we had another climb
ahead of us on our way to Fifty Mountain. We were off at
8:45 under threatening skies for the first time on the hike.
Yumi and I had also covered the first 2.6 miles of our route
last summer. It was pretty unremarkable but for the bumber
crop of Thimbleberries along the trail. Mike, leading the
way, got most of the good, plump ones but I still managed
to get a few that he missed.
We stopped for a rest at 10 AM at
the junction of the trail leading to Stoney Indian Pass.
I was glad we didn't have to make that climb but would have
loved to spend more time exploring the basin just east of
the pass. About 10 minutes after starting up again we came
to a backcountry patrol cabin. How cool would it be to spend
the summer there? Very. We also saw our first horse packer
a few minutes past the cabin who mumbled something neither
of us could understand. We spent the next few minutes what
he could possibly have been hauling or what he was even
doing on the trail since the nearest road was at least 13-14
miles away at Waterton. Some mysteries may never be solved.
 |
| Remains of old backcountry patrol
cabin north of Fifty Mountain. |
By this time we were statring
our 2300 foot climb in earnest, but the trail was
so well laid out that we hardly noticed. What we did notice
was the brush, which in places was taller than Mike. We
made good time and by 11:45 found a great spot to take lunch
with a tremendous view of Vulture Peak and Glacier.
We spent nearly a half hour admiring the views then pushed
onward and upward to the sub-alpine. The views continued
to be gorgeous despite the cooler temps and couldy skies.
Our next break coincided with our discovery of the ruins
of a backcountry patrol cabin. I decided that this cabin
would be a much cooler place to spend the summer.
It only took us an hour of easy hiking to make it to Fifty
Mountain camp. The trees around the camp had managed to
survive the fires of 2003 even though most of the surrounding
forest had not. We found a decent site tucked in some trees
and were almost immediately greeted by more deer looking
for us to pee or something.
 |
| Once finished climbing the remainder
of the day was easy. |
The remainder of the afternoon was spent doing nothing
until dinnertime. We ate, chaaatted with a young couple
from North Carolina for a while then hiked a short distance
north in hopes of spying some wildlife either on the open
hillsides or on this side of the continental divide. All
we could see was a magnificent view to the west dominated
by Vulture Peeeak and it''s namesake Glacier and a solitary
mountain goat who was too far away to even get a decent
photo.
After an hour off this we walked back to camp and were
immediately asked if we had seen the sssow and her two cubs
foraging for food off in the distance. Either we were blind
as bats or we didn't have good sight lines because they
certainly were there though barely visable to the naked
eye.
We spent a few minutes talking with a couple of work buddies
from Atlanta. They came over from Stoney Indian Lake and
were in the middle of their annual backpacking trip. We
would see them again tomorrow night at Granite Park.
By 9:30 we were ready to head for our tents and rest up
for tomorrow's 12 mile day, which would be my longest day
ever.
|
