September 3, 2005: Jackson Glacier Overlook to Gunsight Lake

Mileage 6.2 Elevation +/- 500 / 500 Fatigue Camp Rating Meals   Breakfast n/a Lunch Tuna, string cheese and crackers Dinner Chicken and Rice Water sources No problem NOTES: The trail from the overlook to St. Mary River afforded no views ...there is a nice opportunity for a side trip up to the Jackson Glacier from the Gunsight lake campground...there is also ample shoreline frontage for everyone to enjoy.

I awoke at 6:45 and beat Andy up by about 15 minutes. We were in no hurry to get going as we didn't need to rely on the shuttle service as we had two trucks at our disposal, and we only had to do a little over 6 fairly flat miles to Gunsight Lake once we made it to the Trailhead.

Our first good view of Citadel Mountain after emerging from the forrested valley bottom.

Andy decided to go to the Lodge for breakfast while I was content to finish off the box of cereal and some donut sticks I had brought from home. By 8:15 I left the campground and met up with Andy a few minutes later at the lodge parking lot. We took a little time with some last minute gear checks and were ready to make the hour drive up to the Jackson Glacier overlook at 9:00.

There was a party of four getting thier gear together at the parking area as we pulled up. All were from the area and taking advantage of the Labor Day weekend to get in a hike. How lucky they were to run up to Glacier for the weekend.

By 10:10 Andy and I started down the trail. We immediatley started losing elevation as the trail made its way through more heavy brush to the St. Mary River. There weren't a lot of views until we reached the River which was surprisingly scenic with an abundance of small falls and deep pools. Very soon we reached the trail junction and began to follow the river to the west.

Jackson Glacier.

After a little more than an hours worth of hiking we stopped near the river for a short break and were passed by two of the foursome we met at the trailhead. We would play leapfrog with these two again later on. For the most part there were still limited views as the trail stayed in the trees, but every so often we would be treated to views of Citadel Mountain and later Blackfoot and Jackson Glaciers. We were making very good time and it became apparent we'd have the better part of the afternoon to spend at Gunsight Lake.

The only difficult portion of the days hike came near the end as we had a failry steep 500' climb on our approach to Gunsight Lake. We were quicker than the twosome who had passed us earlier, however and made it to the Gunsight Lake campground by 12:30.

After we got set up in a nice site tucked in the trees we decided to grab some lunch and figure out what to do with the rest of the afternoon. There were already quite a few people at camp including a group of four from St. Louis, a pair of Canadians from Calgary and another couple who pretty much kept to themselves most of the time.

With our lunch consumed, Andy decided he was going to try and climb Mt. Jackson which was taunting him from across the river. I thought he was nuts and declined his offer to come along. I thought I'd hang out at the lake and maybe scope the surrounding area with the binoculars looking for wildlife.

After taking a short hour nap I decided to begin my surveilance of the surrounding area from the seasonal suspension bridge crossing the St. Mary River. I trained my binoculars on Mt. Jackson and to my shock zeroed in on a lone figure sitting down about 300 feet below the summit. We had heard that there were some bears foraging on the hillside east of the cmapground and spent some time scanning for them. Not having any luck finding bears I focused my attention on the the slopes of Mt. Jackson. All I could find there was a solitary Mountain Goat. I then turned my attention to the geography at the other end of the lake. The rock here was unlike any other I had seen at Glacier. While it was common to see strata tilted at wierd angles, this appeared to be folded, twisted, bent and tilted. I made a mental note to get a good picture of the rock tomorrow as we climbed Gunsight Pass and hiked back to camp.

Gunsight Lake and Pass.

Andy and the group from Montana showed up around 5 PM. This surprised me as I could have sworn I was looking at Andy near the summit earlier in the afternoon. Turns out the figure on the mountain was not Andy as he had met and joined up with the Montana group shortly after beginning his aborted climb. He said it was too brushy to make much progress and hiked up to the Glacier instead.

Dinner and the social hour following was a hoot. The group from Montana consisted of a father, son, aunt/sister, and a public defender from Great Falls. The St. Louis group's makeup was unknown other than a father-son. The young guys from Calgary were pretty humorous and enjoyed my attempted slaying of the resident nuisance deer who had tried to eat one of my trekking poles earlier in the day.

Scott, the public defender who was on his first backpacking trip, entertained us with some stories of some of the more bizarre cases he's handled over the years. A great storyteller who I hope to hike with again sometime.

Soon enough it was dark and getting cooler. By 9 PM it was just the two Canadians, Chris (the son in the group from Montana) and myself. The Canadians were hiking out to the overlook the next day and I suggested they take my truck back down to their car parked at Lake McDonald Lodge. They agreed it was a great idea and I told them where I had hid my spare set of keys. They also agreed not to crash or take my truck up to Canada. This would save me a couple of hours getting back home.