Mileage 7.6 Elev. + / - 415 / 1300 Fatigue Camp Rating n/a BIF* MEALS   Breakfast Scrambled eggs Lunch n/a Dinner n/a * Bug Irritation Factor The Italian restaurant at Swiftcurrent Lake was a delightful way to end our trip, though the portions were not very large.

Water in hand I decided to make some breakfast and let Yumi sleep a while longer. Dr. Allen was up and moving early as well as he had a long day coming up as well. I boiled some water and maderunny MH scrambled eggs and bacon. After I finished it was time to wake Yumi. She had been making her coffee too strong for the entire trip and how didn’t have enough for this morning. She grabbed a Marathon bar and water. I hoped she’d be OK without her coffee!!

We wished Professor Allen luck as he took off about 0730. Fifteen minutes later we were off as well. We only had 6.4 miles to get to Many glacier Road and another mile or so to the hotel while hiking on the Many Glacier Road back to the hotel. We’d have to climb 400 feet before dropping 1300 feet. Since there really wasn’t anything to look forward to today, we just wanted to get off the trail. Because our attitudes sucked, the first hour was hell. We wanted nothing to do with the 400’ climb to Swiftcurrent Ridge Lake. Once there, however, the views were fantastic. The green meadows and soaring mountains of the Many Glacier valley were probably the prettiest we’d seen and reminded me why we were there. I started to slow down a little and took more pictures than I probably needed to. We saw our first marmot of the trip.

At 0950 we took a rest break near one of the many small creeks in the area. This renewed our vigor as we continued down towards a hot shower and cup of coffee. We had a big scare at one point when I saw the obscured form of something brown running toward the trail to our right. I pulled the pepper spray from it’s holster almost trembling. If this was a griz coming after us we were in deep shit. I didn’t know what Yumi was thinking but I’m sure it was something like “oh oh" . I never did see what it was, but suspect it was just a deer. Whatever it was it got my heart rate up faster than it had been the entire trip.

The beautiful Many Glacier Hotel Lobby

At 1045 we met a group of scouts from Columbus OH posing for a group shot. There were about 6 scouts (none of which were Wisconsin Badger fans) and 3 leaders, and it looked like they were in trouble already. One of the boys was trying to put his pack on and almost fell over because of the excesssive weight. They were hiking to Poia lake for tonight, over to Cosley the next and then to Gable Creek and out. Just the fact that they told us Many Glacier Road was a half hour down the trail when in reality was only 10 minutes spoke volumes. They were cooked.

At 1055 we came out of the woods next to Many Glacier Road. We immediately dropped our packs and grabbed a snack and some water. I don’t know why we did this since we weren’t finished yet. We only had another mile or so to get back to the hotel, but it was also uphill to some degree. I thought about hitching a ride but knew that would be cheating. I have to admit that even riding on the back of a garbage truck looked inviting. About 100 yards from the hotel entrance I took Yumi’s hand and we walked the rest of the way together. We had to power up the steep driveway but we and finally made it!!! 48 miles in 6 days on her first ever backpacking trip.

The truck was still where we left it. I dumped my pack, took off my boots and popped open the back door and grabbed a diet coke from the cooler. Surprisingly it was still kind of cold. I slammed the coke and then slipped on my sandals. It took a little creative packing to get everything back into the truck, but we made it and started off to the Swiftcurrent Motor Lodge to get some lunch since there weren’t any rooms yet for us at the hotel.

We didn’t know it beforehand, but the restaurant was an Italian joint. Not my favorite but Yumi was loving it. She decided on seafood linguini while I ordered a hot Italian sandwich and a lemonade. Our waitress, Marsha, did a marvelous job of keeping my water glass filled. It was almost like she’d served hikers before.

Yumi prettying herself up after 6 days on the trail. If you look closely you can see Swiftcurrent Lake and construction equipment through the window.

After paying the bill and leaving Marsha big tip, we went back to the hotel. Naturally they still didn’t have a room for us and wouldn’t have for a few hours. So we waited and waited while I marinated in my own stench and fought from falling asleep on one of the many couches in the spacious lobby. Yumi occupied herself by checking out the gift shop---the same one where I had purchased her engagement ring a few days before---and looking at pictures of the hotel from the 1930’s.

Finally we got our room. By 1610 I had showered about as much as I could and turned the bathroom over to Yumi who was in total bliss for almost an hour. Feeling totally refreshed we decided to run down to St. Mary to do laundry and grab something to eat at the Park Cafe.

The drive south only took us about 20 minutes and by 1800 were seated at one of the coolest eateries I’ve ever seen. With only room for maybe 50 diners at a time, this place was hopping. Yumi chose the top sirloin while I had a kabob-like thing. Both were very good and both very large portions which meant neither of us had room for a piece of their famous pie. I settled for a “Pie for Strength” T-shirt and left for the Laundromat.

At first we couldn’t find the damn place as it was hidden so well but eventually did. By 1930 we had our clothes in the washer and passed the time chatting with others outside. I excused myself after a while and went over to the sporting goods store to see if I could find someone who could fit Yumi with a new pack. I was in luck and told the young lady that I’d be back with Yumi in a little while.

After the clothes were dried and folded we decided to call our kids. It was nice to talk with them and find out how their soccer games were going and their trip to the east coast. After we hung up Yumi wanted to get back to the hotel but I told her we had to stop at the sporting goods store first.

At first she said she didn’t want or need a new pack, but I used my size to intimidate her into trying on the new 3760 cubic inch Gregory Z-Pack. She fell in love with it right away after the clerk/fitter tossed 30 pounds woth of weight into the pack. Yumi thought there were only 15 pounds inside so the sale was a slam dunk. Now I had no concerns about the Dawson Pass trip.

She was a happy camper as we headed back to the hotel. When we got back we spent about half hour walking the ground's and checking out the sunset over the mountains. By 2200 we were ready for bed...with a real mattress and real sheets and real pillows.