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I was up at 0630 and made a beeline to
the cooking area. I was going to get that stove started
if it was the last thing I did. I managed to get it going
for about 2 minutes---just long enough to make me believe
that I had it fixed---when it sputtered and died. I
mumbled a few words basically calling the stove a piece
of overpriced shit and started looking through the food
bag to figure out what we were going to do for food if we
had no stove or couldn’t borrow one: We could
use Chris’ stove this morning for the oatmeal, eat
the rest of the Gorp for lunch and the tuna and tortillas
for supper tonight. Tomorrow breakfast can be the energy
bars and maybe some beef jerky for a snack if needed. Cool. Who
needs a stove anyway?
By 0800 Justine had come over to the cooking area and fired
up their simmerlight just long enough for us to boil some
water for oatmeal and coffee. By 0840 we were packed
up and on the trail.
I was looking forward to this day since the day we climbed
Redgap Pass. Despite the effort required to get there, I
had fallen in love with looking down from the mountains
instead of up at them. Though we started climbing the
2200’ towards the pass almost immediately, it didn’t
seem nearly as difficult as the other two climbs had been. I’m
sure part of it was due to the less weight we were carrying,
and some due to our increased physical stamina. It
was also cooler even with the sun shining making it far
easier on me. Really, it was a perfect day for hiking
as far as I was concerned.
I had started the day at about 5800 feet above sea level
wearing my long pants and a T-shirt. No problem. About
half way up the pass I needed to add the fleece despite
the fact that I might start sweating, but I had to do it.
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| Yumi and I atop Pitamakan Pass |
After about an hour and a quarter we
stopped near what I hoped was the pass. Just as I sat
down I saw a man coming over the top and realized that we
must be about 10 feet from Dawson pass. I think we
saw more people on top of the passes than we did anywhere
else on the trail. As it turned out we were right there. The
view was spectacular looking down into the Nyack valley---even
better than Stoney or Redgap. It was also quite windy
and I had to pull out my Precip to act as a windbreaker. I
probably took 20 photos over the next few minutes. There
was an unnamed glacier as well as Lupfer Glacier, their
blue-green ice visible to the naked eye, Nyack Lakes and
mountains as far as the eye could see. It felt and
looked like we were on top of the world.
The next three miles were both exciting and tense. The
trail followed the side of the Mountains and was not very
wide in many places. One wrong step could spell
disaster and a 2000 foot slide down the side of the mountain. I
couldn’t even look at the scenery without stopping
first for fear I’d put my foot in the wrong place and
kill myself.
Soon we were overlooking Oldman Lake
from above. Even though the lake was probably only
3/4 of a mile away as the crow flies, we would have to walk
another 4 or 5 miles to get there as we had to skirt the
side of a mountain and then tackle the numerous switchbacks
down from Pitmakan Pass. I was in no hurry as the scenery
was breathtakingly beautiful.
We stopped for lunch around noon when the trail finally
widened, giving us a chance to sit down and take off our
packs. The location we chose already had a visitor,
a young oriental man who was dayhiking the loop solo.
He would make it with plenty of time to spare since he was
already more than half done and the rest was all downhill
according to my calculations. We took pictures of
each other with the mountains in the distance as a backdrop.
He took off and we ate our alternate lunch of GORP.
Before we had donned our pack, the dayhiker was nothing
but a speck along the edge of the mountain.
Shortly after we started up again we met another hiker who
was going it alone. He came from St. Mary Lake through
Cut Bank and was headed for Noname. Like I said, you
meet more people on the passes than anywhere else.
At about 1315 we officially made it to Pitmakan Pass.
Of course, there was a group of 5 or 6 hikers up there eating
their lunch. We were able to get more pictures taken
of us and were soon on our way. The scenery over here
was spectacular as well. We could see Lower Two Med
Lake in the distance as well as the Montana Prairie.
Cut Bank Pass was out there, and of course Pitamakan and
unnamed lakes down below. Somewhere out there were
McClintock Peak and others I had read about but didn't know
exactly where they were now.
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| A view of the cirque surrounding
Oldman Lake |
The descent was typically hard on the
knees but easier without the added weight. We fairly
flew down the mountain and by 1415 were choosing our site
at the Oldman Lake campground. None of the sites really
turned us on, so we simply took the one closest to everything---which
was still far away from everything at the same time.
When we got the tent set up and our site organized we
did the obligatory check of the lake. Another nice
one surrounded on three sides by sheer rock walls. Time
for a nap.
We were the first ones to the cooking area that night, not
that we were going to do any cooking. The tuna wraps
tasted just fine. Shortly, a tall skinny kid came
limping into the area carrying his food bag. His name
was Matt and his feet were like raw meat he said.
To make matters worse, the girl he had been hiking with
suddenly didn't seem to like him that much anymore.
Bummer dude. I imparted a few words of wisdom which
were basically that women have been screwing men forever
and you might as well get used to it. I also told
him I had a lot of moleskin and that he was welcome to it.
He gratefully agreed to take the moleskin, quickly ate a
peanut butter sandwich and wlked gingerly back to his tent.
As he was leaving another couple was coming over.
Dave and Angela from Colorado. They looked about like they
were in their mid-30's so we hit it off right away.
Very nice people who also offered to let us use their stove,
but since we were already done eating didn't see the point.
We chatted with them for almost 2 hours until 2000
when we went to bed for the last time in the backcountry---not
because we were tired, but because the bugs were a pain.
Trying to sleep that night I couldn't get the views we had
seen out of my head. Glacier truly is a special
place. If you're willing to sweat a little you can
see things that not many people get the opportunity
to see. I considered us lucky. Also sad.
I didn't want to leave the backcountry yet but knew our
time was dwindling down to a precious few days before we
had to get back to Wisconsin. There was a tear in my eye
as I went to sleep.
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