2021 Fall Trip - Day 8 - 8/31/2021

Tuesday, August 31, 2021 - On the Boulder Pass Trail in Glacier National Park, going from Upper Kintla Lake campground to Hawksbill campground [12.66 miles in 7 hours 45 minutes]:

(with a little "extender trip" to Lake Frances) [1.4 miles round-trip in 45 minutes]:

Today it is about "putting one foot in front of the other"; be mindful of consistent water consumption, along with the occasional energy bar. A peaceful morning when I got up:

After breakfast and striking-the-set, I started hiking at 7:30. A few minutes down the trail I ran into a VERY WELL CONSTRUCTED bridge, going over Kintla Creek:

This first section of the Trail goes up from Upper Kintla Lake at 4395 feet elevation, and breaks out of the woods/vegation (on the way up to Boulder Pass) at 7200 feet elevation, after hiking 5 and 1/2 miles. The views of Upper Kintla Lake below you, and Kinnerly Peak above you, are WONDERFUL:

Sometime the Trail is excellent:

But sometimes IT IS LOUSY:

Looking back behind me before heading into Boulder Pass:

Going forward, with the east end of Gardner Point ridge on the left:

This "high altitude" area I am in, before getting to the actual "Pass", is pretty cool. Looking north into an unnamed valley:

Up over Boulder Pass:

And the view down the other side, at the tairn (small lake in the mountains) where I will stop for lunch:

Looking back up where I came from ("Look back once in a while" - not bad advice):

After lunch-and-rest, it is time to head down into The Park:

The Trail goes off to the left, AROUND the valley:

After 1-and-1/2 hours, you get a great view down the valley at Bowman Lake in the distance:

The Bowman Lake trailhead is where both Dan and the ladies are heading tomorrow - Dan has a mountain-bike hidden there, and will ride back up to his car at Kintla Lake; Rachel and Kathryn have TWO CARS - they parked one at Bowman Lake, and the other at Kintla Lake. Pretty smart idea.

But right now, I'm still heading for Brown Pass:

30 minutes later, I'm there - looking forward:

looking backward:

and just "looking-while-resting":

Continuing east, down into the Olson Creek Valley:

Approaching Thunderbird Pond, which is fed by that waterfall (from Thunderbird Glacier "up there"):

and at 3:17 PM I'm at Hawksbill campground:

I dumped my stuff, went back and hung my food sack, and filled my water bottles "down at the creek". Then went back, rolled out my blue pad, and rested for "some whiles":

After "some whiles", I set-up my tent:

and headed down to Lake Frances (1.4 miles round-trip):

That waterfall comes down from Dixon Glacier (no relation, I think).

One final look at Lake Frances:

and then back up to "dinner-on-a-rope":

Back up to the tent; crawled in and said good-night to the world, as the setting sun made everything darker. Thank You GOD for all these wonderful adventures!

Hiking Music for today:

the Miles Davis Quintet - The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965, 1965 7-cd live album


The Beatles - Rubber Soul, 1965


Steely Dan - The Royal Scam, 1976

2021 Fall Trip - Day 7 - 8/30/2021

Monday, August 30, 2021 - Drove 68 miles to get up to Kintla Lake in northern Glacier National Park:

I was on North Fork Road (also known as "Outside North Fork Road", to differentiate it from "Inside North Fork Road", which runs inside The Park) back in 2013, when Wendy was doing the Camino and I was doing my first roadtrip. Good to be back:

After an hour on dirt road, you cross the North Fork Flathead River:

and enter The Park at the Polebridge Ranger Station:

From there it is another "hour on a dirt road":

to get up to Kintla Lake:

I dropped my backpack, and drove 0.4 miles back to the "Backcountry Parking" area:

And that's where I started today's hike:

11.97 miles in 5 hours 49 minutes.

The trail starts out nice enough:

At 2 PM I'm going around the northern side of Kintla Lake:

This spot-on-the-trail, by the way, is 2-and-1/2 hours from my car. It is a nice "day-hike", and you do not have to "backpack" to get here. Just sayin'

Looking back from the upper end of Kintla Lake, which is still just 3 hours from my car:

You then go through some fields-and-forests:

until you reach Upper Kintla Lake:

The Trail is not a very good trail. It is often just a foot wide (no room for hiking poles), and has tons of side-growth, so you are literally "wading through" this stuff - it needs a WEEDWACKER!!

I reached the camp site at the upper end of Upper Kintla Lake a little after 5 PM:

Set up my tent:

Refilled my water bottles, filtering water while sitting on the log:

Had dinner with a guy (Dan, a school principal) and 2 girls (?Rachel and ?Kathryn, who work at Glacier Guides), then said goodnight to Upper Kintla Lake:

Life is an Adventure - for me that means just putting one foot in front of the other. Often that means just clicking "Reply" on an email, or walking on Singing Beach (which is NOT A BAD PLACE to put "one foot in front of the other"). Other times it takes me to places like Upper Kintla Lake. Thank You GOD for all these wonderful adventures!

Music for today:

Driving:

David Wilcox - East Asheville Hardware, 1996


Jimmy Cliff/various - The Harder They Come, 1972 soundtrack album


Jerry Jeff Walker - Jerry Jeff Walker, 1972 (no artwork)

hiking - 2 "albums" by the Grateful Dead:

New Year's Eves At Winterland, recorded 1970-1977, released 2003 - 9 songs



Dozin' at the Knick, recorded 1990, released 1996 - 28 songs