The Scenic Point Hike was supposed to be include a car shuttle and Katie and Tom leading, but with a COVID exposure for Katie, the hike had to be changed. Laurie, thankfully, agreed to lead the hike with Katie and Tom driving separately and planning to hike up and back, so as not to expose anyone on a car shuttle.

This hike was further complicated with the Great Falls group meeting up with two others, Madelon from Eureka and Laurie from East Glacier. We planned to meet at the Glacier Park Lodge, and all worked out.  With Blackfeet tribal permits in hand, Laurie led us to a place to park near the trailhead.  At this point, Tom and Katie stayed to walk from East Glacier tribal land toward Scenic Point while the others drove into Two Medicine to start at the Scenic Point trailhead inside Glacier National Park. Tom and Katie expected to meet the group along the stream and not get very near Scenic Point since it is 3.5 miles from the park and almost 8 from East Glacier.

Katie and Tom were on trail by 8:45 after leaving GF at 6 a.m. The other group would have started around 20 minutes later.

The fall colors were everything that was expected. They popped against the grey morning sky that turned to blue halfway through the day: the orange and salmon spiraea, the red huckleberries, the maroon strawberries, the red kinickkinnik, the orange mountain ash and golden aspen.

On the reservation, Katie and Tom saw many piles of bear scat, so they did a lot of calling out: "Hey, bear!" over and over. The gals on the other side saw a herd of bighorn sheep, but not scat.

Tom and Katie went to the top of Bald Butte, then along the Midvale Creek, 41 and 40-Mile creeks, we started looking uphill to see if we could see the gals.  Katie said we would go to the 6-7 mile mark and then stop for lunch.  At that point, we were less than a mile from Scenic Point and could see the gals on top. Katie zoomed in to make sure it was them, and it was. They sat to have lunch too. At this point. the wind was whipping up, so Katie and Tom sat behind some trees while that gals on top crept below some rocks.  After lunch when we saw the gals get up, Tom and Katie decided to continue toward Scenic Point even though it would make a 14-mile day for them if they turned around.  After another half more mile, we met the gals and had a fun chat, comparing experiences. The gals reported just how bad the wind was on top.  Katie and Tom suggested a key exchange, that they would take Suzie's car keys and continue to Scenic Point and the trailhead. Then they would drive the car around to East Glacier for them, saving about 45 minutes from their day. They agreed, so Tom took the keys and secured them into a zipper pants pocket.  

Katie and Tom contuned on, with only about 4 miles to go on the day instead of turning around and having 7 more.  They arrived at the car at 2:45 and drove to East glacier by 3:10, disinfecting her car just in case, hiding the key, leaving some wine for Madelon by her car door, and heading home.

The other gals reached the cars around 4:15 p.m. and decided to head home too since Serrano's wasn;t open.  If they had done the shuttle, it would have been.

We were all surprised at how fast we did this 11-mile hike!
Katie and Tom home by 5:30 and the others by 6:30.

 With many Giggers setting a goal of visiting 21 waterfalls in 2021, Katie and Gail planned a way to get 10 in one overnight trip: Visit St. Mary and Many Glacier in Glacier National Park.

We knew we faced construction going into Many Glacier, so we got up early (6:30 a.m) with enough gear and food for a three-day, two-night trip to St. Mary, our base camp. We rented the Riverhouse and Dorm from the Red Eagle, one with two bedrooms and two baths and one with three bedrooms and one bath.

We did have construction issues, after stops in Conrad and Browning for gas, and arrived at 10:15 a.m., but we did see a mama grizzly with three babies, so it was all worth it. The weather looked a little iffy and the parking already a problem (full at the picnic area and people lining the road by the lodge), so we decided to skip Swiftcurrent Falls and try for a parking spot by the trailhead to Redrock Falls. We got one of the last three or four slots open.

It was cool and cloudy when we headed out and arrived at Red Rocks around 11:30. At Red Rock Lake, we saw a huge bull moose across the other side.  Then on to the falls. We got pictures, and some  gals decided to climb the rocks for a gorgeous view from above the falls. One group wanted to go a bit farther, thinking we might be able to get to Bullhead Lake; however, sprinkles started coming down and clouds looked more threatening, so we turned around after one mile.  We caught the other gals at Red Rock as they had stopped to eat lunch, and all returned via the horse trail to get a glimpse of Wilbur Falls through the now pouring rain. 

Instead of 3-4 falls in Many Glacier today, we had to settle for two. Many of us were soaked though, so we decided to just check into our accommodations as it was too early for dinner at Two Sisters. We saw the mama griz and cubs plus another bear on the way out, but our wait on construction was over an hour. Meanwhile, we hung our wet items on the porch to dry, but Kuntzie’s jacket blew away up and over the Riverhouse trailer.  She searched and searched, but couldn’t locate it.

We got unpacked and wondered if it would be a good idea to eat early. Katie called Two Sisters and made reservations for 4:30, hoping to beat the crowds since most of the restaurants were all closed this time of year.  We were glad we did as the place was crowded, but we still managed to get a picture with Big John, the owner, and his wife. And Susan spied Kuntzie’s coat in the bushes before we left for dinner.

Since we finished early, Katie suggested a drive up Going to the Sun Road, do the short .3 mile hike to Lunch Creek Falls, and walk the goat overlook to see mountain goats.  It was still drizzling a bit, but animals are usually out at dusk. We we did. We saw more bears and one elk on the flats and then on the way home, we saw a bear walking up the road toward us. It was injured with a huge gash in its hindquarter. We didn’t see any goats or sheep, and we didn’t stop at Logan Pass. Then it was a rousing game or two of Left Right Center and Greedy along with drinks and tons of snacks. Kuntzie was disappointed that everyone went to bed before 10 p.m
 
The next morning, we ate the muffins that several gals brought with them and got out the door at 8 a.m. for another trip along the Many Glacier Road under construction. Again, we got in fairly quickly, but the return was over an hour.

We saw the mama griz with cubs again, shining in the sunlight. Today promised to be a clear, sunny, bluebird day. We were hiking to Swiftcurrent and Hidden Falls today, a seven-mile trek, so we parked at the Many Glacier Hotel/Lodge and started to hike in a counterclockwise direction. An older gentleman asked a few questions and then started to follow us as we made our way to Swiftcurrent Falls. In fact, he stayed with us all day, volunteering to take our picture along the way. A few of the gals jokingly said to Jo Ann that we should invite him to dinner with us, teasing Paul would make a good date for her. She quickly said it wasn't a good idea. We weren't very good at match-making.  Again, we didn’t see any goats or sheep, which was surprising as we walked the shores of Swiftcurrent and Josephine. 

Swiftcurrent was amazing, no wind and perfect reflections! We couldn’t stop taking pictures. And Katie saw James, the Glacier Park Boat Company manager, and one of her former journalism students.  Many hikers passed us on the way to Grinnell Glacier, but the crowds thinned out once we passed the junction.  We all crossed the hanging bridge with no issues, despite it having a few missing boards. Then it was on to Grinnell Lake, a place many had not been.  While the wind had picked up now, ruining any chance at reflections, the lake was still fantastic: the glacier till or flour reflecting the true aqua color of a glacier-fed lake.

After the lake, we hiked to Hidden Falls, which was right by the hanging bridge. At this point, we split into two groups as some wanted to go to Apikuni Falls (Katie, Maria, Susan, Doreen), the one we skipped from the day before. So the Apikuni gals, took off fast, making it to the car around 3:00. They hiked to Apikuni and returned to the cars by 4:30 while the others arrived back to St. Mary by 5. And on the way out, we saw a huge blond and silvertip grizzly. The ranger had to get out his bullhorn to tell us not to stop in the road as well as tell others to pull completely into the gravel before stopping. But it was worth it to see him/her.

Katie called ahead when the Apikuni gals finally made it out of the construction and to Babb, the first place we had service, to ask the others to go get a table at St. Mary Lodge for dinner. We finally made it to the lodge by 5:50, to find the gals said it would be another half hour wait. We didn’t get seated until 6:30, but we shopped the gift store in the meantime. Then just after we were seated, Denise showed up from Conrad, so our group was complete.

We had more fun and games and drinks in the evening and discussed what time to leave in the morning, since we would have to pack the car and clean up, deciding on 8:45.  During the games, Kuntzie indoctrinated Denise, saying R-R-R-R-R at her as if she could will the dice to go show R for passing a quarter to the right, aka, to her.  I’m not sure Denise knew what she was up against with Kuntzie, but then Kuntzie told her that her trail name was “Badger,” and now she knew why.  We all laughed at that one until we were red in the face.  Since we were getting up early,  we called it an early night again, much to Kuntzie’s chagrin.

We got up and ready by 8:15 so we headed out early, which was good as the parking situation is always a nightmare on Going to Sun Road. We dropped a car at Sunrift Gorge and then continued up to Jackson Glacier. On tap for the day were four waterfalls: Deadwood, St. Mary, Virginia and Baring, with some skipping Virginia, since it has a bit of uphill. We swapped Susan with Kuntzie in the cars, based on hiking choice, but one driver said, "How much are you paying me to take KuntZ in my car?" We all had a good laugh at Cathy's expense.

The morning was quiet and gorgeous, the fall colors showing with the fireweed, asters and pearly everlasting going to seed against the reds of the huckleberry bushes, oranges of the spiraea, green of the lodgepole pines and yellows of the aspens trying to come up through the Reynolds Creek burn of 2015. At the trailhead, we saw a couple with huge packs, looking a bit tired, We found out that they were CDT thru-hikers, with only three more days to go before they touched Canada!  We offered them some of our muffins, and boy, were they thankful. Denise went to the car to get the huge muffins; they took three each they were so hungry. The thru-hikers will be walking 25-30 miles per day and burning around 15,000 calories! We asked their trailnames, and one was Pika. We told them we had a "Pika" too: Catherine.

After that, we saw just a few people at Deadwood Falls and two more parties of thru-hikers, and then no one between Reynolds and the St. Mary Falls trail at which time, we were on the superhighway of trails, being passed and passing many people.

At St. Mary Falls, we said goodbye to four of our group who would continue to Baring falls and climb up to Sunrift Gorge while the others continued to Virginia Falls and on to Sun Point, the Sunrift gals bringing the car around to Sun Point to meet them. At Baring Falls, we came across four of the peskiest chipmunks we had ever seen. They didn't hesitate to try to get into our packs and climb our legs.  It was obvious that many were feeding them. One group saw some people with a great Dane at Baring Falls, more evidence of misbehavior in the park.

Just before Sun Point, the wind reached its predicted gale-force status, blowing us down from the viewing point. Susan called it one “bad-ass” breeze. Maria videoed it--see the picture folder) .Just before the viewing point, we came across a couple with a not-too-friendly dog. Katie pointed out that dogs weren’t allowed on the trail. The woman insisted there was no sign. Katie told her there were signs and she would have received the info in her brochures at the gate. They got belligerent, didn’t care and kept on going. It’s sad to see the park being treated this way. 

We finished around 3, the other group around 1:30 and waiting for us. Then Catherine drove Bonnie and Denise up to Jackson to get the other two cars while the rest used the restrooms and sat down awhile.
​
We hit the road 3:45, stopped in St. Mary for cold drinks and Conrad for Subway sandwiches. We arrived home at 7:15.
 
Who went: Maria, Bonnie, Susan, Gail, Catherine, Doreen, Kuntzie, Jo Ann, Denise, Katie
 

First it was five, then three, then two who felt up to this big hike that goes from Siyeh Bend up and over Piegan Pass all the way down to Many Glaicer.The plan was for Katie's husband Tom and his friend Gordon to start at Many Glacier while the gals started from Siyeh and then do a key exchange wherever we crossed paths.  However, with just two walking each way, and with all the grizzly activity and the bears in hyperphagia, we decided to hike all four together. Luckily, Camille's husband agreed to drop us off and drive around to Many Glacier to pick us up.

So we hit the road at 5:15 and were on trail at Siyeh Bend by 9, after stops in Conrad and St. Mary Visitor Center. The day was smoky, extremely smoky in the St. Mary valley. We worried that we had made a mistake. Katie had her N95 mask, just in case, but fortunately, it did get a bit better. Smoke became replaced by rain clouds as we descended into the Many Glacier Valley, the winds shifting from southwest to north east.

Even though we never had clear skies, we still marveled at the views. The grey actually made the fall colors pop: the reds and oranges of spiraea and huckleberries, the yellows of willow and dogbane and the still-green beargrass. Berries were abundant, so we snacked on hucks the whole way and took pictures of mountain ash and elderberries. Too, we saw lots of bear scat, most filled with berries and colored purple.

The views of Mount Gould, the Garden Walls, Piegan Glacier, glacial-till aqua lakes, and Morning Eagle Falls and Cataract Creek with aqua and maroon carved rocks filled our senses so we couldn't stop taking pictures!  We saw goats and took the side trips to Grinnell Lake and Hidden Falls and walked the far side of Josephine Lake to make it a full 14-mile day.

From Piegan Pass to Morning Eagle Falls we didn't see anyone else on the trail. Then just one until we hit Grinnell Lake. Then a boatful of people came up the trail. Then on the far side of Josephine, we hit the crowds returning from Grinnell Glacier. We thought we should have stayed on the hotel side of the lake to avoid crowds, even if it isn't as pretty.

We arrived at 4:15 at the picnic area to find Camille's husband Mike in the front and center parking spot. He told us how long it took to drive in, a couple hours, due to the construction, and then he couldn't find a spot fo park. He went to Swiftcurrent to start and then came back and was able to find a place.  He was amazed how many were hiking back from Grinnell Glacier.

Due to construction, it took us a while to get home. We arrived at 9 p.m., after a stop for Subway sandwich in Conrad.mOur plan had been to order from Buffalo Joe's in Browning and eat dinner outside there. However, when we arrived, our orfer hadn't even been started. The restaurant was packed; the wait staff estimated another hour wait, so we cancelled our order.

​We all agreed, this is one of the best hikes in the park.

Who went: Camille and Katie

With no shuttles stopping at Siyeh Bend or Sunrift Gorge this year (and no one really wanting to go on a shuttle due to COVID Delta variant spiking), our group had to think of other logistics for doing a walk-though hike from Siyeh Bend to Sunrift Gorge. So Katie thought of her husband and his friend walking in the opposite direction and doing a key exchange. Then the friend couldn't make it but Madelon stepped in. She wanted to go at a faster pace, so said she would go with Tom.

Then one gal being exposed to COVID complicated everything some more; with Katie just coming off 14-day quarantine not wanting to do it again, she decided to hike with her husband Tom the hard way with lots of elevation gain. Then Madelon questioned her abilities to keep up with Tom, coming off COVID herself, so Katie suggested we just form two groups and both hike the easier way. Dang COVID!!

Anyway, Katie was determined to make this hike happen, so that both Suzie and Bonnie could hike this trail for the first time. Bonnie had tried for years, but she could never fit the hike in.  We wanted it to happen.

So the GF gals all headed out of town at 5:15 a.m. with Madelon coming from Eureka, Suzie from Lake Five and Laurie from East Glacier. With stops at Conrad and St. Mary Visitor center, we arrived at 8:15 at Sunrift Gorge to see the other three had already arrived.  Parking was already at a premium with cars lined up at the entrance, so we quickly drove to Siyeh to find a space, which both Doreen and Madelon did.

Then Katie, Tom, Madelon and Laurie took off quickly as they wanted to get home early for family arriving later in the day. This group planned to hike a fairly fast pace.  Bonnie in the other group had a blister on her toe from her hike in Two Medicine earlier in the week, so she had to work on that before the hike.

At the beginning of the hike, we marveled at the stromatolite formations in the rock along Siyeh Creek. Katie's group came upon garbage right away, with Laurie picking it up and putting it in Tom's pack, including a pink mylar balloon she had to downclimb through bushes to get. We could barely see the top of her head while she was retrieving it.

We stayed ahead of the crowds, although one couple passed us, and we could see two other parties ahead of us on the trail.  We stopped briefly at the pond in Preston Park, looking for animal tracks and flowers. We were surprised to see quite a variety of flowers for this time of year, mixed into the changing colors of fall, along with elderberries, currants, and a few remaining hucks.

As we climbed, Tom spotted two grizzly bears headed down to the ponds just over the saddle. One looked to be either a two-year-old or yearling following mama.  Luckily, they were a long way off.We looked down to see if we could see the other party, but we could not.

When we arrived at the top of Siyeh, there was one other party there and two other came up when we sat down to eat part of our lunch. It was a bit early, just after 11, so we saved some for later.

As we headed down, we gorgeous lighting and colors were in our faces, giving us eye candy all the way; but the haze from the Idaho and California fires was coming in with each hour. Still, the walk down was gorgeous. We happened upon a solo female hiker coming up from Sunrift. We asked her what her plans were. When she told us of the monster loop she planned to do, some 19 miles, we discouraged her as she was getting such a late start. Not ten minutes later, she turned around.  Then we happened upon some sheep, ewes and lambs, which delighted us. We also took pleasure in seeing Sexton and Piegan glaciers, but noticed the alligator mouth of Piegan was losing his lower jaw. In fact, most of the permanent snow patches had dried out this year, leaving little to fill the ponds, with some even empty. At this point, two trail runners came racing by.

This hike goes down, down, down, through the Reynolds fire from a few years ago, leaving no shade as the day wears on. We took a rest at the waterfalls, about a mile from the end and ate the rest of our lunches. At the falls and beyond, we saw tons of bear rototilling; we often see bears in this section, but we didn't today.

We arrived back at the car at just after 3 and drove Madelon back to hers and Doreen's back to Sunrift while Laurie headed back to East Glacier. We should have had Laurie hold our place as Going to Sun Road was a mob scene even at 3:30, so we had trouble finding parking.

Katie and Tom arrived home at 6:15, while Bonnie and Suzie's group at 9:15. They stopped for dinner along the way and got off trail around 4:30. 
Side note: Susan's knee bent funny when she got up from sitting and bothered her the last few miles, as it has been all summer.

Flowers: Rock willow, potentilla/cinquefoil, harebells, Indian paintbrush, fringed grass of Parnassus, showy aster, pearly everlasting, fireweed, columbine

Who went: Katie, Laurie, Madelon; Bonnie, Suzie, Doreen, Susan, Sue

Lake MacDonald to Sperry Chalet Blog 
 August 12-15th, 2021
 Leader: Sue Anderson AKA (Michels)
Randi Graves, Gail Holzheimer, Cathy Kuntz, Maria Mathews, Sheila Rice, Doreen Scherr
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August 12th: After months of planning , meetings and sharing of trail and packing tips with each other, our group of 7 GIG ladies headed for West Glacier, leaving Great Falls at 10:00 am and arriving in West Glacier  mid afternoon. We stopped enroute at the beautiful  Isaac Walton Inn at 1:15 pm to have our lunch outside at their picnic tables facing the colorful sleeping cars up on the ridge across the railroad tracks, reminiscing about previous overnight adventures with GIG  at the Inn.  Cathy had a conversation with a man  staying at the Inn who claimed  “ they don’t have COVID” in Tennessee. Really???  Ha!

Sheila, met us in West Glacier around 2:30 pm at the West Glacier Motel which is situated right adjacent to the bridge that crosses over the middle fork of the Flathead River. We checked into the motel at the office managing the  West Glacier Village, situated ¼ mile up the road from the motel next to the Glacier Village RV park. After unloading the cars and settling into our individual  rooms, some of the gals walked around  and explored the  West Glacier shops, grocery store, and enjoyed a few snacks or a waffle ice cream cone!! Sheila made arrangements with the Glacier Raft company to leave her car in their back parking lot while we were on our Sperry adventure, and would ride into the park with the rest of our group the following morning.

At our appointed reservation time,  5:30 pm , we drove to the Belton Chalet  Chalet on Highway 2, for a special dinner. Our group was seated in a small private dining room adjacent to the main dining area ! We enjoyed a delicious dinner and had great service from our waiter who is from Florida, Puerto Rico.  He challenges himself to hike  all the Glacier  peaks during his off hours and  loves exploring the park . He assured us that we would be able to find a parking spot at Lake MacDonald the next morning  at “O dark 30”  prior to the hikers hitting the trail at day break. We returned to the motel to finalize details of morning departures , sort, and  package up items to give to the gals riding up via horseback with the pack animal. We would each retire to our individual rooms and attempt to sleep  with windows open and fans running in the hot summer temperatures.

It seemed like a short night in the motel with the noise of early morning  travelers driving by to access the park prior to the required ticketed entry. After packing the cars, we headed for Lake MacDonald at 5:30 am , ready for our big adventure. Both of our drivers  found parking spots near to the Sperry trail head!!  The hiking group ( Sue, Doreen, Cathy and Sheila)  headed up the trail at 6:10 am just before day break ! The horse back riders, ( (Gail, Randi and Maria) enjoyed a bit of time at Lake Mac Donald before heading to the corral at 8:00 am to saddle up.

The hikers expressed a bit of nervousness knowing that the Lake MacDonald Sperry trail is known to be strenuous, requiring hikers to carry sufficient drinking water and would be impacted  by the 90 degree temps and poor air quality and smoke from fires as forecasted in West Glacier.  The trail climbs 6.7 miles with 3300 feet of elevation gain. The chalet can only be reached by trail as a hiker or on horseback – were we ready for the challenge??  Much of the tree canopy had been burned out in the wildfire of 2017 that destroyed the National historic Sperry Chalet dormitory.  After a  2 year reconstruction project,  the Sperry dormitory has been restored and returned to service in 2020! The anticipation of seeing the chalet near the tree line seemed to energize us as we headed up the trail of cedar and hemlock trees, remnants of fireweed, and various  berries in the cooler morning temps. Luckily we caught some glimpses of the lake on the way up the trail.

Well, let’s just say that hiking up from the lake is not for the fainthearted-  we all made it up the trail once we got our “groove on” , by taking frequent rest breaks, sips of water, using  water cooling scarves and in one situation dipping of a shirt and hat in the stream water to help cool off. At one point, after  being asked what are you thinking, Kuntz said “I wish I were home”!! Leave it to Kuntz to lighten the party with some humor….(not sure she was laughing at that moment).

At the end of the day, I think we all claimed a sense of accomplishment having found rest and joy in our short visits on the trail with over 20 hikers (mostly coming down the trail). We met folks from Missoula, Kalispell, Washington, D.C., Massachusetts, Jersey and from all over the US -each providing us with a short rest break on the trail!!  

The horseback riders departed the corral at 9:10 am , passing us near the end of the trail arriving at the chalet ahead of us hikers . Maria rode “Marshall”, Gail rode “Sledge” and Randi rode “Maybe”.  “Maybe” was aptly named as we witnessed his performance on the trail- MAYBE he would pick up the pace with an extra kick or two or “MAYBE NOT” !  The riders all had male horses, because as explained by the wrangler, “ the female horses don’t take direction very well! “  Ha!

We hikers retrieved items from the pack horse that weren’t needed on the trail going up but with the knowledge that with the policy to  “ pack it in, pack it out” we would be packing these items down the trail!! Everything but  Doreen’s’  sandals were delivered. What a puzzle since all concurred they had been delivered and packed up  at the corral- (the good news is that her sandals were later found at the corral – they were never unpacked from the animal pack  at the chalet)  Doreen looked forward to giving her feet a rest at the end of our strenuous hike but was a good sport to wear her boots for the duration of our stay…

We enjoyed a wonderful roast beef dinner with homemade dessert and bread, at our assigned dinner seating time of 6:45 pm (COVID social distancing) , seated with our GIG group, and served by the staff.

Smoke from fires blew up the canyon that first afternoon, blocking any view of Lake MacDonald for the remainder of our stay. As we retired to our rooms, we looked forward to seeing the Perseid meteor showers in the early morning skies… Most of our group got up in the early   to use the facilities with head lamps to help navigate the path,  some were lucky enough to view the meteor showers and saw planet Mars as well !! Spectacular despite the smoke from the fires!!

We all congregated early for breakfast and enjoyed fabulous toast with eggs any which way you wanted them, pancakes, bacon or ham !!, what a baker they have!! He is a cook by trade and learned to bake at the chalet!! Impressive to say the least.

After breakfast, we collected our lunches, and took our traditional GIG “Sperry group”  pictures in front of the chalet before the 4 Sperry Glacier hikers took off. (We took Pics with and without masks to help us remember the year of our journey.) The Sperry Glacier hike is 3.5 miles one way to the top of Comeau pass  “up the chimney”  with an additional .6 mile to the Glacier.  Hikers: Sue, Doreen, Maria, Randi
Chalet dwellers: Kuntz,  Sheila and Gail- took a day of rest to enjoy the flora and fauna !

The hikers took off at 9:10 am on the trail playing leap frog on the way up with a Missoula group of 5 young couples, who were enjoying a weekend together sans kids. We were like the  “the tortoise and hare” and in the end arrived back at the chalet about the same time after their siting of  a Sow and her cub down at the creek bridge crossing .  (got to watch it on an iphone) One of the young men in their group was Andy Larsen, the place kicker for the Grizz in 1995, when they won the National championship game!! They cheered us older gals on  all along the trail and kept saying “ good job” to us!!

One of our “Bear” chants going up the trail came from Maria’s Alaskan trip- she learned that the natives called the Grizzlies “Grandpa” – we have since adopted the name and used it on the trail … don’t know how many times but a lot,  a lot , and a lot!!!  In the end it worked!! Yay!!
 
We climbed above the tree line and hiked past “gorgeous waterfalls, lakes and streams”, mountain goats…-absolutely breathtaking!!  We named some of the waterfalls after the horses … Marshall Falls, Maybe Falls, and the “forgotten horse name Falls” which was later revised to “Sledge Falls” -  courtesy of Gail  !!  We stopped at the bottom of the pass to visit with Todd Hileman, a local  artist whose paintings were featured at Gallery 16 in Great Falls for years!! He  had hiked up the Sperry Chalet trail from Lake MacDonald and summitted Gunsight Mountain that day and was about  to begin his descent and return to the lake !!!  We said our farewell to Todd and made our final ascent up  the chiseled stone stairway, AKA the “Chimney” which leads you to the top of  Comeau Pass and usually  to breathtaking panoramic views- not so with the curtain of dense smoke in the air. We enjoyed lunch together along the creek while watching the mountain goats pick their way along the flowing stream while grazing on their chosen delicacies!!  
 
Sue placed memory stones on the cairn at the Sperry Glacier sign  for her daughter, Julie Anne and for Chrissie (GIG) member. This cairn is the first of many that mark the trail to Sperry Glacier for those who choose to navigate an additional  .6 mile of scrambling over the rocky terrain to the edge of the ever shrinking glacier.

We made our return  down the trail and back to the chalet by 4:30 pm, learning that a sow and her cub had been visiting the creek by the bridge .2 mile from the chalet- we had walked right past the area on our return but hadn’t been aware of the happening and the whistle warnings !! Luckily the couples from Missoula had a video clip to share with us of the bears ! Amazing to say the least… Temps were 78 degrees in the shade when we returned to the chalet!!

 We met up with  Kuntz, Sheila and  Gail  who enjoyed their day relaxing, mostly inside due to the smoke. The dining room was not available to occupy due to COVID restrictions ! Kuntz visited with chalet staff during the day and filled us in on the story of the high wind storm that downed many trees around the chalet the year prior to the chalet fire in 2017.
 
We each tackled organizing and packing up our gear prior to dinner so that we could get an early start the next morning down the Sperry trail before warm temps began to rise !! We enjoyed our last Sperry dining experience with a full turkey dinner, spicy pumpkin soup and delish chocolate cake for dessert. Yumm !  It felt a bit like glamping !!
 
The next morning, we headed down the trail right after breakfast (8:30) as a group of 7  - and were lucky to see a buck with a fully velveted rack grazing along the trail who quite frankly ignored us ( at one point ,we were caught in between the pack train coming up the trail to resupply the chalet  and the velveted buck!!) As Doreen says, “Timing is everything”…. It all worked out as we stepped to the high side of the trail and let the animals do their thing !

We stopped to rest and split into 2 groups at the bridge at Crystal Ford (about  2/3 of the way down) a great place to rest your feet and  have lunch on the way down. Sue, Kuntz and Maria went on ahead and Doreen became the sweep for those who stayed a bit longer to have lunch. Gail had been counting the yellow caterpillars on the trail on the way down . Each one in their group wagered a guess as to how many total caterpillars they would count during the last 2 miles on the trail. Doreen’s guess came closet to Gail’s final number of 143 caterpillars- !! What a great way to refocus while completing those last trail miles in the heat of the day !!

We were all safely off the trail by 1:25 pm !!! Doreen checked in with the corral and located her sandals that had missed being unloaded from the pack animal at the chalet- !! Yay !

Our driving groups parted ways in West glacier after a cool refreshing drink, an ice cream cone for some and maybe even a 6 pack to enjoy later with friends while reminiscing about our amazing trip to Sperry Chalet!  We did it!! 
Who did it? Sue, Doreen, Gail, Maria, Randi, Kuntz, and Sheila

Trip dates: Aug.
​By Madelon:
Monday August 16: met 3 hiking buddies from Great Falls in West Glacier, Deb, Roni and Paula. We had agreed to meet for Lunch at the West Glacier Cafe in West Glacier where burgers and icecream hit the spot in all 4 of us. Roni, Deb and Paula had quite a long trip behind them already plus we had not seen one another for several years AND  it was gorgeous weather so it was nice to have a bit of time to start catching up. 

After lunch we got in our respective car/van and  drove on to McDonald Lodge. There we parked my car so we had transportation back at the trailhead when we were supposed to walk out there on Thursday. I piled into the van with all my bags and stuff and on to the East side we went.
Checked in at St Mary's Lodge for the night. One room, 4 gals and wine. 
We had dinner in the Lodge. Not sure anymore what everybody ordered but I had quesadillas and they were good. Then early to bed as we had to rise early.. 

Tuesday: First alarm went off at  5 AM, I believe, mine not until 5:30. After getting ready and packed and sacked, and after getting coffee and a bit of breakfast (Deb managed to eat yoghurt while driving the Going to the sun road) we arrived at Jackson Glacier Overlook trailhead at a little after 7 and where on the trail not much after that. At that time it was already raining substantially but we came prepared and were clothed in all the rainwear you could think of, including gaiters. backpacks wrapped up too.
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Hiked 0ver 14  miles total that day in driving rain, howling wind, low clouds, fog and some hail now and then, dangerous conditions and hardly anybody on the trail, to Sperry Chalet (missed the last sign to the Chalet at the end (as we had to look down at our feet as not to stumble on the very uneven and slick rocks  and to stabilize ourselves in order not to be blown off the mountain) which added a few miles). 

We met two parties each of two people, I believe to remember, one coming down from camping at Lake Ellen Wilson. We met them at the lower side of Gunsight lake, a ways down the trail, and the others came from Sperry, I thought, and then two young gals who were on their way to Lake Ellen Wilson to camp there that night. We caught up with them a few times, among others in the Gunsight Pass stone shelter where they took shelter from the horrible weather and rested for a while as did we. We were quite concerned about their well being as the two outgoing parties had waned us about a sow and cub on the trail at Lake Ellen Wilson, but the young ladies said they would be careful and to me they sounded quite bear country-savvy. P.S Roni and Deb met them the next day near Sperry Chalet. The girls were fine, and on their wat to McDonald Lodge.

We had lunch along Gunsight Lake where the rain let up a bit and a snack in the stone shelter.

Highlight of the day was probably seeing a big bull moose at the lower end of Gunsight Lake. Even though a curtain of rain was coming down and cameras and phones got drenched we managed to get a few pictures. 

We arrived at the Chalet close to 5. Check in was quick and efficient. We were as wet as drowned cats, and  chilled and exhausted. Our waterproof shoes contained about a quarter inch of rainwater inside of them and our socks did not dry the entire time we spent at Sperry. There is no heat in the bedroom building so we got into dry clothes as quickly as we could get out of the wet stuff and crawled into bed with a glass of wine and some snacks to warm up and wait for dinner time which was for us at 6:45

Dinner as so-so. We were not impressed. It was some kind of turkey with mashed potatoes, a minuscule little bowl with some salad, some undefined soup, a biscuit like bread that was dry and tasteless in my opinion, and a dessert but I already forgot what that was. It was already served by the time we came in which made everything only lukewarm by he time we started eating. 

No heat here either except from the kitchen which helped some, but the reason for that was that we still had  Stage 2 fire restrictions. Wood stove fires were not allowed.
After dinner we did not linger long. Our beds were calling. Loud and clear. 

Masks were mandatory in the buildings and everybody tried to do the right thing.

Wednesday: After breakfast which we could order and which was good ( one or two eggs, toast, pancakes, oatmeal, bacon or ham, coffee or tea, and orange juice) Paula and I hiked up over Comeau pass to the foot of Sperry Glacier. We left the Chalet at about 9, I think and hiked a total of 9 miles. 

The Chalet provided a lunch bag but in my eyes it was lacking shamefully (I am pretty well an omnivore and in general do not complain about food) with ultra dry bread that crumbled into individual crumbs when you took the plastic wrapping off and a few energy like bars and a juice package. I had one of my energy bars with me and we both carried water so we did good. 

Lots of rock negotiating, a rather fast flowing water fall crossing,  and an interesting staircase to scale Comeau Pass. Better weather but cold, and with plastic bags around our dry socks in soaking wet shoes. Went great up hill, not so much downhill as our feet slid to the front of our shoes and our toes started to hurt agains the inside front. We took the plastic bags from around our feet with the risk of getting our only dry socks wet, but our shoes had dried substantially while hiking so all was good.

We were back at the chalet at just after three, I think to remember. Deb and Roni had walked back up to the pass to see where we went wrong yesterday and found it. Thatbis also when they met the two young gals from Lake Ellen Wilson. For the rest Deb and Roni spent their time playing a game  at the Chalet and reading a book, I think. 

From then to dinner time we all did what we felt like. But we all met for happy hour in the room, and enjoyed one another's company.
Dinner was the similar blah as the first night with Chicken Marsallah supposedly and a rice/veggie mix, with a few cherry tomatoes on the side an a kind of veggie, maybe minestrone cold-ish soup and bread pudding for dessert. It was filling and that's where it stopped for me. 

Thursday: hike from Sperry Chalet to Lake McDonald Lodge. We left the chalet at 9 after breakfast which had the same choices as the day before. 
Only 6.6 miles. Great weather and downright toasty at the Lodge. We arrived at the car at noon sharp. 

Lunch at the lodge in the sun in short sleeve shirts, shorts and flip-flops. Sure different from 38 degrees at the chalet.
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Next we all piled into my Jeep, drove across Logan Pass to Jackson Glacier overlook trailhead and dropped off my three Great Falls bound hiking partners at their van. Goodbyes and hugs and me back over Logan Pass, stop in West Glacier for my traditional ice cream at Sweet Peaks and on to Eureka.

Who went: Deb, Roni, Madelon, Paula O

The pink fireweed popped on our hike to Firebrand Pass, which got a bit of a late start due to Kuntze oversleeping combined with many farm implements blocking traffic along the way, not to mention semis going slowly.

We left Great Falls at 6:45 and got on trail three hours later after stops in Conrad and East Glacier, the last one to discuss if we should even go on the hike, due to so much smoke. We decided to go anyway, with Katie suggesting doing the Buffalo Lakes hike if it looked too bad at the trailhead.

So we persisted, which became the wording of the day as two of our gals struggled a bit, but "still, she persisted."

Despite the smoke ruining most of the views, we still had a great time. The fireweed and other flowers were gorgeous and the huckleberries, grouse whortleberries and serviceberries were ripe.

Luckily, the temperatures weren't too bad and a breeze helped us especially on the last stretch of uphill getting to the pass.  We saw three other groups, two from Georgia, which we thought odd, although many people from the southern states seem to be visiting Montana the last two years. One party was finishing a backpack from Fielding/Coal Creek via Ole Lake.

The haze lifted a bit looking east but the true unfortunate part was the view west as you crest the pass was mostly obliterated by smoke. This is the in-your-face look at Mount Despair, 8888, Despair, Battlement, Summit and Little Dog, their outlines barely visible today, that can take your breath away as you get to the top. And really, today the top didn't have much wind, or not as much as usual.

On the way down, we had to dowse Kuntz with water several times as she was overheating, and Susan had to stop once for pain meds for her knee/ankle. But we all made it back to the car by 4:30. Then it was on to East Glacier for dinner, first stopping at the Lodge and then deciding to go to Serrano's, which was a great choice since we could sit outside. We all enjoyed our food after a few had had bad experiences in the past.

On a side note, Camille earned her 100-miler award in this hike. We arrived home around 8:15.

Who went: Doreen, Sue, Suzie, Susan, Kuntz, Camille, Carol, Katie

As a lead into Sperry, the GiG headed out on a horseback riding trip to East Glacier.  Several gals were considering riding horses instead of walking up to Sperry Chalet. This would be the test.

Maria and Randi had been taking riding lessons in Vaughn, but wanted to see what a trail ride in Glacier would be like, since Swan Mountain Outfitters, the ones who guide from West Glacier up to Sperry Chalet, said they would only take experienced riders. Bonnie wasn't sure if her hip would take a horseback ride, Gail had ridden to the chalet before, and Katie was just along for the fun of riding horses.

Glacier Gateway Rides is owned and operated by long-time Blackfeet residents the Hall family. Mouse Hall, now well into his 80s, greeted us and explained how he was half Texan and half Blackfeet and how his great grandfather had fought in the Civil War for the Confederacy. His wife helped us with our payments and showed off the family's trophies as well as pictures from the Hollywood films they had ridden in or provided horses for, including Dances with Wolves.

Then, Dakota, a Blackfeet who had been raised in Helena and who had only been working with horses for two weeks, rounded up and saddled our horses.  He already had a great way around the ponies.  One horse seemed hurt and backed away when we tried to pet him, so Dakota carefully checked to make sure nothing was poking into his hoof and rode him around the paddock to make sure all was well.  He put Katie on him and told everyone which horse was theirs. Then Mouse said we needed to wait for another wrangler as he can't send out just one person now after a sexual harassment lawsuit. We all understood.

We waited about 15 minutes for two young women to arrive and saddle horses with Mouse telling is stories and about the breeding of the horses from original Spanish stock crossed with Arabs.

The ride itself was beautiful with fireweed flowers and service berries to grad along the way. The two gal guides were both still recovering from COVID complications. One had had COVID twice.  One had been working on a dude ranch in Texas where they mistreated the animals, feeding horses and cows nothing but straw, so she quit and came home.

Overall, the ride went well although we all felt our bowlegs for a bit after we dismounted. Then we went to the lodge for lunch  to discover they don't open the lounge until 3 and the dining room wasn't open for lunches this year, probably due to lack of staff since no travel visas were allowed for foreign workers due to COVID. So it was down the road we went to old favorite Buffalo Joe's in Dupuyer to get the hot slaw and sandwiches.

Who went: Gail, Maria, Bonnie, Randi, Katie