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Many Glacier Falls, May 28, 2016

5/30/2016

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Graupel Pelts Gals at Apikuni; Better Weather on Wilbur, Red Rocks

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Despite a weather prediction of 50 percent chance of scattered rain and snow and a high of 47 degrees, the gals headed out to Many Glacier for a moderately easy day of hiking to three waterfalls. On this day, we welcomed Denise for her first Glacier hike with us. She had gone on Windy Point previously but she hadn't hiked Glacier yet.

The first falls we hiked was Apikuni, about 600 feet of elevation gain in less than a mile, so it is uphill, a great spring warm up to the hiking season. On the way we encountered rain and then graupel, necessitating rain gear. We saw much sign of moose but they didn't show themselves; however, we did see goats high on the hills. Those who braved the rock-climbing section of the trail found the falls were really rushing and spraying, adding to our already damp day.

After this falls, we drove to the Swiftcurrent parking lot and enjoyed a lunch on a picnic table in the camp ground before heading up the trail to Red Rock Falls. The falls were gorgeous with mountains of water spilling over the maroon-colored rocks.  Some of the gals, led by Kuntzie, did a bit of rock climbing, despite the wet, slippery rocks and were rewarded with awe-inspiring views over the top of the falls. We also went to the nice pool with a cascade just above the falls. We thought about continuing on to Bullhead lake, but the weather was taking a turn for the worse and the sky really getting socked in, so we decided to pass. With the low-lying clouds, we couldn't really see anything anyway, so we ended the day at 3 p.m., a whole hour early than expected.

So we headed down the road, thinking we would eat at the Keg in Conrad only to find it closed for the holiday weekend. Roni asked some locals for advice on where to eat and they recommended the bowling alley, saying it had the same owners at the Keg and all of the food homemade. So we took a chance and it was good choice.  The menu included interesting taco choices as well as many variations on a burger, fajitas and burritos. Note: the California burrito said it came with fries--we discovered the fries are actually  part of the burrito.

Another interesting aside: Toni and Anita's boss was there: Brad B, principal at North Middle School. Some of us just couldn't get away from work!
Who went: Cathy, Katie, Denise, Randi, Anita, Toni, Catherine, Roni, Bonnie


Katie's pix
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Windy Pass, June 16, 2014

5/30/2016

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Gorgeous Views, Lighting Highlight Dinner in the Highwoods

Kathy's Pix
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On a beautiful spring late afternoon the gals met in the 4B's parking lot anxious to get away from work and get on the trail. We were ready to forget the stress of the day and to enjoy each other's company and the lush spring-green mountain meadows outside our "backyard." The girls left Great Falls around 4:30 and arrived around 5:30 pm at the trailhead to Windy Peak at the Thain Creek campground near Highwood. Once we arrived, we found that the gate to the campground was closed so we trekked over cattle guards, rocks, and a water-filled roadway to get to the first point of interest....the outhouse for a quick stop before heading up the trail to Windy Peak.

Once on the trail, we faced numerous stream crossings along the trail due to the recent snowmelt and runoff from the latest spring storm that blasted central Montana a few days before. With trepidation, the gals crossed the streams balancing on logs, hopping from rock to rock, or making the leap of faith from one side to the other. As we hiked along the trail, the bright green meadows and aspen trees glowed with the afternoon setting sun.

We expected to see a wild array of wildflowers, but were disappointed when we only saw a few Bluebells, a couple of Larkspur, some Oregon Grape, Prairie Smoke, Violets, Pussy Toes, Biscuit Root, a hillside of Arrow Leaf Balsamroot, and a few "spent" Shooting Stars. The evening was warm and a bit humid, and the ascent was bit slow due to the many stream crossings. At one point when the mountainside became a bit too steep, Gail and Denise turned around and went back to the campground to hike around the campground. The rest of us continued on to Windy Point, and by that time it was 7:30 pm when we stopped to eat our dinner and relished the beautiful views surrounding us.

​ Not even a top 5 Star restaurant could compare with our million dollar views for our simple dinner! ! Knowing that we needed to get back to the parking lot before dark, we quickly finished our meal and met Denise and Gail at the trail head. We arrived home around 10:15 pm. Who went: Cathy K, Allison, Randi, Mary N., Denise, Gail, Catherine, Susan, Beth, and Kathy M.

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