On a beautiful summer morning, Mary, Susan, Catherine, Anita, and Kathy M ventured out for another trip to Glacier, this time to Ptarmigan Tunnel. But this hike was like no other as the one of the gals faced an unexpected mishap at the end of the hike. Without Katie, fearless leader, Mary and Susan took charge, made the arrangements, and were the leaders for the day.

The gals met bright and early at  6 a.m. and were on the trail by 9:15 a. m. Shortly after being on the trail, a woman hiking solo informed them that there was a grizzly sow and her cubs in the area. The ladies thanked her for the information and continued on the trail. Knowing that the weather would be hot, the gals moved quickly and kept a steady pace as they made the ascent to the tunnel.

Ptarmigan Falls was a perfect place to stop for a quick snack to replenish their energy before moving on Ptarmigan Lake. After a short lunch the ladies decided not to dally for too long, and they ventured out to make the final steep ascent to the tunnel. The blazing hot sun proved to test their determination to reach the top, but fortunately the breezy wind brought some relief to the gals. The four-hour trek and the stupendous views from the tunnel turned out to be everything they expected and more. Looking back at the steep switchback trail from Ptarmigan Lake to the tunnel, the ladies were proud of their accomplishments.

For Catherine and Anita, this was their first time to reach Ptarmigan Tunnel. Once inside the cool 240 foot long tunnel, the gals received a bit of respite from the heat. In spite of the cool temperatures inside, the  "light at the end of the tunnel" spurred them to move quickly to the other side only to find nothing but astounding views of the Belly River country, Old Sun Glacier, and the unique stratified layers of red and white rock. After taking a lot of photos, the gals determined to get back on the trail lined with a riot of wildflowers of every kind imaginable, and in a snowfield near Ptarmigan Lake a large herd of bighorn sheep entertained them with their playful antics. An oncoming hiker informed the ladies that there was a bull moose on a hillside about 1/4 mile away. Because of this, the ladies kept their eyes peeled for any sighting of the moose, but he must have wandered far into the brush and trees. The ladies moved quickly down the trail motivated by the fact that the sun was hot and the temperatures were rising.

Getting closer to the trailhead, the gals anticipated removing their hot boots and to get relief from the heat. As the gals made the final descent to get to the trailhead, Kathy suddenly tripped and found herself sprawled out on the trail bleeding from abrasions on her hand, arm, and split lip. Not only that, but Kathy found that she broke two of her front teeth and her sunglasses broken into several pieces. The rest of the gals came to her aid along with quite a number of other hikers who offered band-aids, ointment, and other first aid items. All Kathy wanted to do was get off the trail and wash her wounds before applying any ointment or bandaids.

Once the pieces of teeth and sunglasses were gathered, the ladies quickly moved on to Swiftcurrent Inn to get cleaned up, remove their boots, and to get something to eat at Many Glacier Hotel. Kathy, not wanting to attract any more attention, went to the shower house behind Swiftcurrent Inn to get cleaned up and somewhat presentable for a nice dinner at the hotel. After dinner, the gals all had a lively conversation and a few laughs (at Kathy's expense) all the way home, as any great group of friends would, and truly enjoyed each other's company. Kathy was in good spirits in spite of her mishap and made light of her predicament.

The ladies arrived back to town by 10:00 p.m. and welcomed a good nights sleep, and Kathy to wake up to a smile broken by 2 missing teeth, a nice shiner, and a fat lip~ enough to make her look like she had been in a back alley fight. 



Ha ha!

Gail H, Chrissie J, Sue M, Cathy and Brittany K, Mary N, Mary and Michael S embarked from Coal Banks Landing Saturday morning. Day 1, Slightly overcast skies helped us endure 15 miles of paddling to our first night camp at Eagle Creek.

After setting up our camp, tents, cots, kitchen and dinner setting, we took off for our first adventure, hike through Neat Coulee. Starting off in a cow pasture, that turned into the most amazing slot canyon, with narrow walls, and wind-eroded formations. In a couple places, fallen rocks blocked our paths, but with team work, determination and lots of laughs, we climbed our way through, over, under and on to further amazing views of incredible formations. It was hard to believe that the landscape could change so dramatically from the river and meadow land we had started from to this almost “alien” land forms.

Breathtaking views and wonders awaited us almost at every turn, until we reached the “top” of the plateau. Posing for a group picture, we than made our way back down to our camp. That night’s dinner of grilled steaks, corn on the cob, salad and cheesecake was a delightful end of a very full day. There was “no daylight left on the table” as we finished the dishes by headlamps. After a few S’mores around the campfire, our cots and sleeping bags welcomed us for a great night’s sleep under a beautiful moon that reflected off the river and the white cliffs opposite the shore of our camp.
Day 2, breakfast of pancakes, bacon and eggs, blueberries and cantaloupe was the beginning of another long day of paddling and hiking. Our first seven miles took us past the Citadel, and National Historic Landmark, just before The Hole-in-the-Wall. This is literally an 8 ft hole in the side of an igneous rock extrusion, about 300 ft above the river. “Climbing up to the Hole-in-the-Wall is not for the inexperience hiker. The trail is steep and the drop from the edge is precipitous.” (BLM map description). With determination, high spirits and “Jay with a rope” we climbed the rocky trail, using the rope and supporting each other, we reached the HOLE! Pictures of all of us, huddled precariously inside the Hole were taken and the journey back down was just as adventurous as the climb up. We became adept at “rock repelling with a rope” as we made our way back to the boats.
We had sure worked up an appetite for our lunch waiting for us under a large cottonwood tree. The afternoon proved to be quite challenging with clear skies, (no cloud cover) over 90degrees on a lazy, slow river that required us to paddle consistently for thirteen more miles. In this section of the river, we enjoyed the most amazing rock formations, wind erosions, hoodoos along the river banks; Seven Sisters, Dark Butte, Archangel, Steamboat Rock to name a few. Twenty total miles of paddling under a very hot sun brought us to a welcome campsite at Slaughter River. Grilled chicken marinara with steamed green beans and raspberry shortcake was a delicious end of a great day as the sun set.
Day 3, breakfast of French toast, warm peaches and sausages began our last day on the Wild and Scenic portion of the Missouri River. We found a little faster water on our final 11 miles to Judith Landing. We had a 2 hour drive back to Great Falls to reminisce our 3 days, incredible hikes that pushed our limits, and paddling 46 river miles.

Crown Butte it's not. Instead of a flat-topped lacolith, Crown Mountain is a major peak in the Rocky Mountain Front, one that looks similar to Sawtooth but just a little tipped. It resembles a king's crown from a coloring book.

At 6:30 a.m., four of us set off to Augusta, had a brief stop at the mercantile before heading down the Benchmark gravel road that leads to some of the best wilderness in the world. Spardha drove for her first time in the Front and did an excellent job--she wasn't a bit afraid of the gravel.

Before we got to the trailhead, we took a side trip to Double Falls, enjoying the smaller cascade, spilling into the larger one. Spardha actually climbed to the upper falls, while the rest of us stayed back.

Then it was off for the last mile to the Crown Mountain trailhead. We were on trail around 9 a.m. and immediately started uphill, getting in our 1500 feet of elevation gain for the day. The westher was hot, but luckily most of the trail was in the shade. Along the uphill climb, we enjoyed many wildflowers, in particular the lady slippers and blue explorer's gentian. We also saw two kinds of lousewort: fern-leafed and parrot-beak. Of course, there were many others.

Also on the way up we came across the avalanche chute that had taken out the trail this year, spilling rocks over it. This section was a bit hard to navigate over the piled-up scree, but not too bad. After this part, the trail breaks out into the open, revealing the rocky cliffs of the mountain. Since it was so hot and all of us wanted to get back to the Beer and Gear Expo, we decided to stop short of the saddle by a half mile and enjoy an early lunch.

Then it was back down and back to Augusta, with a quick stop for coffee and a look around Latigo and Lace, since both Bonnie and Spardha had never seen this cute boutique. In the store, we noticed several Great Falls' artists and enjoyed all of the hand-crafted items. Nobody bought anything other than a latte though.

Then it was on home by 3:30, just in time to wash up and get to the Gear Expo at 5 p.m.

Who went: Spardha, Bonnie, Randi and Katie

The thought of reaching the fire lookout to visit with friend Samsara kept us going all day, a day that started at 5:15 a.m. with us getting on trail by 7:35 a.m.  We wanted to go uphill before the heat of the day and we did. We welcomed Jaye, a new member, to our group. She picked a tough first hike, but had been going on trips with MWA all summer.

It was a very chilly 31 degrees, so we raced over the first 2.25 miles of mostly flat to keep ourselves warm. Many of us pulled out the mittens and warm hats/hoods on this stretch of our journey.  Then it was time to don our sandals and crocs to cross Straight Creek, a cold 30-yard dash that had some of us howling in pain as our feet numbed in the freezing water.

But our coolness didn't last long as the climb starts the minute we put our boots back on. So we started the punishing uphill and kept a steady pace. Along the way, Catherine spotted a huckleberry patch, which was fortuitous since Raye had wanted to see and taste them for the first time.

​We reached honeymoon basin around 11:30 for a break and a snack before the final ascent of another brutal mile to the top of Patrol mountain.The basin had a wonderful display of flowers, particularly Indian paintbrush and various vetches.  As Catherine ate a snack bar, a holly blue butterfly landed on it and then moved to her hand.

On the last mile, we could see the lookout most of the way, giving us hope and keeping us going even though it was deceptively still far away. Just before we reached the structure, we faced the narrow saddle, with steep drop-offs on either side, but this section didn't intimidate anyone this year, unlike prior groups.  

About a half mile away, we heard marmots and a pika calling as well as Rye, Samsara's blue-healer cross, barking at us. Rye greeted us as we approached the porch and settled down, licking those who offered their faces. She also gladly took a bit of our lunches, with Sam's blessing.

After we dropped our packs, had a quick bite and Sam oriented us, we went inside as it was getting windier, and it was still chilly, only 48 degrees, according to Samsara. Inside, Sam told us about her work, how she scans the hills every hour for 15 minutes, unless it is raining or very wet, how she calls in fires, uses her Osborne firefinder and informed us about the fires she has already seen, including one on a ridge next to her where we could still see the fire retardant orange between the trees.

The gals all had questions, especially about her safety being alone in a lookout. Sam said she has only once in 20 years of manning the lookout felt uncomfortable with a visitor, a man who kept violating her personal space. She also explained how she could contact the other lookouts for a safety check. She also said she doesn't have a gun or feel comfortable with one but she does have bear spray and a pulaskii. And her dog, Rye. The forest service allows one dog, so she can't bring her other one.

Rye is 15 and showing her age, so Sam can't do as much hiking on her days off as she used to. She has Mondays and Tuesdays off and occasionally goes into Augusta, making the long trek down the mountain and back.

She also told us about her resupply, how she can call in what she needs and her packer purchases it for her and brings it up. She is busy making a sweater for her husband, but two years ago knitted one for her packer.

Her husband visits occasionally (he is a smoke jumper) and this past trip brought her some flowers and makings for pizza, something they love to make together on her wood stove. Her other visitors are hikers like us and animals. She has seen several weasels and even a wolverine, a black bear with twin cubs, and her friendly marmots, who were eating all of her pretty purple penstemons.

Before we left, Jaye brought out a dark chocolate bar and passed it around but left the majority of it for Sam.
It was bittersweet to leave Samsara and the glorious views, but we did need to get down the mountain as clouds were rolling in, and T-storms were predicted for late afternoon.

The downhill was uneventful, except for the high-pitched whistle of the marmots, the gorgeous stroll through honeymoon basin with all of the flowers and our recrossing of chilly Straight Creek, which felt good on our tired feet this time across.

It took us nine hours and nine minutes to complete our 12-mile hike, a full hour and a half faster than two years ago.
Then it was on to Augusta for dinner after a quick stop at Lattigo and Lace, a boutique with handcrafted and other items. The owner informed us that the Lazy B cafe had a malfunctioning exhaust fan and could only serve pizza, so we opted to go to the Buckhorn bar instead for a bite to eat. However, even though the food was good for bar food, it took over an hour to get our grub, and we were starved!  The wait was perhaps the most painful part of the day.On a side note, we ran into June at the Buckhorn. She had just come out of a five-day, four-night trip into the Bob. She visited Samsara's father on Prairie Reef.

After dinner, an hour's drive saw us back in Great Falls by 9 p.m., an hour earlier than expected. All in all, a super day and a fantastic hike and visit with Samsara.
 Who went: Catherine, Roni, Deb, Jaye, Brenda and Katie

Mary N did it again: provided us with a fabulous vacation at her cabin in Seeley that gave us a great home-away-from-home feel while serving as a take-off point for adventure.

We left Great Falls on a cloudy, thurnderstorm-threatening Wednesday at 6 a.m. and arrived in Seeley around 9 a.m. after many mishaps that included a broken bottle of wine, difficulty locking and getting the keys out of the car topper, and Sue M getting a flat tire on her way to meet us.

Despite the rainy weather, we did get in a hike, but not the Hemlock Lake that Mary had in mind, due to mud and much uphill that might have sent us sliding. Instead, we opted for the shorter and flatter Morrell Falls. We were able to throw in upper Morrell, even though it was a steep climb, and enjoyed looking down on the falls from above. This hike earned Susan her 500-miles with the GiG! She was the first person to do so and will get a gorgeous framed King Kuka print of Indian paintbrush flowers with mountains in the background.

We returned to Seeley in time to fit in some shopping. Kuntz bought a pink cowboy hat and some Polish pottery for her mother, Katie some jewelry for her daughters and daughter-in-law and the others shirts and souvenirs.  Then we headed to purchase Mega Millions lotto tickets as the pot was up to 49 million. Too bad we didn't win. We also tried our hand at shake-a-day at the Chicken Coop. Katie and Susan won free drinks but we left the big money on the table.

Then we enjoyed a nice dinner at the Double Arrow Lodge. We had hoped for a six-o-clock seating, but we couldn't get in until 7:30 p.m., which actually worked out better since Sue, who came up on her own, had to get a flat tire fixed on her way (in Vaughn) and didn't arrive until 7:45. The late time meant she was able to join us for dinner.

It's hard to believe, but by the time we arrived back at Mary's cabin, we were all too tired to play games, given our 5:30 a.m. wake-up call the next morning, so some enjoyed the deck for a few minutes but then climbed into bed.

The next day, it was up early and out the door at 6:30 a.m. to head to Jewel Basin to hike to Crater Lake via Birch Lake. On the way, we picked up Madelon from Eureka, who met us at the school district building at the Echo Lake turn, so nine of us arrived at Camp Misery around 9 a.m. We discovered that the last mile and half of road to the trailheads was closed, so we had an extra bit of uphill hiking.

The first part of the hike is boring and switchbacked, but as soon as you leave the old road, the trail is fabulous, providing endless views of the Flathead valley and all of the surrounding towns and lakes, including Flathead lake, the largest by surface area lake west of the Mississippi in the contiguous United States (Tahoe is larger by volume).

Three miles into the hike, we arrived at Birch Lake (we viewed emerald-green  Martha lake on the way, but it is a bushwack to get to). At Birch, we rested, had a snack, and took a potty break at the "outhouse" with a view, as there is no "house" to it, just a seat in the outdoors.

Then eight of us continued on to Crater, leaving Gail to enjoy the peacefulness of the little gem in the Jewel.

This next section of the hike hadn't been traveled much as the snow was still clinging to the trail in places, and much fall-down from the winter avalanches gave us an obstacle course. But the early spring flowers were in abundance, especially the glacier lilies--fields and fields of them.

On the trail, we came across a group of young backpackers who had stayed at the lake and Joan, from the Glacier Gals Kayakers group. She was as shocked as we were to just happen upon each other.  But at Crater Lake itself, we didn't see a soul; we had it to ourselves and enjoyed a very short lunch as Katie allowed only 20 minutes so we could make our dinner reservations.

On the hike back out, we enjoyed even better views of the valley, and several of the flowers, such as pink spiraea, had blossomed during the day. We picked up Gail at Birch lake and hiked out, getting out a half hour earlier than expected.

We said our goodbyes to Madelon, who drove out first for her trip home to Eureka, while we stopped by the Laughing Horse Lodge in Swan Lake for a gourmet dinner.  No one except Katie had been there before, so the new experience and the food were both treats.  The food turned out well, despite the seafood special not being cooked to begin with. But the fresh huckleberry/peach pie that Chef Kathryn (Kate) comped for everyone who ordered the special more than made up for it.  The beet salad with chevre several commented that it was the best they had ever had, and the seafood gumbo soup without gumbo was very tasty too.

Then it was on to shake-a-day again and a game night of Catch Phrase since we could sleep in the next morning. Still, most didn't stay up too late except rumors have it that Kuntz and Anita chatted into the wee hours.

The next day, Mary fixed a fabulous meal, despite telling everyone she doesn't cook much.  Her baked egg and cheese dish and sticky buns were to die for, served with berries and melon. Yum! Then it was off for a boat ride with Captain Mary, the lady willing to share her gifts and talents and ideas with us.

Sue M wanted to get home early to support her friend Sue O, and fellow GiG member, who had just lost her husband. Katie went back with her to keep her company and also rest a while before a big hike she and her husband were going on the next day.

The rest took a long ride to the other end of the lake to look for the eagle's nest which was hard to spot but it was unoccupied. We were hoping to witness an eaglet or parent but they weren't home. On our way back to the cabin we saw a sit-down hydrofoil skier that was fun to watch. He was preforming tricks such as flips that looked like you needed skills to complete. Everyone had a good time on the boat and then sat on the deck until we left Seeley. The ride home put the gals back in Great Falls around 6 p.m.

A big thank you and shout out to Mary for her hospitality!  She had so much laundry and cleaning to do and prep work on breakfast and snacks. She made it all look so easy, but we know better. We so appreciate it! What an awesome time with good friends.

Who went: Sue M, Susan, Gail, Anita, Kuntz, Bonnie, Mary, Sue M, Katie and Madelon joined us for one day

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Cheese egg casserole
Nine slices of bread, crest removed and cubed 
1/4 pound melted margarine
3/4 pound grated sharp cheddar cheese
Three eggs separated
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/3 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon of salt

Remove crusts from Bread and cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Soak Bread in melted margarine. Add cheese and mix. Add milk. Beat egg whites to Peak and fold in gently. Place in buttered 9 x 9" pan. Cover with foil and chill overnight or 12 hours. Bake for 45 minutes at 325 degrees. Let set five minutes before cutting to serve 
Serves 6 to 8

Double for a 9 x 13 pan and cook 55 to 60 minutes or more. Let it set for five minutes before cutting to serve. This will serve about 12 or more

Chicken spread 
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
Two cans of canned chicken or one large can (can   use real chicken also)
One fourth of a cup of chopped walnuts
2 ounces of pimento, sliced and drained
1/4 teaspoon of curry powder

Mix all together serve with crackers or plain Tostitos  Best if it sits a little while in the refrigerator

Overnight butterscotch sticky buns
Service 18 to 20

18 to 20 frozen roll balls
4 tablespoons dry butterscotch pudding mix, not instant
1/2 cup melted butter
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1/2 cup brown sugar
Chopped nuts if desired. I did not use nuts

Place frozen dough in a buttered Bundt pan. Sprinkle with 4 tablespoons dry butterscotch pudding mix.  Mix melted butter, cinnamon, brown sugar and nuts and pour butter mixture over rolls. Cover with foil and let sit overnight. Do not refrigerate. In the morning, bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and invert to a plate or at 13 x 9 pan

You don't want to know the calorie count on these

Any time you have a 13-miler near the beginning of hiking season, you are pushing the limits. As we age, it takes longer to get in shape as the weather warms, so this hike did challenge a few of us; but it was so worth the extra effort.

The day started early at 5:15, and after our traditional stop for a stretch and a bite in Browning, we arrived in Many Glacier to meet Madelon at 8:25.  It did take us clear until 9:05 a.m. to take care of business and gear up, but then nine of the GiG hit the trail.

The first part of the hike is on the trail-ride loop, so we were following the morning horse tour, and two other horsemen passed us on the trail. This section, then, is not too pleasant unless you like the smell of road apples and the swarm of biting horse flies.

Still, we enjoyed the views of Sherburne Lake and Mount Altyn.  At the three-mile mark, we thankfully left the horse loop and started our ascent to the top of a narrow ridge, formed by a creek on either side: Canyon and Allen creeks. After crossing both streams and climbing out of the creek bottoms, the trail comes out into the open, revealing the Cracker Lake cirque, flanked by Mount Siyeh, Cataract Mountain and Mount Allen.

The other gorgeous sites were the many and varied wildflowers, from lupine-full fields on the drive in to the beard-tongue penstemon, many-flowered stickseed, yellow, waxy buttercups, and blue explorer's gentian; the flowers put on quite a show, different in each zone.

As the sun was hot, we were grateful for the streams that crossed our path, providing a place to cool down. And the first four miles are in the shade, another lucky break on a warm day.

None of the sights, however, can prepare one for the first glimpse of Cracker Lake, with its milky aqua color, unlike other glacier-fed lakes in the park that exhibit more of a deep turquoise hue.

The lake provided another treat: a bull moose lying down cooling his feet in the water on the opposite shore. He was oblivious to the hikers passing by and those of us who were lucky enough to spot him to stop and take photos. Some of us took our lunch break at the near-end of the lake while some continued on to the campground site and a large rock, perfect for enjoying a bite and viewing the head of the lake. From the rock, one can see the old mine tailings and equipment left behind from the days before this area was a national park.

After  a half-hour break, we started back down the trail for the long 6.5 miles back. About half-way, Madelon decided to move more quickly and hitched up with a young couple, so she could get on the road to Eureka.  The rest of us slowly made our way and ended our hike just before 6 p.m. and enjoyed a delicious dinner at the Many Glacier Hotel lounge along with a cool drink.

Then it was home; ironically, we followed a horse trailer, so all day, we were trailing equine.
After a stretch break in Browning, we arrived home at just after 10 p.m.
​Who went: Cathy, Roni, Gail, Susan, Sara, Bonnie, Katie, Catherine, Madelon