~*~ Swiftcurrent Pass & Lookout ~*~

“Holy crap!!!”

Date: August 5, 2007

Miles: 16’ish roundtrip

I awoke this morning and heard Brad shuffling around outside. By the time I was out of the tent, he was saying good morning and handing me a cup of hot coffee. Ahhh…that, my friends, is love (or someone who has figured out how to tame the morning beast within)! There were bomber blue skies and big puffy white clouds everywhere. Immediately, I realized why Brad had been so quiet yesterday when I said I didn’t care if the park was smoky. Wow! The mountains, the lakes, the scenery…everything is just simply stunning! Turquoise Lakes sitting under darkened mountains littered with snowfields under bright blue skies. Now the window licking would truly begin. The haze covered Singleshot Mountain that was barely visible from the campground last night now stood majestic and bold and bigger than life.

We packed up camp and drove the 40 minutes to Many Glacier. Even though we had taken the exact same route yesterday, everything looked new to me with the change in weather. I don’t know if it was the coolness of the night or the light rain we had received, but the smoke had seemed to just disappear overnight. It was as if there were no fires at all. As we drove passed Many Glacier Chalet, Swiftcurrent Lake and the surrounding peaks didn’t even seem familiar from yesterday. It seemed that today, we could see forever. Row after row of mountains as far as the eye could see. I wanted to climb every single one of them and explore each and every valley, lake and pass. Instantly, I got the appeal of GNP. Even if you never venture from your car, you are overwhelmed by the beauty of the park.

We pulled into Many Glacier Campground and did a bit of reconnaissance to find a campsite. We finally settled at #97, set up the tent and called it home. It was about 10:00am or so when we finally geared ourselves up to hit the trail. Our plan was to hike just to Swiftcurrent Pass, about 6.7 miles from the trailhead. I was already gawking before we even set out.

The first part of the trail is definitely a superhighway. With the campground so close, three lakes easily accessible on a wide and flat trail, as well as the hoards of tourists, it makes for a very popular way to spend part of the day. As we departed from the trailhead we looked like the odd ones out with trekking poles and daypacks. I’m sure there were folks wondering why we looked so “serious” to just go wander on the trails by the lake.

It’s under a mile to Fishercap Lake, which you can not see from the trail but can take a spur about 2/10 of a mile down. We decided not to stop and thought maybe we would on the way back. At Redrock Lake, just under a half mile from there, you can easily access the shore. When we arrived I was wishing I had brought my thermarest to do some floating! it was a hot day and that cool glacial water is so tempting, even after only a small amount of hiking. There was already a family there enjoying the peace and quite when we arrived.

To the right of the trail is Shangri’ La, which is a hike that Brad has not done yet. We spent some time scouting it out and trying to figure out how you can easily get up and down. The problem is that you can’t just go up and over because right now, the other side is part of the giant closed area that the grizzlies have taken over. I will be honest; I was wishing a grizzly would make his/her way over to our side! We decided that depending on what we end up doing tomorrow, we might come back out this way, spend some time lounging around at the lake and possibly taking a quick little scramble up Shangri’ La. I’m a little surprised we actually made it past the first time.

The further we ventured down the trail, the fewer amounts of people we actually saw. We passed several couples and families as we went who were very obviously just taking their time and exploring every inch of the trail. It’s nice to see people out and enjoying the park and the outdoors. I don’t see that much in New Jersey…there is not anything nearly as fantastic in New Jersey to explore. The view really is spectacular. Mount Grinnell, Swiftcurrent Mountain, Mount Wilbur, Iceberg Peak…all of them standing tall against the blue skies. I wanted to stop every 5 minutes to take pictures, afraid I would miss something.

When we reached Bullhead Lake, there were three people standing around taking pictures. At the edge of the lake, a moose was standing in the water and enjoying her day. A moose! A MOOSE! There really are many much moosen in the woodsenens!!! Hallelujah! We spent a good 10 minutes watching her and hoping to see her offspring, which according to one of the other ladies, was somewhere in the vicinity.

At the end of Bullhead Lake were some nice little falls and the most perfect swimming area ever. We made note of it and decided that when we returned, we would take some time and maybe even get in and enjoy the cold water for awhile. Shortly after departing from Bullhead Lake, we went over a small little suspension bridge which seemed to signify the end of the line for most of the folks on the trail. From here, we could see the Pass and some of our route. Swiftcurrent Glacier looks sort of small from way down in the valley. We spotted a ledge off in the distance and decided that would be a good place to stop for an early lunch.

Leaving the valley, we traversed across a little barren rocky area that reminded me a bit of some sort of burial ground. It was eerie looking and not that attractive to the eye. Once through that though, we began our ascent to the pass up switchback after switchback, climbing higher and higher towards the pass. It is funny when you stand in the valley – you can’t imagine what path you could possibly take to get you up to the Pass because everything looks so steep and impossible. The nicely graded trails take the guesswork away, but 90% of the time, when you are climbing, you can’t see where you are about to go. You just trust that the trail will take you there eventually.

We paused at a little ledge and had a snack while looking over Swiftcurrent Valley and the lakes we just passed by. We also managed to scare some poor girl who thought she would have some privacy to use the Saturn until she saw us perched up there looking down on her. bwahahaha!!! Just because you have tree cover, doesn’t mean you have privacy.

We continued to climb up towards the waterfalls and the glacier, all the while looking around and keeping our eyes out for whatever we may see. I was still hoping for a grizzly! Once we reached the waterfalls, the trail made a sharp hairpin turn to the right and we were immediately taken out and around a narrow rocky trail that skirted the edge of the mountain. This provided some stellar views of the valley and the surrounding mountains. It was not the direction I expected to take, but it was remarkable, as always. Once we traversed around the point of the rock, we had a birds eye view of Windmaker Lake nestled down in the valley between Swiftcurrent Mountain and Mount Wilbur. By far, the view through the valley was one of my favorites because you could see for miles – all the way to the Dam on Sherburne Lake.

We made a quick stop to fill up on water at a mountain stream before continuing back along the side of the mountain. I could get used to switchbacks, though I’m not used to being able to walk one foot in front of the other without climbing on rocks. Neither are my feet, because I’m finding this motion is actually creating hot spots on my heels. The actual walking, as opposed to more climbing, is proving to be something my feet don’t recognize and therefore are rebelling slightly.

It wasn’t too much longer until we reached Swiftcurrent Pass and a giant rock wall/cairn thing. The high mountain passes of the West still intrigue me to no end. You aren’t on the summit of a mountain, but you are presented with views from two directions. In this case, we were able to see Heavens Peak directly in front of us but off in the distance. It is a magnificent mountain and I immediately asked Brad about the possibility of climbing it. I think I might have asked him about climbing every mountain we saw.

At the Pass, we had another snack before climbing the last 1.1 mile up to Swiftcurrent Lookout. The side of the mountain is covered in dead white trees and bright purple fireweed which I eventually became obsessed with. Although this look came from a fire that burned the park several years ago, it creates it’s own beauty that I find very appealing to the eye. The white trees remind me of driftwood that has been bleached by the salt water and sun, while the purple fireweed sets a nice contrast against the grass, rock and trees. It’s a different kind of beauty than in the East and it is breathtaking.

The climb up to the Lookout was a lot steeper than anything else we’d done today. After numerous switchbacks through the burned area, we broke out of that and faced a scree-infested area to negotiate. Just above the trees, I stopped for a minute to catch my breath and noticed something out of the corner of my eye. My first thought was “that’s a ridiculous place to put a statue” but after looking further, realized that there were two Big Horn Sheep just lounging in the sun. They are beautiful creatures but really do look statuesque. Their stoney bronze coloring and relatively still nature makes them look anything but real. I immediately snapped a bunch of pictures…they are Rams. I am a Ram. We shared a bond. We were also able to see Granite Park Chalet from the trail. For those of you that have read Night of the Grizzlies, this name and location will be familiar to you.

It seemed to take me forever to get to the Lookout. My previously mentioned hot spots now felt raw on my heels and the increasingly steep trail was offering no relief and doing me no favors. I should have taped my heels back at the stream we stopped at for water. I stopped at the privy when we reached the top for two reasons. First, I had to use it and second, the view was incredibly!!! I immediately thought of Cassie from the A.T. and her “Poo With a View”. I met Brad up at the Lookout, which was being staffed by a young little blonde kid that surely would have been more at home on a lifeguard stand in California than the top of this mountain! He was a nice kid and pointed out some peaks for us before retreating to the Lookout with an offer to take out picture.

We kicked back and checked out the 360* views. From where we stood, we could see Logan Pass and the Going to the Sun Road (or more, the sun sparkling off the cars as they drove). We could see Bishops Hat, Haystack Butte, Pollock Mountain, Piegan Mountain, and Mount Oberlin. Heavens Peak loomed off in the distance. To the West was Swiftcurrent Valley and all of the lakes and mountains we had passed on the way in. A Northern view offered up Mount Wilbur, Iceberg Peak, Ahern Peak and Pass, Cathedral Peak, Pyramid Peak and others that I’m sure I can’t remember! It was a stellar day at the lookout, with a little bit of smoke cover in the direction of Heavens Peak.

Brad and I spent some time at the Lookout taking it all in. Before leaving, we gave Fireboy the rest of our crackers, cheese and summer sausage. Thirteen days in the lookout at a time, I would be happy to have something tasty! If we had known, we would have hiked in some goodies and maybe even a beer for the kid.

The trip back was relatively uneventful but it was nice to see all of the views in the other direction. We made good time and didn’t pause very often, just anxious to get back to the campground and maybe even take a hot shower at the campground. At Bullhead Lake, I checked for Momma Moose but she had retreated. However, a crashing and snapping of branches in the trees to the left of us made me look. There, about 20 yards off the trail and in the middle of underbrush and trees, was Poppa Moose. We didn’t have a clear view of him but could easily see the huge paddles on his antlers. Two moose in one day for me!

The last 4 miles were long ones…despite being back on the superhighway, we were just ready to return! We turned it up a little bit and ended up getting out of the woods at about 7:!5pm, sufficiently tired and satisfied from the days hike. Enertia Meals for dinner hit the spot. We then went and purchased tokens to take a shower. I’m sure Brad was in and out quickly but of course, the five showers in the women’s room were occupied and there were another 5 waiting their turn. Ugh…I finally got in and got clean and life was good. We had both been filthy and dusty. All of this dry and hot weather made the trails just giant piles of dust. Once clean, we had a couple of Dancing Trout Ales before calling it a night. We decided that we would head back to Kalispell tomorrow instead of doing Floral Park – we are going to do that on Thursday instead. There is a method to our madness.

Besides, I am anxious to finally see Kalispell. There’s a reason for it. J Check out the pictures from our Swiftcurrent hike.

Going to the Sun Road

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