Glacier Northern Traverse Group trip Aug 1-9

Well, tell us how your trip went. We all want to hear about your special experience.

Moderators: teapot57, Tara

User avatar
mattB
Donator & Special Contributor
Donator & Special Contributor
Posts: 687
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2006 6:03 pm
Gender?: Male
Please add the numbers(11): 11
Location: Seattle/(Eureka MT)
Has thanked: 57 times
Been thanked: 21 times

Glacier Northern Traverse Group trip Aug 1-9

Post by mattB »

Thought I would take a cut at getting a Trip Report started for our Glacier Northern Traverse Group Backpack!
It was a big crew! So I'm hoping we can do some tag-teaming on the trip report!
Tim Hef, Laura MissGuiness, Tina Teapot57, Joyce Joybird, Jen, Maia, Mira, and myself MattB; we were also joined by Al from EastGlacier for two nights at Glenn's Lake head, and Paul for one night at Stoney Indian while he was hiking the same route but in the opposite direction.

July 31, After driving up from Choteau to Browning I texted Jen and TIna that I was at the grocery store in Browning, and if there was anything I should get... They texted right back, "Stay right there, we'll be there in 10 minutes".. They were on their way from East Glacier to Browning on a grocery run.. We met up at the grocery store, did some shopping and then headed for Many Glacier..

Had a great meet up and spaghetti dinner at Many Glacier Campground: Tara, Rosie, Natuyi(Tara's Rez Dog rescue), Jen, Maia, Mira, Tina, Bill MarxMn, Jim, McKenzie, and Rebecca SlowHiker. (Hope I didn't forget anyone)

August 1st Day #1 Chief Mtn to Cosley Lake 8.7 miles (GNP says 700ft elevation loss, Google Maps says 1250ft elevation loss, 804ft elevation GAIN)
Got up and packed up.. Had a nice breakfast at Nell's Cafe at Swift Current with Tina, Jen, Maia, and Mira. Then drove to Chief Mountain Customs and started our epic adventure..
Tim, Laura, and Joyce were coming up from East Glacier. Joyce got an earlier start from Chief Mtn, and Tim and Laura were taking the Lee Ridge route. So we we kind of set a precedent for the trip, the early starters fast hikers (Tim, Laura, and Joyce), and the stagglers (Me, Jen, Tina, Maia, and Mira) [**NOTE** I'm really only making this distinction, so I don't have to keep typing out all the names!! :-) **]

Our Backcountry Permit said "700 ft elevatiion loss" from Chief Mtn to Cosely Lake, so I was expecting a nice easy day strolling along the Belly River to Cosely Lake... But we encountered a lot of up and down.. It was also a hot day. The Stragglers were all pretty beat by the time we got to Gros Ventres Falls, so we took a nice break by the falls, dipped our toes a bit. We got to camp around 4-5pm, Setup camp and cooled off a bit in Cosley Lake.

A long, tiring, hot day, but beautiful views all the way, and the camp sites at Cosley were great. I felt better after resting and dinner, but I was worried, that if I felt this way after our "easy day" how would I ever survive our difficult days. I was even considering bailing out and going back to Chief Mtn, because if I went another day or two, and then found I couldn't make it there'd be no way to turn back. But I slept well that night, and was still alive the next morning so I decided to go another day! A few sips of Jen's Captn Morgan's after dinner may also have helped!

I'm working on Photos, but can't seem to find a way to get Google Photo;s pics to work here....
User avatar
thorn726
Posts: 89
Joined: Mon Mar 19, 2018 1:17 am
Gender?: Male
Please add the numbers(11): 11
Location: Berkeley, CA

Re: Glacier Northern Traverse Group trip Aug 1-9

Post by thorn726 »

thanks for the report, hope you can get some photos up...
can't seem to find a way to get Google Photo;s pics to work here..
have same problem ...best i could do was post links, if you figure it out please let us know how you did it thanks
User avatar
tibber
2.0 Donator
2.0 Donator
Posts: 474
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2010 11:50 am
Gender?: Female
Please add the numbers(11): 11
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Has thanked: 75 times
Been thanked: 28 times

Re: Glacier Northern Traverse Group trip Aug 1-9

Post by tibber »

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
And I just now tried this where you paste the embeded URL link and then once again use the Img Menu item from above. Here is the info on how to do this:
https://www.labnol.org/internet/embed-g ... ite/29194/
To adjust the size of the photo, read further down in the link.
Last edited by tibber on Sat Oct 06, 2018 9:10 pm, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
mattB
Donator & Special Contributor
Donator & Special Contributor
Posts: 687
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2006 6:03 pm
Gender?: Male
Please add the numbers(11): 11
Location: Seattle/(Eureka MT)
Has thanked: 57 times
Been thanked: 21 times

Re: Glacier Northern Traverse Group trip Aug 1-9

Post by mattB »

Is there no way to delete or remove a post?
Last edited by mattB on Thu Oct 11, 2018 2:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Jay w
Posts: 1920
Joined: Fri Jun 01, 2007 6:17 am
Gender?: Male
Please add the numbers(11): 11
Location: St. Paul, MN
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 40 times

Re: Glacier Northern Traverse Group trip Aug 1-9

Post by Jay w »

You can go to

https://postimages.org/

Bring in the image and copy the link.

Image

The problem with this site is that you can't go back and search for or locate your image. At least that I know of. Photobucket is a royal PITA, but I've been using it since I can delete my images if I choose (and I haven't chosen to). I highly recommend to NOT use Photobucket.

Jay
The NSA...the only people in the government who listen.
PeteE
Posts: 3346
Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2014 12:20 pm
Gender?: Male
Please add the numbers(11): 11
Location: Winter hHaven Florida
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 1 time
Contact:

Re: Glacier Northern Traverse Group trip Aug 1-9

Post by PeteE »

For photos, some of y'all may want to try
https://www.smugmug.com/
Smugmug bought Flickr. It is not free, but it works very well for me.
Lots of options for organizing and display.

pete :wink:
Last edited by PeteE on Sat Oct 13, 2018 4:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"If you are not curious, you will learn nothing" -Goethe-

"When you're born in this world, you're given a ticket to the freak show.
And when you're born in America, you're given a front row seat."

George Carlin
User avatar
mattB
Donator & Special Contributor
Donator & Special Contributor
Posts: 687
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2006 6:03 pm
Gender?: Male
Please add the numbers(11): 11
Location: Seattle/(Eureka MT)
Has thanked: 57 times
Been thanked: 21 times

Re: Glacier Northern Traverse Group trip Aug 1-9

Post by mattB »

Ok, here's another attempt at some photos... The url from Google Photo's for the actual image is about 8 lines long, so I'm hoping the img tags will hide that!!
Here goes!

Tina took the obligatory startup pic from the trailhead
Image

And then we were off!
Image

Image

View of Belly River from the trail
Image

Just to carry on the "Bartenders Guide to Glacier" tradition!
Image


Image


Image


Image

Image

Image

Image

Looking DOWN on the Gable River Ranger Station! ZERO Elevation Gain???... NOT!!
Image

Gros Ventre Falls
Image

Image

Cosley Lake from our campsites.
Image

My tent and campsite..
Image
User avatar
tibber
2.0 Donator
2.0 Donator
Posts: 474
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2010 11:50 am
Gender?: Female
Please add the numbers(11): 11
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Has thanked: 75 times
Been thanked: 28 times

Re: Glacier Northern Traverse Group trip Aug 1-9

Post by tibber »

Now that you've been offered better advice, a board moderator can feel free to delete my post above. I can't figure out how to do it.
Last edited by tibber on Sun Oct 07, 2018 11:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
teapot57
Moderator & 2.1 Donator
Moderator & 2.1 Donator
Posts: 940
Joined: Mon May 20, 2013 3:59 pm
Gender?: Female
Please add the numbers(11): 11
Location: Calgary, AB
Has thanked: 89 times
Been thanked: 77 times

Re: Glacier Northern Traverse Group trip Aug 1-9

Post by teapot57 »

From my perspective . . .

7/31: Takin’ Care of Business

The day before we entered the backcountry was our logistics day. First order of business . . . Picking up our permit. I would put money down that our permit pickup took up more time than any other permit this summer. First we kinda blew the ranger’s mind with the number of backpackers on our permit. This was her first time processing a large group permit. Only 5 are issued each summer, and we were extremely fortunate to be one of those 5. Fortunately, her boss happened to be at the Many Glacier ranger station that morning, and she helped immensely through the process. When the head backcountry ranger eyed our itinerary, she said, wow . . . What a great trip! We asked her if she’d like to join us and she seemed to think about it for a minute before saying no thanks! Our itinerary was: COS GLH GLH STO WAT HOL UPK

We had a few “irregularities” with our permit and each had to be noted on the permit itself. For example, on Aug 1, two group members entered through Lee Ridge, while the rest of us entered at Chief Mountain. This was noted on the permit. We had 9 backpackers, but shortly before the trip, one person backed out, so we scrambled to fill the 9th spot and did so with different people on different nights. All of this information had to be noted on the permit, with each group member’s name and which trailhead folks were using. We also had quite a few license plate numbers to list on the permit. We couldn’t use one emergency contact for the whole group, because we were coming from all over the country and no one person knew all group members. So this created a little bit of an issue, but we were able to work everything out. It just took a little time. As you can see, organizing a group permit presents many issues!

Since we had so many group members and we weren’t hiking together in a single file line, we circulated a photo of the permit to everyone in the group. The rangers encouraged this idea and it came in handy when a few group members were stopped by rangers in the backcountry.

In addition, the transportation logistics for this trip were complicated. The Fast Hikers (using Matt’s terms) caught rides to the trailheads from friends at the start and finish. The Stragglers worked out our own transportation. We were staying in East Glacier at the tail end of the trip, so we decided to leave my vehicle there. Paul was originally going to be part of our group, but ended up hiking on his own with a permit in the opposite direction. So Jen and Paul swapped vehicles. We drove his car to Chief Mountain while he drove Jen’s vehicle to Kintla. This way, we each had our own cars at the end of our hikes. We couldn’t all fit in Paul’s vehicle, so Matt also drove his car to Chief Mountain. Then after our backpack, I dropped Matt off at his car at the Chief Mountain trailhead on my way back to Calgary.

So Jen and I were in East Glacier dropping and swapping cars when Matt texted. Our timing went well and things were off to a good start, with the permit having been picked up and the vehicle logistics worked out. Time to pick up some supplies for a party at Many Glacier Campground!

As Matt mentioned we had a nice potluck Pasta Dinner with many chatters in attendance. Along with cheese and crackers as an appetizer, we had pasta, salad, and garlic bread. Rebecca (Slowhiker) made two pies for dessert. Bill (MarxMn) gets a special note here for chipping in and washing dishes and helping out with the clean up.

Aug 1: And We’re Off!

Matt did a great job describing our first day. The Stragglers had a leisurely breakfast and left the Chief Mountain trailhead at 10:30 am. This meant that we walked through the meadows and open areas in full sun and during the hottest part of the day. We adopted a “no hurry” attitude right from the start, taking our time hiking to our destinations and stopping for many breaks. This caused some concern for those waiting for us at Cosley Lake the first night, but they came to expect it of us as the days went on.

And that photo of Matt chugging from a vodka bottle . . . He was hiking behind me and I have to admit when I turned and saw him swigging from a vodka bottle I thought “this is going to be a great trip!” I was disappointed to learn it was just a recycled water bottle.


Hiking through the meadows:

Image

View from the Cosley beach next to my campsite:

Image

Sunrise at Cosley Lake:

Imagea
teapot57
Moderator & 2.1 Donator
Moderator & 2.1 Donator
Posts: 940
Joined: Mon May 20, 2013 3:59 pm
Gender?: Female
Please add the numbers(11): 11
Location: Calgary, AB
Has thanked: 89 times
Been thanked: 77 times

Re: Glacier Northern Traverse Group trip Aug 1-9

Post by teapot57 »

And I just want to add that I am extremely happy that Matt did not bail the trail after that first day. I think the lesson to be learned here is to always bring Captain Morgan into the backcountry. :D

Matt is a great hiking companion and an even better friend. He makes good conversation to help pass the miles, and has an awesome sense of humor. In fact, all of our group members were amazing people to share the trail with.
User avatar
paul
Donator
Donator
Posts: 1696
Joined: Tue Oct 10, 2006 7:42 pm
Gender?: Male
Please add the numbers(11): 11
Location: MA
Has thanked: 61 times
Been thanked: 38 times

Re: Glacier Northern Traverse Group trip Aug 1-9

Post by paul »

Nice start Matt and Tina!
We are in the mountains and the mountains are in us. - John Muir
User avatar
mattB
Donator & Special Contributor
Donator & Special Contributor
Posts: 687
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2006 6:03 pm
Gender?: Male
Please add the numbers(11): 11
Location: Seattle/(Eureka MT)
Has thanked: 57 times
Been thanked: 21 times

Re: Glacier Northern Traverse Group trip Aug 1-9

Post by mattB »

tibber wrote:Now that you've been offered better advice, a board moderator can feel free to delete my post above. I can't figure out how to do it.
Actually I used your advice!.. I was orginially just using the Google "Copy", button, but when I ignored that, and used the browsers, "copy image location" it worked fine... Except that Google makes the link to the image about 10 lines long of gibberish.... But when its posted in the img tags, none of thats visible..
User avatar
mattB
Donator & Special Contributor
Donator & Special Contributor
Posts: 687
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2006 6:03 pm
Gender?: Male
Please add the numbers(11): 11
Location: Seattle/(Eureka MT)
Has thanked: 57 times
Been thanked: 21 times

Re: Glacier Northern Traverse Group trip Aug 1-9

Post by mattB »

teapot57 wrote:And I just want to add that I am extremely happy that Matt did not bail the trail after that first day. I think the lesson to be learned here is to always bring Captain Morgan into the backcountry. :D

Matt is a great hiking companion and an even better friend. He makes good conversation to help pass the miles, and has an awesome sense of humor. In fact, all of our group members were amazing people to share the trail with.
Yes, it was a great group to hike and camp with!!

And part of the reason I decided not to bail, was that I'd realized I could still bail at Waterton!! :-)
User avatar
mattB
Donator & Special Contributor
Donator & Special Contributor
Posts: 687
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2006 6:03 pm
Gender?: Male
Please add the numbers(11): 11
Location: Seattle/(Eureka MT)
Has thanked: 57 times
Been thanked: 21 times

Re: Glacier Northern Traverse Group trip Aug 1-9

Post by mattB »

August 2 Day #2 Cosely Lake to Glenn's Lake head, 4 miles, no elevation gain

Really warm night. Didn't really need a sleeping bag... We had a short day, so we slept in a bit and had kind of a leisurely morning.. Packed up camp and headed over to Glenn's Lake and then up along the lake to the Glenn's Lake head campsite.. Got to camp around 2pm, un-packed, and setup camp. Cooled off a bit in the lake!

We were sitting in the food prep area, comtemplating a Happy Hour to celebrate an easy day and that we weren't dead yet, when Al arrived! Since he was coming all the way from Chief Mtn in one day we weren't expecting him until a bit later! He had hiked in one day what had taken us two days! Of course he was only carrying food for 2 days, so that must have been why we were so much slower... Or I should clarify that as why the Stragglers were so much slower, I'm sure the fast half of our team could have maybe kept up with him!

We all had a very fun afternoon and evening! Happy Hour was some dehydrated cocktails and a few sips of Captn Morgans, then some relaxing by the lake and dinner. I think we were all looking forward to a rest day the next day... There were several discussions about what to do on our rest day, but I think "laying on the beach" was the favorite!

Saw a Ranger on the trail!
Image


Glenns Lake
Image

Image

Cooling my feet in the lake... My fly was NOT open in this picture, regardless of what Tina says!!
Image

On The Beach!
Image


Image

Spa Day at Glenns Lake!
Image

Happy Hour at the food prep area!
Image

Our friend and hiking buddy EastGlacier Al, I can't remember if this was before or after happy hour?
Image

Evening sun on the mountains!
Image
User avatar
mattB
Donator & Special Contributor
Donator & Special Contributor
Posts: 687
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2006 6:03 pm
Gender?: Male
Please add the numbers(11): 11
Location: Seattle/(Eureka MT)
Has thanked: 57 times
Been thanked: 21 times

Re: Glacier Northern Traverse Group trip Aug 1-9

Post by mattB »

Day #3 August 3 Glenns Lake head, Rest Day

We all must have slept well, and been rested, or maybe it was just the Captn Morgans, but the plan of laying on the beach was scrapped and we went for a day hike. We hiked up to Mokowanis Lake, and then did a little bushwacking up to Lake Margaret.
Nice easy hike to Mokowanis Lake, great views of Glenns Lake along the way, and more great views of Mokowanis Lake and the mountains all around us.
There's no official trail to Margaret Lake, but the route is easy enough to find, it doesn't really even qualify as a bushwhack, more like a "fisherman's trail".. It follows mostly up along the creek and waterfalls that empty out of Lake Margaret and into Mokowanis lake.
We had great weather, and it was a nice day for a hike without our heavy packs.

It was really amazing to break over the top of the ridge above the waterfalls and see the big bowl containing Margaret Lake! We'd been told by those that had been there before that the best spot was on a narrow penninsula of land sticking out into the lake, but it required a stream crossing to get out there! We all went for it, and made the stream crossing with no problems other than some cold toes!

Suffice it to say, Margaret Lake was amazing!! The most incredible turquoise blue water surrounded by towering rock cliffs! It was windy on the lake, but we all relaxed and enjoyed some lunch and some photo ops! I think for many of us Lake Margaret may have been the highlight of the trip!

It was a nice downhill hike back to camp at Glenn's Lake, and dinner and an early bed time, since we had a long day up to Stoney Indian ahead of us!

Glenns Lake and the morning sun on the mountains.
Image

Mokowanis Lake
Image

Lake Mokowanis
Image

Waterfalls going up to Lake Margaret
Image

Looking back towards Lake Mokowanis...
Image

Lake Margaret
Image

Lake Margaret
Image
Post Reply

Return to “Trip Reports”