In the park last week

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paul
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In the park last week

Post by paul »

I got back last Friday from my trip to Montana, I'll post some pictures later but here are some observations from my trip

1) I saw 2 wolves near the Kintla lake trailhead on the first day of my backpack. It was my best wildlife experience to-date in the park.

2) Pretty much every backcountry site was booked for days in advance. It didn't matter how early you got to the permit office you weren't going to get any good sites. For instance I wanted to change my permit for day 4 to Stoney Indian Lake, but it was booked 5 days in advance. Same was true for every change I wanted to make. People were getting awful permits like Goat Haunt on night 1 coming from Chief Mountain Customs (That's a 26 mile first day and also near 3000 ft of elevation gain)

3) Someone is going to get mauled by a bear while trail running. One girl completely surprised me by popping through head-high bushes on the trail. I heard no sound before she popped through at a very quick pace. If that happens with a bear on the trail, it won't be pretty.

4) I encountered people poaching sites in 2 locations. The backcountry was full of people but there were virtually no rangers to make sure rules weren't violated.

5) The biting flies were the worst I ever experienced in the Park (mostly west of Boulder pass, east side seemed okay)

6) I saw lots of wildlife during this trip, bears, a big bull moose at MOL, lots of deer, and of course the wolves.

7) By the way, the deer are getting more aggressive. One ran off with my hiking pole. I later found it in the woods.

8 ) Surprisingly the streams were very low and the snow fields were almost non-existent at Boulder pass. I thought it would be different considering all the snow this past winter.
We are in the mountains and the mountains are in us. - John Muir
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Re: In the park last week

Post by llholmes1948 »

Paul,

Wow! That is quite a report and not what we are used to. :shock: The truth hurts but thanks for posting it and I hope you will post some additional details when you have time.

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Re: In the park last week

Post by southernguy »

I was in the park last week also.
There were 5 snowfields to cross to get to dragon's tail. That was by far the most we have ever encountered.
I will try to get a report up when time permits.
The only comment I have at this time is BOY there are a lot of people there. :shock:
If you didn't get to Logan pass before 7:30 you were out of luck. There were people parking close to a mile from the pass and walking up.
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Re: In the park last week

Post by thorn726 »

flies and mosquitoes were the big issue at brown pass as well from what we heard, we hiked to a bit below Brown from BOW and /yeah/ it started getting bad well before the pass.
//we had noticed a lack of trail runners (we're used to lots of them in the Sierras, everyone is in a race apparently), but sounds like they are out there... that definitely sounds like a recipe for disaster in Glacier back country.
there was or is a serious deer problem at BOW, one male that steals clothes or anything salty every day. everyone is warned over and over and still lets something lay around for it to run off with.
excellent you saw wolves, i was really hoping to see or hear one but no luck/ frustrating about the sites but overall wow lots of wildlife, great trip!
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Re: In the park last week

Post by paul »

llholmes1948 wrote:Paul,

Wow! That is quite a report and not what we are used to. :shock: The truth hurts but thanks for posting it and I hope you will post some additional details when you have time.

Lyman
Lyman,

I didn't mean to come across as negative, but I guess it sounded that way. It was a great trip overall. The wolf sighting alone made the trip. I saw lots of wildlife and the weather was quite good for hiking and photography. I met up with other chatters during my backpack including Jen, Heff, Miss Giuness, Teaspot, Joybird and Matt. We had a good ole time in camp talking about our adventures.
We are in the mountains and the mountains are in us. - John Muir
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Re: In the park last week

Post by llholmes1948 »

Paul,

That sounds great. The crowds do sound like a real bummer though.

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Re: In the park last week

Post by paul »

thorn726 wrote:flies and mosquitoes were the big issue at brown pass as well from what we heard, we hiked to a bit below Brown from BOW and /yeah/ it started getting bad well before the pass.
//we had noticed a lack of trail runners (we're used to lots of them in the Sierras, everyone is in a race apparently), but sounds like they are out there... that definitely sounds like a recipe for disaster in Glacier back country.
there was or is a serious deer problem at BOW, one male that steals clothes or anything salty every day. everyone is warned over and over and still lets something lay around for it to run off with.
excellent you saw wolves, i was really hoping to see or hear one but no luck/ frustrating about the sites but overall wow lots of wildlife, great trip!
I was really excited to see the wolves, I had picked up a few backpackers and was driving them up to the trailhead at Kintla. Those guys really lucked out by seeing wolves the first time they were in the park.

I saw a lot of trail runners going to Goat Haunt from Logan pass as I hiked around the Kootnei lakes area. I trail run a lot here but I don't think it's safe to do in Glacier unless you are out in the open and see the trail for a good distance ahead.
We are in the mountains and the mountains are in us. - John Muir
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Re: In the park last week

Post by paul »

llholmes1948 wrote:Paul,

That sounds great. The crowds do sound like a real bummer though.

Lyman
Yes, but there's a limit to the crowds in the back country which is nice. I had a people free hike from Boulder pass to Brown pass and I hung out at Mokawannis lake all day without seeing anyone.
We are in the mountains and the mountains are in us. - John Muir
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Re: In the park last week

Post by teapot57 »

I met up with other chatters during my backpack including Jen, Heff, Miss Giuness, Teaspot, Joybird and Matt. We had a good ole time in camp talking about our adventures.
Great to spend some time with you, Paul. I am headed back to the Park today for a day hiking trip and I’m sure it will be a much different experience in terms of weather, views, and crowds. I think we really lucked out with our timing last week.
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Re: In the park last week

Post by paul »

teapot57 wrote:
I met up with other chatters during my backpack including Jen, Heff, Miss Giuness, Teaspot, Joybird and Matt. We had a good ole time in camp talking about our adventures.
Great to spend some time with you, Paul. I am headed back to the Park today for a day hiking trip and I’m sure it will be a much different experience in terms of weather, views, and crowds. I think we really lucked out with our timing last week.
You are lucky to live so close to the park.
We are in the mountains and the mountains are in us. - John Muir
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Re: In the park last week

Post by Sue Z »

paul wrote:The backcountry was full of people but there were virtually no rangers to make sure rules weren't violated.
I had a different experience on the Pitamakan-Dawson loop on 8/6-8/7. A ranger came through OLD in the afternoon on the 6th, checking that all the food was hung up, although not checking permits. In addition, a volunteer was staying at the campground with his grandson, but not actively policing. The next day, however, a ranger came across Two Med Lake on the cruise boat, and she asked to check the permits of everyone with a backpack as we waited on the dock to board the return. I thought that was a fairly clever, time-saving way to catch poachers.
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Re: In the park last week

Post by paul »

Sue Z wrote:
paul wrote:The backcountry was full of people but there were virtually no rangers to make sure rules weren't violated.
I had a different experience on the Pitamakan-Dawson loop on 8/6-8/7. A ranger came through OLD in the afternoon on the 6th, checking that all the food was hung up, although not checking permits. In addition, a volunteer was staying at the campground with his grandson, but not actively policing. The next day, however, a ranger came across Two Med Lake on the cruise boat, and she asked to check the permits of everyone with a backpack as we waited on the dock to board the return. I thought that was a fairly clever, time-saving way to catch poachers.
Old man lake is pretty close to the Two Med ranger station so it's easier for them to check permits. When I passed through Goat Haunt I saw 2 rangers and talked to one of them. This was the only place I saw rangers in the backcountry during my 7 days.
We are in the mountains and the mountains are in us. - John Muir
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Re: In the park last week

Post by tibber »

paul wrote:
Sue Z wrote:
paul wrote:The backcountry was full of people but there were virtually no rangers to make sure rules weren't violated.
I had a different experience on the Pitamakan-Dawson loop on 8/6-8/7. A ranger came through OLD in the afternoon on the 6th, checking that all the food was hung up, although not checking permits. In addition, a volunteer was staying at the campground with his grandson, but not actively policing. The next day, however, a ranger came across Two Med Lake on the cruise boat, and she asked to check the permits of everyone with a backpack as we waited on the dock to board the return. I thought that was a fairly clever, time-saving way to catch poachers.
Old man lake is pretty close to the Two Med ranger station so it's easier for them to check permits. When I passed through Goat Haunt I saw 2 rangers and talked to one of them. This was the only place I saw rangers in the backcountry during my 7 days.
We talked to one about two miles from Cut Bank TH. It looks like she ticketed a car parked by the no parking sign.

We saw two law enforcement rangers on a boat that went to the Two Med dock where we were loading to go back and then saw them again back at the main Two Med dock when we were unloading. Not sure what that was all about.
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Re: In the park last week

Post by paul »

Speaking of Law enforcement. I saw a few back country users in camp with holstered guns. It made me uneasy.
We are in the mountains and the mountains are in us. - John Muir
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Re: In the park last week

Post by teapot57 »

We did the Northern Traverse from east to west and only saw one ranger on horseback between Cosley Lake and Glenn’s Lake.
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