Glacier Park Chat
I've been to the Pass a few times but not on a geology tour. We stopped at the junction with the Northern Highline Trail that had just been posted for bears at Fifty Mountain campsite. Jeff reviewed the fact that there is no granite in this area and, in fact, the Granite Park Chalet sits on pillow basalt as does the Pass that has been used for centuries by the Blackfeet and their predecessors.
On the way up the somewhat steep switchbacks, I caught two different type squirrels together next to the trail so that was pretty cool (altho I misidentified the one squirrel as a chipmunk in the video).
The views as you ascend are quite impressive in every direction but what else is new.
There was more discussion about the geology and of the fire that blew up toward the Lookout of Swiftcurrent Mountain where you see all the white bark from the now naked trees. Jeff also pointed out the basalt pillows scattered about. At the Pass Jeff talked about the locomotive bell that used to be part of what is now a giant cairn of rocks (I believe that is the hockeyref cairn too?).
There were also some wildflowers scattered about including sulphur buckwheat and a nice patch of Pink-Mountain Heather that I hadn't seen in a few years. We continued down the other side to what Jeff called the secret Kuhn Trail to this overlook (I had previously been here in 2011 and 2018). He pointed out the mountains of the Many Glacier valley.
Sadly I have forgotten the name of the ground cover plant that he didn't want us to step on. It actually moves with the soil, such as in an avalanche. I can't get GL to identify the plant. The closest I could come up with is avens.
From here we could see all the way to Duck Lake so I zoomed away. Not a great photo but I was fully zoomed with Pany ZS80:
You can see Bulldog, Red Rock, Fishercap, Swiftcurrent and Sherburne Lakes which is really quite impressive
. The wind was blowing and the wind gusts were ferocious. In fact, Jeff was standing slightly above me and the wind blew him so hard a rock came loose and hit me in the back of the leg. We got a little lower at the Overlook where you could get nice views of Swiftcurrent Glacier and the waterfalls flowing down the mountain.
On the way back, we stopped to observe what people thought was a marmot in the far distance but I zoomed in and I think proved it was an extra large Columbian Ground Squirrel. On the way back, a few of the participants headed up to the Lookout. Jeff says it's an hour up and 45 minutes down. I did that with Wendy in 2018 and needless to say, it tooks us a lot longer. The female lookout was in residence so they got a tour. The rest of us took our time getting back to the Chalet. There is one switchback that affords great views of the Chalet plus all the way to Jackson Glacier to the south. And in case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a zoomer.
I had my usual Huckleberry drink mix and vodka before having my dinner. There was the daily 7PM presentation except this time the owner, Kathy was here. She is such a delight. I met her in 2018 and 2021 too. I think she comes in for the Workshops. One of the Park's superintendents was also here. Jeff talked a little about the workshop to Ahern Pass for the next day.
It was too chilly and windy to walk around so I hung out in the room editing pictures. Tonite we all used our extra blankets.
Here is the video I put together:
And here is the link to additional photos and descriptions on hikearizona.com and as I've stated in the past, if you login, you won't have to deal with the ads or HAZ: https://hikearizona.com/photoset.php?ID=71113