Glacier Early Morning

Despite the very early hour, the chilly morning temps (34°!😱) and a very cozy airstream, we (Ben) decided to get up at 4:30 am and drive over to Lake McDonald to try to get some sunrise photos. Ann was very much hoping Ben would sleep through that silly alarm he set. Ugh!

We did catch a neat night shot last night when Ben went outside to see if there was a chance to see northern lights. No northern lights, at least not at the early hour of 10:30 pm, but the moon was rising over the pines and it created a cool setting.

We suited up, grabbed a cup of coffee, and headed out the door before the clock struck 5 am.

It felt like we were the only ones in the park this morning, and as we stood on the pebbly shore, a quiet, slow breeze across the surface of the lake sent gentle ripples of otherwise calm lake waves to softly lap against the millions of small pebbles. A very relaxing and unique sound. Ann described it as walking through a beach made of kitty litter, the rocks were so rounded and fine.

We grabbed a couple of pictures at a few turnouts, as well as on the bridge leading in to the park, across the Middle Fork Flathead River.

Then we headed back to the Airstream for a continued nap for Ann and a board call for Ben. The plan, after naps and calls were completed, was to head back out to the park for a hike. This time, we were armed with two cans of bear spray, two knives and a thorough refresh (thanks to YouTube) on how to quickly arm, aim and fire a canister of bear spray. Watchful awareness was our best friend today!

Still a bit freaked out about the bear near miss yesterday, we headed up the trail at John’s Lake Loop, a relatively short hike, but it was starting out steep. As the road dropped away behind us, we noticed that there was no one else on the trail. It wasn’t like it was early or anything, it was like 10:30 in the morning. It was also eerily quiet in this section of the woods. We felt a small sense of relief, when the first snapping twig sound we heard was a boring old deer, which was just quietly munching away, while watching us cautiously. He wandered downhill and we kept hiking up the wide, tree-rooty trail.

Then we came across THIS huge pile of poop in the path. Like the kind a very very large bear COULD lay down. This was no dainty lady-like pile and certainly wasn’t human, as it was right in the middle of the path with no TP in sight. The very quick conversation went something like this…

Ann- “That’s horse poop, right?”

Ben- ”Pretty sure that’s horse poop.“

Ann- “Yeah, because I see grass in there.”

Ben- “Bears are omnivorous, they eat lots of grass.”

… (then there was a much shortened version of the jeopardy theme song simultaneously playing in BOTH of our brains…

Ann- “So, that could be bear poop?”

That was pretty much the end of the conversation. With no cell signal except for the one that looks like this…

We couldn’t Google what bear poop looks like, so yep, we were out of there and there wasn’t much more discussion about it.

We did an about face and boogied right back down the steep hill. Ben didn’t wander off to take any pics, so we were moving right along.

About 1/4 of the way back down, a deer, different from the one we had seen a few minutes before, bolted behind us and off to our left, away from where we had just been.

Our descending pace increased noticeably. As we exited the desolate path, back on to the road where we parked, there was a sweet looking Mennonite family just starting their journey up the path, with no hiking sticks, no bear spray or any evidence that they knew what they could possibly be getting into. But honestly, the man looked like he was used to taming unruly bulls bare-handed and the sweet, shy woman looked like she spends her days churning butter, so we figured they could handle themselves in a situation with a bear. Who knows. We could be wrong but we’re gone. Plus, if those Mennonites get eaten, maybe the bear won’t be as hungry for US!

After getting back to signal land, we googled it. After extensive poop research over the next 20 seconds, we are 94% sure it was horse poop, and 100% sure we made the right call anyway.

We drove back toward the west entrance, once again passing the beautiful Lake McDonald, which looked different with every passing change in the sunlight. We learned that it was carved by glacial activity, it is 10 miles long and 500 feet deep, with the wide basin a result of the glaciers moving through. Pretty neat. Not a bad view for what turned out to be our somewhat limited exploration of the national park, as the main road is still closed, but we have some good news on that front in a moment.

We got in a couple of small hikes down by the river. Low key and bear free. Saw another deer who saw us, but was more concerned with addressing some deer hygiene issues.

So, in the end, we got in a respectable four miles of hiking. Not bad for a late start and two changes of venue.

The rest of the afternoon was just spent doing pretty much nothing, the weather was perfect, the windows were wide open, the sun was shining, so that was enough for us!

The plan tomorrow is to pick up our e-bikes, head up Going-To-The-Sun Road to where it is still closed for snow removal at the very top, and then we continue up the highway on bikes, for the next 13 miles! It is closed for all vehicle traffic but hikers and bikers are free to head up.

We should get some great views tomorrow!

And yes, we are both taking bear spray again!