Glacier & Waterton Hiking - August 5-15, 2001

Twenty six strangers met in Kalispell MT, on August 5, 2001 for a Smithsonian Study Tour and left friends on August 15. Here in words and pictures is our story.

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On the Skyline Trail

This tour to Glacier National Park and Waterton Provincial Park in Alberta, Canada, is the third in a series of progressively more challenging hiking trips I've participated in over the last three summers. My pre-vacation walking paid dividends as I took all the long hikes, but there were still a few evenings when walking to dinner was a chore. I chose to walk with the "look at this nice flower and/or rock" folks. The zip-off-the-legs pants were very comfortable as the weather was warm most of the time. Jeans all day would've been very uncomfortable.

We traveled from Whitefish first to the Lake McDonald and then the Many Glacier areas of the park then on to Waterton. I took many more pictures than will fit on this site. I hope though that these will give you a taste for the Parks and will induce you to make your own visit.

The group threw me a birthday party on the 11th, complete with a sparkler on my dessert, cards and gifts. To top if off mom left me a birthday greeting at the front desk.

I ate more food in a week than I'd eat in three weeks at home, including desserts! Breakfast buffets were my downfall and portions at the dining rooms were enormous. I had to swear off trail mix after the first few days as the cargo pockets in my pants made it too easy to gobble it nonstop. I'm up a few pounds in spite of the miles we walked. Ate along the trail too, the Thimbleberries were the best, very much like tart red raspberries but with more fuzz. We were a bit early for ripe ones and the fast bunch picked most of those that were in reach :-)

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Glacier & Waterton Lakes Photo Diary

click on a picture for a full size image

Guides On the trail to Avalanche Lake Avalanche Lake Great Room, Many Glacier Lodge Highline Trail Mountain Goat Lunch Below The Garden Wall Granite Park Chalet Down to Hidden Lake Hidden Lake Lunch at Hidden Lake View from Many Glacier Lodge Wild Flowers Iceberg Lake Lunch at Iceberg Lake Grinnell Falls - Below Grinnell Glacier Along the Grinnell Glacier Trail Gem, Grinnell and Salamander Glaciers At Grinnell Glacier Many Glacier Lodge On the Carthew Trail Carthew Trail - Above The Tree Line Atop Carthew Pass View From Carthew Pass Lunch at Carthew Pass On the Alderson Trail Glade Below Carthew Pass Cooling Our Heels at Alderson Lake Waterson Town Site From Alderson Trail Last Trail Stop Izaak Walton Hotel Critters Group Photo at Grouse Mountain Lodge
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Updated: 9/29/2001