Yet another early morning today: I drove over to the Glacier Gorge trail head and hiked in to Sky Pond, passing Alberta Falls, the Loch, Timberline Falls, and Lake of Glass on my way. Altogether more than 10 miles of hiking, plus climbing up the falls to get to Lake of Glass and beyond. That was an endeavor. Fun, in a sense, but a little nerve wracking when you're all alone, 5 miles from the nearest road. A little less fun for the trip back down the falls. The rocks are slick, and with a pack on it's a little tricky. The lakes were gorgeous today, especially the Loch. Low morning clouds obscured the mountain tops, but were neat to watch roiling among the peaks. The wind picked up at the Loch, but up at Lake of Glass and Sky Pond it was downright intense. Very cold, and extremely windy, rivaling the winds in the badlands, which is really saying something. My hands were wind chapped by the time I left the area. The water running down the gorge from Sky Pond is aptly named Icy Creek.
The hike up to Sky Pond starts near the road, and is up, up, and more up. Switchbacks, steep steps made of rock slabs. Taylor Glacier lays at the far end of Sky Pond, and is visible from my porch here at the cabin. It's pretty neat to look out this afternoon and see where I was this morning. Knowing how large that glacier is, and seeing it so small from here put a really nice perspective on the area. I'm a geek and I just love that sort of thing; understanding the lay of the land formations, the spatial locations of all the features in the park. Interesting things from today apart from the fantastic landscapes I journeyed through include seeing elk far up near the lakes. I saw females and a calf, but I could smell a bull somewhere nearby. I put my hand on a snow field today. Really interesting shapes on the surface with the melt pattern.
And that's about it for today. My feet are more sore than they have been yet, and many muscle groups are complaining as well. I'm going to reassess my plan for tomorrow, and see if there are some shorter adventures to be had in order to get a day of rest. Maybe a hike of just 5 miles or so.
Sunrise view
Alberta Falls
The Loch
The Loch
The Loch
Lake of Glass
Lake of Glass
Lake of Glass
The Sharkstooth over Sky Pond
Sky Pond and Taylor Glacier
Sharkstooth and others whose names I can't recall.
View towards Sky Pond from Lake of Glass
Lake of Glass
Lake of Glass
View of the Loch from Lake of Glass
Timberline Falls
Timberline Falls, the climb route
View from Timberline Falls with snow field
Timberline Falls from below
The Loch, with view of Timberline Falls and the cirque formed by Taylor Glacier
