Driving west takes us out of the Rocky Mountains, and into the Columbia Mountains. These peaks are just as tall, but the valleys are narrower and the mountains are steeper than the Rockies. We could tell the difference as we first entered the park.
The national park's visitor center includes the Rogers Pass Discovery Centre--a museum honoring the men that designed and built the first railroad track through this country. Now that we have seen the mountain ranges on this route first hand, we better understand the difficulty of that task. Out front was a half-statue that allows visitors to actually stand in the shoes (and the pants) of the great railroad engineer--Major Albert Rogers.
A couple weeks ago, a fellow hiker had described to us his favorite hike ever at Canada's Glacier National Park--the Abbot Ridge trail. On the map below you can see it as the black diamond #18 trail. It takes hikers to the summit with 360-degree views of all the mountains around it. But when Denisa found out that the Abbott Ridge trail had an elevation gain of over 1,000 meters, she nixed that idea. A fast calculation brought the actual elevation to 3,376 feet in U.S. terms. That's just crazy! No way should we do that! But when the ranger also said it was the best hike in the park, we compromised.
We would start out going up hike #8, the easier blue trail, which would take us to Marion Lake. If that was going well, we MIGHT continue on to hike #18 and to the top of Abbott Ridge. This is the picture of the rested and happy couple at the bridge at the beginning of the hike. This might be the last time that Denisa will be smiling for a while.
We soon found out that the Marion Lake trail was tough! It is steep, and has countless switchbacks that made its 1.5 mile length feel like a lot longer. In that short distance we had climbed up in elevation 1,400 feet. That's like being on a stair stepper for two hours!
For some reason, we just glanced at Marion Lake. We saw a couple picnicking on the far side of the lake, and we decided to let them enjoy their lovely place alone. So we walked past Marion Lake and hiked the extra quarter-mile to the overlook viewpoint. We're about a third of the way up the mountain for these views.
As we hiked back to Marion Lake, we started hearing the chatter and the excitement. We found out that we had just missed the biggest show on the mountain! That couple that was picnicking at the lake just saw a grizzly bear. The bear came out of the woods and then swam across Marion Lake right in front of them. They got the whole thing on video, and then showed it to all the hikers coming up the trail!
The hikers that saw the video gathered into a big group, and were making lots of noise to scare away the bear as they continued toward the lake. We didn't know if he was still lurking around close, but Mark was sure going to find out. He headed right around the lake to where the bear was last seen. Denisa didn't know if it was safer to go with him, or stand on the trail by herself since we didn't know where the bear was now. So she followed him, taking this picture to document that we made it to our destination--Marion Lake.
We didn't know it at the time, but the bear was just over Mark's right shoulder. Denisa is feeling a little vulnerable as now Mark is poking in the bushes at the end of the lake where the bear was last spotted. We heard some noise, but decided that was just a squirrel in the brush. It's about this time that Mark announced that he just made eye contact with the grizzly. He was eating berries, oblivious of all the adrenaline rush he was giving to the hikers going up to the lake today. Denisa didn't get to see the bear, and she's still a little miffed that Mark didn't take a picture.
Now our planned picnic at the lake isn't working out, and some how we made the decision to press on towards Abbott Ridge. Denisa is not sure how this happened. She's pretty sure that Mark has tricked her into this hike that she didn't want to do, playing on the fact that he knows that she has to finish whatever she starts.
The young hikers that were worried about the bear, are far in front of us now. To make herself feel better for being slower, Denisa points out that she is twice as old as they are. Then Mark just had to add that she is probably three times older than most of them. So it's all right to go slow on such a strenuous hike. But we are seeing some mountain tops, so we keep going!
We finally stopped for lunch as we are climbing out of the trees. If a bear is in our neighborhood, at least we can see him now. We are also getting to see some of the glaciers that gave Glacier National Park its name.
Sometimes our resting even includes laying down to catch our breath. This view and climb is breath-taking in more than one way.
We are in the middle of a rock-strewn meadow just below the ridge now. You won't see any trees or wildflowers at this height because we are way above where either can grow.
The last push is a narrow section of the trail under the ridge. We met some of the younger hikers coming down, as her fear of heights just wouldn't let her go across that narrow ledge. At this height we are not only seeing glaciers, but also the icefields above the glaciers. It is a stunning view, even though Denisa is still complaining.
We make a stop in the snow, and Mark is launching snow balls at the photographer.
We finally made it to the top! Even Denisa has to agree that the views are spectacular!
We took the picture of the "end of trail" pole and Mark is still smiling!
We started this trail 4.5 hours ago, and we have been slogging up-hill ever since. Most mountain trails have a steep section at first, but then level out for some pleasant walking in the meadows. That didn't happen on this hike. It was literally up-hill the entire 4.5 hours!
So even though she loves the views, this is one of the hikes that is on Denisa's official "I'll never hike that one again" list.
Denisa sits down under that "end of trail" sign and isn't interested in going any further. On the other hand, Mark can't help but notice that the ridge continues onward and upward another quarter of a mile, so he has to see if the views change from there. No longer a trail, this takes scrambling over boulders to continue. You can barely see him in the middle of that boulder trail as he starts the next climb.
He'll make it to the very end, standing on that highest pinnacle in the picture below.
He took panoramas of the mountains around him in every direction.
In the meantime, Denisa is content to rest and breath, and take this picture of the icefield on top of one of the mountains next to us. If you look in the upper right corner you can still see Mark standing at his pinnacle view.
She's glad when he returns for some closer pictures.
With views like this, we have definitely wandered (up a very steep trail) to see more of God's wonders!
Then it's time for the long and steep journey home. We stop back by one of the snow banks to see if burying our hiking boots in the snow will make our feet feel rested and refreshed. The answer is "no."
Going down-hill is easier on the lungs, but harder on the knees. So we are enjoying the views of the glaciers from here during our slow descent.
We make the decision to take the longer, but less steep trail home. It is less picturesque and has some patches of snow to hike through, but seems easier on our knees.
Besides the unpictured grizzly, our only wildlife sighting of the entire hike is this ptarmigan. Her babies were hiding in the grass, but the mother was happy to pose on the boulder for us. She'll trade in her mottled brown summer feathers for snowy white feathers this winter.
As we hike back down into the trees, we take the last mountain peak picture of the day.
After we joined up with the main part of the trail, we are met by two very nervous young women (about one-third our age). They just saw a black bear on the short cut section of the trail that we didn't take. Unnerved, they asked if they could join us for the rest of the trip down the mountain. We were glad to have their company and hear their stories. They have spent the last month picking cherries in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, and now they are vacationing before they return home. They were paid $5.50 for every 20 pounds of cherries they picked, but the harvest was lean because of a late freeze last spring. It was interesting to talk to them, and kept our minds off our aching feet.
At the base of the trail we found that the ranger was gone for the day. But they had pinned on the map the areas where wildlife had been spotted by hikers in Glacier National Park. We added pins for their black bear and Mark's grizzly bear sighting.
We also added the two sightings to the bear board. It looked like it was a pretty busy day for the bears!
As we made our way back to the car, Mark turned off the all-trails map that had been running on his phone while we were hiking. That was 11.8 miles with an elevation gain of 3,648 feet, while we were moving for close to seven hours. That might be some kind of record!
But not a record that Denisa intends to break. Abbott Ridge still goes down in the books as one of those hikes that she'll never hike again!
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