"About a mile from my car it happened. I saw a grizzly to my left up the hill from the trail, maybe 150 yards away. Shit! Shit shit shit!!!"
Three years ago I went on a road trip that passed through Glacier National Park. After spending only two days in the park I thought, I gotta come back, I've only scratched the surface here. When I got back home I started researching the park. There was so much to see there! I decided that bringing my inflatable SUP to the park and hiking up to these alpine lakes was something that needed to be done. My mindset became committed and a trip was planned. Well, loosely. There was no campsite reserved, no day to day itinerary, no back up plan, really there was no plan aside from driving to the park and paddling. It was awesome. My kind of trip.
So I took the time off from work and when it came time to leave I hopped in my car in Minnesota and drove west on I-94. What a great feeling that is. My inflatable SUP in my trunk, 6 days off from work and nothing but me and the West in front of me with no obligations or plans. I drove to Whitefish, Montana that day and slept in my car. Perfectly positioned to wake up early and enter the park. And so it was. That morning started around 6:00 a.m. as I drove into the park and saw Lake McDonald at sunrise. Let me tell you, stoke level was high. Lake McDonald is huuuuge! At only about a mile wide and ten miles long it is positioned perfectly in the valley of peaks on either side. Immediately this lake was put on the list of lakes to paddle.
After driving along the lake for a while I eventually found a nice place to camp pretty close to the shore. This was home for the week. Great, find a campsite...check! After setting up camp I decided to drive up the Going to the Sun Road that crosses the park and reaches its summit at Logan's Pass. Behind the visitor center is a nice path that leads up to a viewpoint of Hidden Lake, about a two mile hike. Fresh from sitting in the car for 17 hours I decided to run up to the viewpoint. Wow! What a lake!! I knew immediately that I'd be brining my SUP up here in the morning. Most hikers only make it to the viewpoint, few hike down to the lake. This was a bonus. I was looking for solitude.
The next morning I began driving back up towards Logan's Pass. As I was climbing the mountain a blizzard was settling in. I thought, no sweat, I'll probably drive right up and over the storm. Just as I was in the thick of it and expecting to breach the clouds I realized I was at the summit. Blizzard in full effect. It was a whiteout. After pulling in the parking lot I decided to stay there for some time and see what the weather does. After half an hour it completely cleared up. Skeptical though, I continued to wait. Within the next ten minutes the storm blew back in. That was enough. The weather prediction was unpredictable and hiking up into it and paddling just wasn't a smart move. Back down the mountain I went.
I found a lake, Trout Lake, that lied west of Lake McDonald at a lower elevation. This was my new plan. Plugged it into my GPS and drove towards it. At the north end of Lake McDonald I turned right onto a dirt road. It was about a six mile drive down a gravel road to get to the trailhead that led to the lake. This is a remote part of the park, no one is out here. Except...the two old guys I ran into sitting on their truck bed eating sandwiches.
Them: Watchu doing out here?
Me: I'm gonna hike up and paddle the lake.
Them: You got bear spray?
Me: No, forgot to pack it today.
Them: Well, we've been hiking up here every Thursday for the last twenty years and we've seen them often up there.
Me: Have you ever had to use your bear spray?
Them: No, but I've had my finger on the trigger before
The fact that they've never had to use bear spray over twenty years of hiking here was enough to reassure me that I could hike up that day. Hindsight, I will never hike in Glacier again without bear spray...it's just not a smart practice. But that day I did. Aside from their truck there was one more car at the trailhead. So I knew somebody was up there. I loaded up my SUP on my back and set forth. The hike was beautiful. There was a fire that passed through this region one, maybe two seasons ago. This left a plethora of burnt stumps and fresh undergrowth. At the peak of the hike I met the owner of the other car. He was headed back down and we chatted for a minute. From then on I knew I was alone on the mountain as I descended into the valley. A nervous feeling definitely followed me down there. There was a section of the trail that required me to walk about 100 yards through a 6 foot berry field that scared the hell out of me. Just as I saw a sign letting me know that the lake was 1/4 of a mile away a thunderstorm rolled in. Oh, boy.
I've never been in a thunderstorm as robust as this one. Being in a low point surrounded by mountain peaks allowed this thunderstorm to echo and roar its way through the valley. Nope. I'm out. This is fucked up. I turned on my heels, so close to the lake and got the hell out of there while rain was blasting down on me. Bears were very much on my mind as I hiked back and I sang as loud as I could the whole way back. As I climbed back up the switchbacks I hiked over five fallen trees that were still standing during the hike in. This thunderstorm was no joke. It cleared at the summit as the sun rolled back in. About a mile from my car it happened. I saw a grizzly to my left up the hill from the trail, maybe 150 yards away. Shit! Shit shit shit!!! God damnit! I took a couple deep breaths and thought the only thing to do is not give it any attention, keep an eye on it through my peripherals, and continue at a normal pace. I hiked onward doing just that. As I came closer to it I realized it was just a burnt stump. Phew!! Not a bear at all. I hiked down with a relieving feeling over me yet knowing I wasn't out of the woods yet. When I finally reached my car I was so happy. I made it back to my camp and cracked a beer. To this day that's the best tasting beer I've ever opened.
Alright, I got some sleep, I'm rejuvenated...no bears yet. Woke up feeling fresh. This morning was bright and sunny. Here's my chance. I drove back up to Logan's Pass with Hidden Lake on my radar. The forecast looked great, nothing but sun and some passing clouds. I got to the summit of The Going to the Sun Road and began hiking up towards the lake. Arriving at the viewpoint I realized there were a lot of people up here today. Checked out the lake for a minute then hiked down the slope towards the shore.
Once I got there and unpacked my SUP and began pumping it up I began to attract some attention.
"What are you up to? Are you planning on paddling the lake?!"
"Dude, that is awesome!!"
A little fan crowd was created as I began to push off from the shore. Paddling this remote alpine lake was amazing to them but the fact that others weren't thinking about doing this was amazing to me. Why the hell not paddle this lake on top of a mountain? I paddled out from the shore, immediately it got very quiet. I was so alone after a few minutes of paddling. The crowd on the shore felt like they were miles away, the wind picked up, it settled down, the sheer mountain face rose straight out of
the water to my left, the trees were all around. This is the most remote lake I've ever paddled and it's not going to fade from my memory any time soon. Being on this lake was an experience like I've never had before. I got back to the shore and a Forest Ranger was waiting for me. He said a few people called in from the viewpoint and said there's a paddle boarder down there. He was just checking in to make sure I was safe, I was and he let me on my way. I asked him what he was doing out here and he replied that he was looking for a pesky Grizzly Bear that was giving hikers a hard time recently. Great.
The next morning I paddled out on Lake McDonald. This was utterly magical. Glass water. No breeze. Early morning air. The perfect paddle. Water as smooth as a mirror reflecting peak after peak around its perimeter. It was cold, but it was amazing. I stayed out there for hours. After that it was time to pack up and head out. I drove back up and over Logan's Pass and down to Saint Mary's Lake. While driving along this lake the thought of paddling it before heading back to Minnesota creeped over me. I pulled off at a popular spot that overlooks Goose Island with Logan's Pass in the back drop. The wind was HOWWWLING that morning. The lake was littered with white caps and it looked dicey. I knew how cold the water was and I didn't have the appropriate gear to potentially get wet. After sitting on the shore for an hour contemplating whether or not paddling out and standing on that island was worth it or not I decided it wasn't. I started driving home. And I'm happy I did. A) it wouldn't have been smart to paddle out there without the appropriate gear. B) now I have a goal of an island to stand on. I'll get back there and get on that island.
This is the kind of trip you can recreate with your inflatable paddle board. You don't need to make plans, just get out there and use it. See what happens.
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