The Lakes of Glacier NP

Just some of the mountains from the campsite

The next day was such a great day, the best weather by far. And much warmer, finally a bit of sunshine. We woke up to realise why 50 mountains campsite was called that, with a whole range of mountains arrayed in front of us.

Looking back through my photos, I really should have taken a shot of the campsite each night. I think having a view of the campsite kind of separates the days a bit. These long hikes can all sort of blend into each other, especially if there is no real danger to stick in the mind.

The campsite on night 3 - Kootenai Lake 

One of the great things about using a guide is the food you get each day. We have definitely picked up some camp food tips from the guides we have used. I guess if you are spending all summer living in the bush you are going to want to get creative with the food. I would never have tried quinoa with coconut powder, that was actually pretty good as a breakfast option.

Problem with a lot of the meals was that they ended up with a lot of watery slop at the end. And what with the bears you can't just fling your scraps into the bush. Which means you have to pack everything out. The quinoa breakfast was actually quite heavy, and I was so looking forward to us eating it. I was pretty disappointed when what I got back weighed almost the same as before we started eating.

The weather was so great this third day

Citadel Peaks rising above Kootenai Lake

It was funny comparing this guide to the one we had in the Grand Canyon. I think that guide was peak guide, knew exactly how to handle everyone, he was definitely working the whole time he was there, but it never felt like he was working, if that makes sense. And he just seemed so calm and chilled out. Whereas the guide we had this time was brand new to guiding, this was his first season guiding ever, so he was definitely greener. He was very enthusiastic, which I think the other participants seemed to enjoy. But I think I prefer a more chilled out guide.

We spent the night on the shores of Kootenai Lake, which is just such a beautiful spot, and we even had it to ourselves. We thought we saw a beaver in the lake, but couldn't be sure. We definitely saw the effects of them though. There was this big tree nearly completely gnawed through, and it's exactly as you see in the cartoons, with it gnawed down to a point. Pretty impressive work by a small creature.

Waterton Lake - with Canada in the distance

The next day it was more lakes, we walked up to Waterton lake, where we could get rid of some rubbish, oh my back was thankful for that. On the other end of this lake is Canada, the border runs right through the middle of the lake. You can imagine that up here the border is in a pretty wild and forested place. But apparently the whole way along there is a 4m cleared line, no trees growing, just cleared land in a straight line. It must be very weird to come across the border if you didn't realise it was there.

One last shot of the nice weather

The rangers station - forbidding weather where we were headed

This lake was the most habitable spot we saw, it was kind of odd to come across after 3 days in the wilderness. It's an hour or so by boat from a town in Canada, so quite a few people will come down here for the day, and walk out to Kootenai lake. There was a really large rangers post here, I guess they also have to perform customs duties. Since this spot gets a few tourists, there were flushing toilets and running water. That was a nice surprise half way through the trip.

Lake Francis - the Dixon glacier is on top of that ridge

After Waterton Lake we headed back into some forbidding weather, we really weren't having much luck with the sun. I have to say I am so glad for our tent. We had actually contemplated using the company's tents, you can hire them for the trip. I am so glad we didn't. Some other people hired a tent, and there was a hole in it, and it was so old the fly had gone baggy. You just couldn't get the tension high enough to keep the fly off the inner. I think they had a very wet 6 days. Whereas we had our luxurious tent, no sign of water getting in there. Plus the massive vestibule meant everything was going to be dry. Such a pleasure.

We had another great campsite this night too. It was a tiny little campsite, so again it was just us there. It was by this other amazing lake, lake Francis. Much smaller than Kootenai lakes, but spectacular in it's own way. It's surrounded by these massive cliffs, and the water is this amazing blue/green colour, it's one of those places that is impossible to capture in a photo. Though perhaps I just say that to excuse my poor photography skills.

Dave on the shores of Lake Francis - in the rain.