The Great Glacier
Aug 6, 1986
At 4:30 am, I got out of my tent. I had slept overnight at the Illecillewaet campground in Glacier National Park. It’s a little dark outside but getting light quickly. I took a short but refreshing walk along the campground road as a warm up to the more strenuous hike ahead.
By 5:30 am, the sun is striking the mountain peaks to the north. It will be a while yet before the sun arcs its way over the Great Glacier. I can’t wait for the warm rays of sun to strike this narrow enclosed valley as the air is cool with heavy condensation blanketing everything. I boiled water and poured it into my water bottle and used it as a hand warmer.
Everyone is still asleep at 6:30 am. I went for another short walk to warm up and by 8 am I was ready to eat breakfast of almond butter on bread and hot soup. The sun finally appeared over the mountain by 8:20 am. It’s warmth felt inviting as I headed down the trail. The path is well defined and the grade easy. A well constructed footbridge spans the Illecillewaet River. From here, the trail parallels the river up the valley then passes through an area dotted with rockfall. I made my way around huge boulders. There are nice views up to Mt. Sir Donald. Soon the easy walking comes to an end as the trail steepens and climbs to the tops of the lateral moraine. It is slow hiking to the end of the trail at 3 km and 1 hour of exercise. From here on entails 55 minutes of rigorous rock scrambling over scoured bedrock to get to the foot of the glacier. Many times I got misled when the bedrock suddenly drops 40 feet to a small creek below so I had to find another route. There are rock cairns leading the way up but I decided to make my own route. All of this scrambling around using hands and feet was tiring especially for my leg muscles.
By 10:25 am, I stood at the foot of the ice-blue glacier . What a spectacular sight. The toe of the glacier thickness varies from 20 to 60 feet high. I had to keep in mind that this area is treacherous as huge chunks of ice can calve off as is evident by irregular blocks of ice strewn about. Sitting beside the glacier and relaxing in the sun is such a great experience. This is what I enjoy about the great outdoors. The cold coming from the glacier felt like being inside a refrigerator. I left my resting place and scrambled up higher and found a nice ice-cave; large enough for me to crawl under. I used my fisheye lens to capture the blue ice. The ice was melting inside the cave so I filled a cup and drank the pure water which has been locked away for hundreds of years; a time when man made pollution was not present.
I continued up higher onto the lateral moraine till the entire foot of the glacier came into view. What an incredible sight! The glacier spills down from a col between Lookout Mountain and Mt. Sir Donald. What a great place to relax and eat lunch. I just can’t seem to get enough of this awe-inspiring scenery. The peaks of Uto, Avalanche and Terminal lies across the valley to the east and to the north are the Swiss Peaks. The Trans- Canada highway is seem far below. Since the last time I was here 6 years ago, the ice has melted a lot. There use to be a small lake nearby but now it is gone. The warmer temperatures has taken its toll on the ice-sheet.
Looking down the bedrock, it is amazing how the tremendous pressure of ice has scoured the rock into ridges and gullies creating an extremely rugged topography.
After lunch, I had this urge to take a shower since I had not done so in 4 days so on the other side of the moraine I scrambled down 30 feet into a narrow snow-filled ravine. Since there was no one around, I washed myself underneath a fine spray of water tumbling down from above. The water was cold and refreshing.
I started my trek back by 2 pm. It was slow and hazardous as I tested every hand and foot hold over the irregular bedrock. It took 2 hours of scrambling to reach my campsite by 4:15 pm.
Today, I had hiked 12 km and did not feel too tired but felt very hungry so I cooked up some freeze-dried beef stew then dumped some rice, canned salmon, cauliflower and tomato sauce and stirred them all up in the same pot. Supper tasted great especially when eaten outdoors.
The campsite was full today and I am not use to the crowds especially when there is no real privacy as all the sites are open and close together. At 7:30 pm, I decided to get away and took a short walk along the abandon railway. The wide path is easy to follow. There are no real views because of the bush surrounding the trail. I found a log to sit and write my notes. It is nice and peaceful here except for a few pesky flies and mosquitoes. At 8:30 am, I crawled into my sleeping bag and went to sleep. I woke up at 5:30 am ready to start a new day.
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