Glacier (barf) Trip

“After much careful planning, I met up with Wall-Man and Orin at Glacier International Airport near Kalispel Montana. We drove into Kalispel to get some last minute gear goodies and then hit the road for the Lake McDonald Lodge in Glacier NP. The lodge is an old Swiss Chalet type building, up a hill from the waterfront. We stayed in two of the log cabins stringing out from the main building along the shore.

We got an early start the next morning as Wall-Man convinced us that we should do a nice twelve mile day-hike, up Mount Siyeh (second highest peak in the Park), as a warm-up to our week-long trip on the Northern Circle route out of the Many Glacier area. When I say up a mountain, I mean almost straight up a mountain. The climbing book said that we would be climbing a class three route and that we would encounter class four areas if we didn?t pick the right route. We didn?t pick the right route. We got ?cliffed-out? near the summit and had to descend. Believe me, I was not disappointed that we didn?t make the summit. It would have been close to dark before we got back to the car if we had. Wall-man?s bear spray incident happened on the way back down to the trailhead.

We spent the night at the Many Glacier Hotel. This Swiss Chalet-esque lodge is in a beautiful setting. It sits right on the shore of a lake with a panoramic view of mountains all around. The next morning we got up early to hit the ranger station for our backcountry permits. The ranger informed us that both our starting and ending trails were closed due to bear activity. After we decided that we probably shouldn?t bear spray the ranger, we were able to rearrange our carefully planned itinerary. We ended up driving to the Canadian border and went in at Chief Mountain Customs. The hike to Elizabeth Lake was eleven miles over a relatively easy trail. Although easy, the temperature was somewhere around 85 degrees, and I realized that I had signed up for The Glacier National Park Eco-Challenge. Wall-man and Orin set a blistering pace. I tried to take photographs along the trail but quickly realized that when I did this, they disappeared well into the distance. Normally I wouldn?t mind setting my own pace, but since this is griz country, I decided that it would be best to stay within reasonable proximity to my companions. This meant that I was sometimes running to catch up. I gave that up after a while and just hoped that they?d rest once in a while to let me catch up. Fat chance! I saw them a couple of times that day. The Lake Elizabeth Head campsite was pretty although it didn?t offer an unobstructed view of the lake. We were tired but nothing out of the ordinary. I knew that we had planned an easy second day.

Because the second day was only going to be 5.8 miles to our campsite at Cosley Lake, I though that we might have an easy stroll through the woods, stopping at Dawn Mist Falls along the way. Wrong again. We did a heads down speed burn to Dawn Mist Falls in 85 degree heat again. I didn?t see the other guys until I got to the falls. They were waiting for me at the trail cut-off. Wall-man, Orin, and I hiked to the falls without our packs. We soaked our feet in the water below these beautiful falls and watched a father fly fish in the river while his sons played on the bank. It was a nice refreshing break and I figured that I was ready to finally try to keep up with these guys. Apparently I don?t learn very quickly. I sped through the next 2.6 miles to a stream crossing in forty minutes. I would stop to take a picture, and then literally run to keep the other two in sight. Mostly I just kept my head down and trotted along at a fast 4/4 beat. When I got to the stream crossing they were waiting for me again. I was exhausted. We crossed the river and I stopped to put my hiking boots on while they went on ahead, hiking the last mile to the campsite in their river crossing shoes. By the time I got to camp, I was beat. I had a strange sickly sensation, and didn?t feel like drinking much water. This was a BIG mistake. I curled up in the tent and tried to cool down. I spent the rest of the afternoon in the tent feeling sick and unable to hold down water without gagging. I had absolutely no appetite come dinner time.

The next morning I woke up and spewed chunks. Must have been from two nights ago. I didn?t feel well but thought I?d see if I could recover from the previous day?s forced march. I told the guys that I would be hiking at my own pace that day. Screw the grizzlies. Orin agreed to hike with me, Wall-man waited in camp until about an hour after we left because he didn?t wish to hike at a slower pace. We hiked 5.6 miles to Mokowanis Lake that day. The trail was relatively easy and shaded by thick woods. Orin and I rested for a short break and also stopped for some huckleberries, which grew along the trail. The berries were delicious. The fact that there were so many of them along the trail made me believe that there hadn?t been a bear in the area for some time. We got to Mokowanis Lake two hours and thirty-five minutes after leaving Cosley Lake. Wall-man arrived in camp about five minutes after us. Mokowanis Lake was beautiful but all I wanted to do was curl up in the tent again. I tossed in discomfort, in the tent, while Orin and Wall-man hiked up to a spectacular waterfall. I would have loved to go, but by this time I felt really sick. The next day we were going to hike up Stoney Indian Pass and I knew I wasn?t going to make it. I made up my mind that I would hike the fourteen miles back to Chief Mountain Customs, our car, and anything cold to drink but water and Gatorade.

The next morning, after I threw up the water that I tried to drink, I said goodbye to Wall-man and Orin. We made several different plans for me to pick them up depending on what trails might be open when they got to Granite Park. I left camp at eight o?clock and reached the Belly River Ranger Station, a little over eight miles away, at eleven thirty. The next six miles out were brutal. The temperature was still in the mid to high eighties and there were lots of open meadows to cross. After two days, with no food and very little water, I was feeling it. The last two miles of trail had eight hundred feet of elevation gain. I went uphill as far as I could and rested. I looked at my altimeter. I had gone up 150 feet! I walked and rested a couple of more times. I was really hurting when a college-age couple walked up to me, coming down from the trailhead. I asked how far it was to the trailhead. They told me about a half mile. Yeah, right! I?d heard that before. They asked me how I was doing. I told them I was hurting but that I was going to continue on after I rested. They whispered between themselves, then the guy asked if he could carry my pack out for me. This guy was a god! I thanked him so much that I probably covered him with what little spittle I had left. He left his pack with his girlfriend and carried mine up the trail behind me. I still had to stop twice before we got to the trailhead. I was pretty out-of-it when we got to the car. The guy dropped my pack and wouldn?t accept anything for his help but my total gratitude. It was about twenty minutes before I had the strength to put my pack in the car. I headed for the nearest store and about bought out their entire cold drink selection. I spent a couple of days back in Kalispel. It was almost two days before I could finish a meal. I met a bunch of friendly locals and made lemonade out of lemons.



A doctor friend of mine diagnosed my sickness as heat exhaustion. Imagine a guy from Florida getting heat exhaustion in Montana? I?m in pretty good shape and had been exercising for this trip. But after hearing about the recent deaths of a couple of football players from heat exhaustion, it really made me realize how lucky I was to get out of there.

Pictures to follow. Can?t wait to do it again! Am I an idiot or what?”

“Remind me to never go hiking with Wall-man or Orin. I suppose you had a 'good' time, but still, how selfish for them to not wait for you. I was always taught that you only go as fast as the slowest person in the group. I would have gotten pissed and done my own hike. Screw the bears.

I like to take my time and see the scenery and 'smell the roses', so to speak. I have clocked my pace as slow as 1 mph and only as fast as 3 mph. Depends on the elevation gain/drop.”

“I didn't get a sense of the altitude, Arc. Sounds like it was up there. Don't you think being a flatlander could have had something to do with it? How heavy was your pack?”

“Jeeze man! You should have never went hiking with Orbit that time. Dat's a looooong report. LOL!”

“I'm sorry that your trip was disappointing. Since you like to take pictures and live at such a low altitude, maybe you need to set a mph maximum when choosing hiking mates in the future. I'm sure you spent a lot of money getting to Montana, and you must have been very frustrated at the outcome. I don't understand Wall-man and Orin's need to blow through the scenery like a sonic jet, but to each his own. The next trip will be better.”

“hell, arc, florida wasn't much better last weekend. i love heat, but almost killed myself hiking in that 110 degree heat-index weather.”

“Your report brings back memories of a trip I took with my older son on his ninth birthday, in August of 1989. We went to an amusement park in Kansas City. On the way to the park we stopped for a rather too big lunch, and I spent almost our entire time at the park rushing from one restroom to another while my poor son rode the rides by himself. Yes, the heat can make you puke!”

“Stay tuned folks. In about 2 1/2 weeks you'll get to hear how another flatlander handeled the same area.”

“It certainly wasn't the altitude, rosey. We weren't very high (maybe 6500 feet)and I didn't even make it to the high parts. I've been at much higher altitude and never suffered bad effects. I reexamined the way I felt and realized that I went through the same thing in the Wind River Range. It wasn't altitude sickness I had there, it was heat exhaustion. My body runs a little hot anyway so I've got to watch how fast I go and how much I drink.

Chief, Strider and I kidded about how fast Orin hikes when we were in the Olympics. He's a machine who hikes all the time. Wall-man just likes to hike FAST. I usually go a little over 2mph (same thing as you, 1mph-3mph) and have never had any problems keeping up. We've had discussions about hiking speed here before. I don't mind lagging behind (although it's never happened before) but this was griz country, and I really didn't want to be hiking solo.

My pack was too heavy, rosey (probably 55lbs). Although I weigh over 200lbs, it was heavier than I normally like to carry. With what was in my food bag, I could have had a party. I also had lots of film, because I like to take pictures along the trail. I carry my camera on my belt and can take pictures pretty quickly, but not quick enough to keep up with those guys.

Yeah, I had some long-windedness before I met Orbit, walkindude, but he was a bad influence. Actually he's a great guy, isn't nearly as long winded in person, and hikes at a normal pace.

It wasn't disappointing at all, LyndyS. I just had to change plans. Both Orin and Wall-man are great guys and were a lot of fun to be with. They just like to hike a LOT faster than I do. I turned my change of plans into a great trip.

I agree with you, Chief. I like to really get in tune with the environment that I'm in. Mostly what I remember about the woods in Glacier was a blur.”

“I suspect that the altitude prolly eccentuated the problem. I'm suspicious about flying in and hitting the high trail. 8000 ft. is the norm as far as beginning signs of ES, but the heat may have changed that rule.

Keeping up with TFR and her partner was never a consideration for me this summer. I told them right off the bat that I would constantly lag behind, but they were good about watching out for me.

They were complimentary about my doing well (for a flatlander), but I had been in the region for a week or so, and had acclimated somewhat.

I felt the altitude while camped at 11,500 feet in CO this summer. I woke up gasping for air. It was kinda spooky, but I eventually fell back to sleep. I think the cigarette helped - lol.

I'm glad you were able to enjoy the remainder of your stay. Kalispel is nice.”

“Sounds like an awesome adventure. Hurry up with the pictures! And yes, you are a fool...but not for the reasons you may think. mooooHAHAHHAHA”

“I'm just a fool for you, kleetn, baby.

Yeah, I found Kalispel really nice, gojo. It had a nice, artsy, small town flavor. The combination laudromat-casino really cracked me up too.

I don't know, gojo. I don't think the nicotene withdrawal helped me one bit. I think that may have contributed.”

“It took a dozen trips to my parent's place in Colorado Springs before I figured out the "sinus headache" I always got was actually altitude sickness. Even 6000' affects a flatlander. I have also camped at 10,000' or more after my first day of hiking in the Rockies more times than I can count, but you have to know the symptoms and listen to your body. The trick is not allowing your body to be starved for oxygen or water. So you slow down when your heart starts pounding and drink lots of water.

I guess Wallman's patience disappeared with the blast of pepper spray.”

“Arc, I thought this thread was Glacier (Banf) at first, but it was early.....barf changes everything!
Anyway it sounds like a "memorable" trip; at least you were out there getting down and dirty. It dosen't take much altitude or heat to fall prey to dehydration. I've seen people who live at 5,000 feet get sick at 8,000ft. On our last trip up in the Beartooths one of the guys was sick the first night (he lives at 3,200') but he finally settled down the next day. We went from 8,000' to 9,600' the first day. I'll have to work up a trip to the A-B Wilderness for you guys. Red Lodge or Cooke City, MT are great places to jump off.”

“Arclite, I had to go back and look at your pic on Phils page. I was in some of the exact places in the Winds that you were. That is so cool.

My friends are headed out this Sunday for the annual week long hike. Unfortunately I don't have the vacation to go.

They are headed south of Jackson Hole in the Teton Wilderness.

Man do I miss being out amongst it.”

“Well, Geez, I'm gettin' a bit of crap, aint I? I wasn't being selfish at all or blowing past scenery.

Maybe some of ya like to stare at each others asses and chat the whole time on a trail - but I believe in putin' a couple of minutes in-between each other and stopping every 45 minutes to wait for the group to come together. And that's exactly what I did, every 45 minutes, whether we needed the rest or not. This especially seemed safe enough of a strategy in this section of trail, where the danger of being run over by horses or slipping in their crap was far greater than seeing a bear. In areas where we recognized bear activity, we all stuck together like glue - even us selfish !$%&s.

Should point out too that arclite is mistaken in suggesting that I waited around camp an hour cause I didn't want to hike at a slow pace. That does kinda make me sound like a dink, and don't blame yuz for gettin the wrong perception. That wasn't the case at all - the guys were already packed & ready to go, sittin' around waiting for me, and I still had to re-pack & take a dump. Plus, I met some cool people camping nearby the evening before & I wanted to say good-bye to 'em. So I said the guys should go ahead.

It's funny too, cause arclite kept citing the time & distance covered facts, and finally at one point, after he got sick, Orin and I said to one another that we thought he was citing these facts cause he was proud - but what he was really saying was the pace was bothering him. Neither one of us picked up on that till I guess it was too late.

So relax, friends!”

“Hard that a really wonderful trip can be tainted by something so mundane as different paces, but them's the breaks.

Sounds like a great hike overall, though, sickness notwithstanding.”

“According to my doctor friend, it was heat exhaustion, and had nothing to do with the altitude.

Didn't mean to put you in a bad light Wall-man. I really did enjoy your company. Just pointing out the differences in hiking styles. Chief was the only one who expressed an opinion that he might have gotten pissed. And I have always hiked the way he does. I wait for the slowest person. That's not better, or right, just different.

Wall, you told me that you didn't want to hike as slow as I like to go. I remember that comment as a surprising one considering I had never hiked so fast in my life. Orin and I did a constant 3mph uphill, for fourteen miles, with a gain of 4000 ft, over two days in the Olimpics. But it was cooler there, and although it was a fast pace, it didn't bother me. That wasn't as fast as you were leading us. Any way you do the math, you guys were hiking at almost 4mph in hot weather. I told you guys that 2mph tends to be my norm for hiking. I also told you that before the trip. From everything I've read, and from personal experience hiking with lots of different folks, that seems to be about normal for most folks. I'm not sure how I could have been more clear. When we stopped after the 2.6 mile 40 minute section and I told you guys that I was beat from going so fast in the heat.

On the first day, it was two hours before we took our first break. We took two more short breaks before we got to camp after 11 miles. The only times we stopped on the second day were at Dawn Mist Falls and at the river crossing to change shoes. Orin and I only took one break on the third day, but we were hiking at a slower pace. We didn't stop for any kind of lunch on any of those days.

I'm certainly not pissed. I should have guessed that the pace might be a little stiff when Wall-man suggested a twelve mile peak bagging day-hike the day before our week-long trip. I'll be more careful next time. Different people like different things out of life. I'm a smell the roses kind of guy. That's not better, or right, just different.

It was a great time, Tommy. Hopefully, Wall-man has some great shots of the bear. I have lots of shots of the Park and will have them scanned some time next week.”

“I have known people to hang around camp for a while longer to let the slower members get a head start. That just makes sense to me. I do not consider it selfish at all. It shows patience and a willingness to be a part of the group without compromising your hiking style. It allows the slower people to take breaks without feeling like they are being left behind, or can't rest sufficiently. As arclite found out, trying to keep up was potentially dangerous to his health and certainly didn't make his hike any more fun.
Talk about this ahead of time. Have a prearranged "lunch" point to allow the group to rest and regroup and discuss what everyone saw on the trail. This way nobody feels like they are being rushed or slowed.”

“Good Report!”

“Hey, I wasn't trying to bash anyone, and I didn't take Arclite's report like he was upset at his friends either. I aasumed he was disappointed because that is how I feel when I get psyched for a trip and then get sick. The fact is that Arclite's hiking partners did not pay attention to Arclite's need for more breaks to cool off and drink and eat. So Arclite didn't whine and cry, he just tried to push through. And got so sick, it could have been life-threatening. After Wall-man's explanation, now I feel like bashing him.”

“Ah, the Technicolor Yawn. I've experienced it many times while pushing myself too hard and subsisting on dehydrated food. Power bars are the answer.”

“Hobbit, that citrus flavored Gatorade sure makes for pretty looking vomit. Maybe I'll try some other colors next time.

LyndyS, you're a sweety. It felt good knowing that I could get myself out of a tough spot. The hike out was brutal, but that just proves I was one tough SOB (sick ol' barfer)

I was kidding Wall-man about some new trail names. I can be Spews-with-Chunks.

I agree, switchback. I'll be a lot more careful about asking questions about hiking speed next time. I new that Orin was fast but I figured that two of us could convince him to slow down. Little did I know that Wall-man was even faster. That's why I keep track of time and distance. I find that knowing my hiking speed is a very valuable tool.”