Here is another map which has a photo slide show when you put your cursor over the red 1.
Joyce and Gary arrived at 8:45 am to get me. Along were Gary's sister Suzy, and Joyce's husband Edley. In Columbia Falls we met Bill, his wife Marilyn, Edwina, and Sue Ann. Edwina is originally from Hinckley, Minnesota. She and her husband moved to Montana in 1999. We compared notes on Minnesota.
After a several mile drive on a one lane gravel road we arrived at the trail head. During the hike the group spread out. Sue Ann, Bill and I were in the lead with the others behind. We got talking and kept walking. We stopped a few times for the others but ended up continuing on before they caught up. We arrived at the lookout about 20 minutes before Joyce and Edley. Five minutes later Gary and Suzy arrived. A few minutes later a couple of hikers passed word on that Bill's wife stopped and decided not come all the way to the top. Edwina was with her and Bill went down. Later Edwina made it to the top.
Here is the lookout.
The view from the lookout was great, even if it was a warm and hazy day. We were high above the foot of Lake MacDonald. As I don't have a camera these are photos from the web. They are old photos as the one of Lake MacDonald does not show the burned area from the 2003 Robert fire. The lower trees on the left (west side) of Lake MacDonald are all burned except for a small area along the lake. And not much snow on the mountains now.
The south and west sides of the lookout building had a reddish stain on the wood. We think it was when the firefighting planes dropped flame retardant to save the lookout from being burnt.
Much of the trail was through burned areas. Walking down I enjoyed the view of the black and white trees as they curved away, down and around the mountain side. Very much a heightened 3-D effect.
Bill and his wife were sitting in the shade near the trail head waiting for us. We had a tailgate party as Joyce had made a huckleberry dessert for all of us that was fantastic. The bottom crust was flour, nuts, butter and a little sugar. It wasn't hard yet held its shape to hold the dessert. Then a layer of cream cheese to which Joyce added some ingredients to make lighter and fluffier. Then topped with a thick layer of whole huckleberries. It tasted fantastic. The right sweetness, and tasted light and not heavy. I can't rave enough about her dessert.
As I hadn't tasted gooseberry pie Bill invited me over to his place for a slice of pie. However he wasn't home yet when I got home to get directions and it wasn't long before I fell asleep. I took a rain check for another day.
I found out the group also hikes on Wednesdays. This past Wednesday the hike was in the east side of the Park. I apparently missed a great hike, and an interesting one. The east side got lots of rain, but they were able to get the 3 hour hike done between rain storms - barely. During the drive back they had heavy rains with snow mixed in at times. Sue Ann said she felt sorry for all the motorcyclists on the road.
No comments:
Post a Comment