Leah's Super Adults presentation

Friday I attended a Super Adults (55+) luncheon and program at a local church.  Peter and Edwina used to run this program out of Joyce's church but this year moved to doing it at their church.

Leah, who runs one of the groups I hike with, showed a number of her photos from hiking trips in and around Glacier Park.

I arrived on time. Lots of people were there.  People were very friendly and it took me a while to find Joyce and Marilyn as many people wanted to chat.  One woman remembered me from the talk I did at one of these luncheon meetings this past Spring about bicycling.  One guy with only one arm got out his Sony digital camera and showed me how the camera's multiple face recognition worked.

Marilyn told me on Thursday they had found/suspected Bill had a dislocated shoulder.  They would be taking an x-ray today (Friday) to make sure.  If so, then the mystery is how it became dislocated while a patient in Brendan House?  This is the same nursing home I took my dad out of years ago to care for until he died.

The meal was very good.  The cheesecake desert was right out of a fancy restaurant.  Very good.

Leah's photos of course were very nice and she even included a few photos from hikes I had been on.  I included a couple of her photos at the end here.

The violinists were very good playing several classical music pieces. Being classical music they went on longer than the time of your standard pop song.  It was hard to get an idea about the two women.  They looked to be anywhere from their mid teens to 20 years of age.  Their appearance and dress was very conservative and they would fit in in how young women dressed and looked a century ago.

A woman at our table, and her husband sitting at another table, had a wedding anniversary in February.  When Peter asked the husband for the anniversary date to put him on the spot as to whether he could remember, he replied "Yesterday!" and people laughed.  The wife answered 43 years when Peter asked how long.  A minute later Peter quizzed the husband as to the year they were married and the husband replied "I don't know.  Ask my wife".

After the program was over I saw Arnie and his wife and chatted with them.  I also congratulated Leah on her talk and photos.

SUPER ADULTS (55+) at Easthaven

LUNCHEON AND PROGRAM

Friday, February 5, 2010

12 Noon to 1:40 PM

Super Adults is for people who enjoy friendships, good food and want to learn.

Come early for a great time of fellowship with friends in the Flathead Valley.

The event is held in the THEATER at Easthaven Baptist Church.

The SPECIAL FEATURE will be Leah Levitt’s photography of awesome peaks,

alpine meadows, and lakes not seen from the Going to the Sun Road.

Leah has a chapter in the new book about Glacier,

100 STORIES IN 100 YEARS.

Job Dittmer will be the INSPIRATIONAL SPEAKER.

Violinists, Kristen and Amy Haymond, will bring both classical and Gospel SPECIAL MUSIC.

Those having birthdays and anniversaries in February will be recognized.

A good meal will be served at your table.  Guests are always welcome.

Photos by Leah Levitt.

Photo 1: Sperry Glacier seen from Mt Renyolds.

Photo 2: Lake Helen Wilson from Gunsight Pass.

Cedar Lake

Saturday I hiked to Cedar Lake south of here in the Mission Mountains with Patti, Gene, Joyce and Cheryl.   Cheryl was in Kalispell this week from Wisconsin to visit Bill in the nursing home and she was also interested in going on a hike with Joyce and I.  The distance to Cedar Lake was 3.6 miles so a 7.2 mile hike was the right fit for Cheryl.

We met at 8 am as it was at least an hour drive to the trail head.  Gene has visited this lake in the early part of this decade so he handled navigation duties with his map while Patti drove.  Still, we temporarily got lost.  When we turned off Hwy 83 it was onto branching gravel roads.  According to the map we were on the right road.  That is, until we came to the forest service gate blocking the road.  We had not driven near the nine miles from the highway to the trail head, and there was no parking lot so we knew this was not the place.  After Patti and I helped look the map over we backtracked and took a previous left turn.

Success!

Cheryl only had tennis shoes for hiking and Patti lent her an extra pair of hiking shoes she had along.  In doing so Patti got distracted and forgot her camera in the car.  I offered to go back to get her camera but she refused my offer.

The elevation in the Mission Mountains is generally higher than in Glacier Park.  The elevation of Cedar Lake is 6517 ft, almost as high as Logan Pass in Glacier Park. We started high at the trail head and had only a little climbing to do as we went over a saddle between No Name Lake and Cedar Lake.  I didn't think it was bad but then I am used to much higher elevation changes.

The trail was nice: no downfall or bushes or vegetation crowding the trail.

There were quite a number of ripe huckleberries along the trail and I grazed as I walked.  On the return trip Cheryl and Joyce stopped and picked some huckleberries to take back for Bill.

After the saddle we hiked down to Cedar Lake then around to the other side where a primitive camping area was located.  From here one could get to the lake and sit on rocks by the lake.  Everyone but Gene took their shoes off and soaked their feet in the cool water.  Patti waded around but decided not to go for a swim as the water was too cool.

We had a long lunch before hiking back to the car.  While we seen plenty of footprints on the trail during our hike we only saw four other people and three dogs.

It may have been because of the change in the light, but as we hiked back out we all noticed all the Fall color along the trail.  It seemed far more colorful than during our hike to the lake.

A cold front was predicted to come through Montana Saturday.  We hiked in the Mission Mountains as it would get the front later in the day than our other usual hiking areas.  We had a clear warm day until our hike back to the car when the clouds came.  No rain though.

Overall it was a nice easy hike.

During the drive back to the highway we passed by a couple of nice waterfalls.  Cheryl wanted to get photos of them so we stopped.  I took photos of them also.

No Name Lake

Cedar Lake showing where we had lunch on the opposite side of the lake

Cedar Lake as seen from our lunch spot.  The middle of the photo is the saddle we hiked over to reach the lake.

The view from the saddle back in the direction of the trail head.  The Swan Range can be seen in the far distance.

Bill's niece

Bill's niece, Cheryl, from Wisconsin came to see Bill and Marilyn for a week. Joyce and Edley had Cheryl, Marilyn, Sue Ann and I over for supper and a short hike today.

We met after 4 pm and then we went on a hike on the mountain above Joyce's ranch. Our hike was a short 2 mile meander up and down the mountain as Marilyn doesn't hike much and lagged behind. I walked along with her as the others went on ahead up the mountain.

The Foys Lake to Blacktail Mountain trail people have been busy since I last hiked up here a few years ago as they have now carved out a trail on the area we hiked. They had signs up asking horse riders and mountain bicyclists not to ride on some of the side sections when the trail is soft and muddy. At least one horse rider ignored the sign.

After our hike we had supper (100% homemade from scratch and delicious) and conversation until almost dark. Sue Ann brought some photos and Joyce also got out a map of Glacier to show the trails we had hiked over the past few years.

Flathead Valley and the Swan Range

Here is a view of Foys Lake. As you can see, still completely frozen.

Here are two houses built up on the ridge. To the left is a view into Flathead Valley and the Swan Range, and to the right is a completely different view into another valley. Very fancy and expensive houses.



Here are two views of a large fancy house with the second view a closeup. You can see from the photo that the driveways to these houses on these small mountains are long. Apparently this house is owned by two psychiatrists from Chicago. Supposedly when they land at the airport here they can press a button and the house gets ready for them.

One of Edley and Joyce's new calves

Trail of the Cedars Avalanche ski

Today I went cross country skiing in Glacier Park with Joyce, Bill, and Sue Ann. We skied along the Sun Road. Sue Ann and I skied all the way to Avalanche.


At the north end of Lake McDonald we decided to go to the bridge over McDonald Creek. Sue Ann was ahead and took the road. Joyce decided we should cut across using a trail. She handled the up-and-downs well but both Bill and I crashed at the bottom of a dip.

After crossing the bridge we continued on and caught the McDonald Creek trail on the west side of the creek. Sue Ann was hesitant about taking the trail as she was concerned it wouldn't be level, but she had no problems. Joyce did well and only took her skis off once. Bill was slower and only took his skis off when Joyce did. Me, on the other hand, had problems on a couple uphill sections. The snow was a touch icy at times and I had no traction going uphill. I discovered my ski's bottoms were smooth and had no scales. Apparently there is wax to: not make the snow stick, wax to help you go faster, and wax to make the skis grab the snow. I needed the 'grab snow' wax. Trying to fish bone or go sideways didn't help as it was much easier to take the skis off and walk up.

Our route is the seen on the map at the 1 and 2 of McDonald Falls and Sacred Dancing Cascades. We crossed back across McDonald Creek via the newly rebuilt horse bridge.

McDonald Creek was low with lots of snow. Sue Ann and I skied ahead and eventually reached Avalanche Creek. Bill and Joyce turned around before reaching Avalanche.  I figured since Bill and Joyce weren't with us we would turn around at the creek but as I took a photo of the creek Sue Ann took off on the Trail of the Cedars. Okay...

Eventually I caught up to Sue Ann at Avalanche Falls where she had stopped to grab a bite to eat and wait for me. The water was way down and it was hard to see the falls from the bridge.

Then it was quickly back to Bill and Joyce. A moose had been out and about. It's legs sunk deep in the snow making deep holes. It didn't walk in a straight line and crossed back and forth over the ski tracks which made it annoying to ski over especially when one of my ski poles would drop into a hole affecting my balance.

We hadn't seen anyone else out on the road until we were almost back to Joyce's car. A woman skiing alone had stopped and only began to ski when we got closer to her. She said she had waited as she saw a deer off the road and was watching it.

Sue Ann - being Sue Ann - launched into her life story. This poor woman could barely get a word in edgewise. I tried to interrupt and asked the woman where she was from, When she said Vermont, Sue Ann then launched into stories about an ex-boyfriend from Vermont and her visits there. I gave up and skied on ahead. I know... leaving this poor woman to Sue Ann was not the nicest thing to do but we were almost back to Joyce's car and I was getting pretty tired by this point.

Joyce had made and brought a huckleberry pie for us to eat after skiing. When we drove to Glacier I was in charge on ensuring the pie did not tip over and its juice spill. Well... the pie did not tip over, but in placing the pie by my side I accidentally rested my elbow on the pie and it dented the top crust and the juice squeezed out. Oopps. The pie still tasted good and afterward Joyce gave me the last two pieces of the pie to eat later so I guess I was forgiven.

We had started skiing a little after 11 am and it wasn't until 4:11 pm that Sue Ann and I returned to Joyce's car where she and Bill were waiting. Well... not quite waiting as they were gone when we arrived. The fan for the heater in Joyce's car didn't work and she drove around a little while in hope of it starting up. It hadn't, but before we got out of the Park the fan started to blow and we finally warmed up and defogged the car windows.

After we dropped Sue Ann off and were driving on the road one of Bill's skis fell off the car onto the right lane of the road. I had Joyce back up and move into a parking lot and then - even though I was very tired and vegging in the back seat - I summoned up some adrenaline and ran - still wearing my ski shoes - and got the ski just before the traffic came. That was close. Bill's ski was alright. He forgot to latch the ski rack after helping Sue Ann take her ski from the rack.

Photo 1: north road above Lake McDonald
Photo 2: McDonald Creek trail. Watch out for those trees!

McDonald Creek flowing into Lake McDonald.




Photo 1: McDonald Creek
Photo 2: Don't slide in when taking photos!




Photo 1: horse bridge
Photo 2: McDonald Creek from the bridge




McDonald Creek seen from the Sun Road.










Avalanche Creek after it goes under the Sun Road.




Ice along the Trail of the Cedars.



Some of us are fashionable and worth a photo. Those of us not (like me) don't rate a photo. Actually Sue Ann told me I should be wearing the jacket she had given me some time back. She says it brings out the blue in my eyes. Okay... okay.

Snyder Lake

November 6, 2008 I hiked to Snyder Lake in Glacier Park with Joyce, Sue Ann, and Bill. The trip totaled 8.8 miles. The elevation gain was 2,147 feet.

The trail starts at the Lake MacDonald parking lot. The trail is the one that goes to Sperry Chalet and beyond that, Gunsight Pass. First, there is a side trail to Mt Brown overlook (10 on map), then there is the side trail to Snyder Lake.

When we started, the trail was covered in dead tamarack needles. Then a little snow. Then more and more snow the higher we climbed.

By the time the Snyder Lake trail branched off from the Gunsight Pass trail we already had done a fair bit of climbing. Bill's foot was bothering him so he turned around and went back to Joyce's car. Joyce, Sue Ann and I continued on.

The day was beautiful: a severely clear blue sky and no wind. The temperature was in the 30s and it was great to be out in a winter mountain wonderland.

At Snyder Lake was a wooden rail for people to tie their livestock. We had to go across a small bridge to reach the camping area. We looked about for the place to access the lake but didn't really find any. We wandered about before deciding to stop at a small area along the lake. Maybe without all the snow there would have been a better area to sit and have have lunch and enjoy the lake view. With all the snow we had to eat our lunch standing up. Joyce munched on some snow on a small tree's branches.

While the creek was free of ice...



...the lake was iced over and had snow covering the ice. It was very beautiful.

It started to cloud up on our walk back to the car.

A view of Lake McDonald as we hiked back.

In August 2008 a person on a solo backpacking trip went missing in Glacier and, even after an extension search of the back country, he was never found. There are still posters up.