In the spirit of time wasting, I bring you this blast from the past: Photos from Glacier National Park, circa August, 2005. These never-before-seen images have sat uncatalogued on my hard disk since they were taken. (NOTE: photos with an * following the name were taken by Rachel or Micah, or by Justin or I with their camera.) My camera and RAW format were still new and intimidating to me, so I hesitated to edit and they were lost as I moved into my first post-grad job search, a family trip to Banff, and a time of laptop-less-ness of over a month. But I've been sitting on my ass for a week now and I don't have much else to do, so here they are! Not quite digitally remastered, but fun nevertheless.
I hope you enjoy them as I enjoy my last week(s) of joblessness and abstain from exercise while consuming a high-carb diet. (That's marathon protocol, you know.)
( More photos & backstory under the cut...)
The Howe Ridge Fire Hike:
Howe ridge was devastated by the Roberts Complex fire in 2003. This fire nearly consumed Apgar Village after it blew over a highway that was meant to hold the fire line during a night of high winds. It traveled ten miles up the far side of Lake McDonald and almost over Mount Stanton to McDonald Creek, where it surely would have wreaked havoc on a handful of innholdings, perhaps including our own.
Two years later, we ventured up Howe Ridge as our initiation hike. It was showing the first signs of strong regrowth. In fact, we turned back before the trail's end because the bushwhacking became too rough.
Climbing Mount Gould:
Mount Gould is the highest peak along the Garden Wall. It rises intimidatingly above Going to the Sun road like a solid vertical slab. And we climbed it. What the hell we we thinking?
We started really early, cut up from GTS road to the highline trail through a stream bed, and headed straight up the mountain face via a route that can be see in this photo as a diagonal slash in the center right ending at a notch near the top. It was grueling, challenging work, with a few spots of sheer exposure and many steep chutes which required one-at-a-time climbing. Reaching the summit was more than a rewarding experience, it was spiritual. It was also the first and only mountain on which Justin and I snuck off behind some rocks and had a little nookie.
But descending, which usually goes quickly, took as long as the ascent and was equally as harsh. I fell and cut open my wrist, twisted my ankle, and was generally spent and cranky by the time we reached bottom. Was it worth it? Yeah. But I still can't believe we did it, and these photos still inspire in me a gut reaction akin to fear.
Florence Falls:
If this looks familiar it's because it's same trail we hiked this year backpacking on our way to Gunsight Lake (where I got engaged)! It was a nice "recovery" day hike, even if the section of the trail from the main path to the falls was steep and overgrown. The falls were beautiful and relaxing. The weather, which had been cloudy and snowy, cleared on the way back to reveal beautiful skies.
Climbing Mount Cannon:
This was our second attempt climbing Cannon after we had failed and thwarted Micah's proposal plans the previous year, due to inclement weather. It turned out that we'd been most of the way to the top when we turned back, but had yet to reach the hardest part. Cannon was again a challenge, with a mind-bending steep set of cliffs to the summit. In retrospect, I doubt they were that bad, but they sure made me feel sick at the time. So sick that I fell asleep for half an hour when we got to the top. Then I felt better!
Night Photos (& More):
There was a full moon and clear skies the night before we departed, so we packed up our cameras and a tripod and headed to Logan Pass for some photos. This was my first attempt at photographing "the darkness" and the tripod turned out to be faulty (iirc, Rachel still has a piece of it from this year's trip) but the photos are interesting.
That's all for Glacier 2005. Hope you enjoyed!
Posted on September 28, 2006 @ 2:54 PM | 3 comments
Comments:
I should be on record as saying that I still think Gould is one of the most satisfying and enjoyable mountains I've climbed in the park. It was a long and strenuous day, but for me it was great terrain and was absolutely fabulous.
I want to climb it again someday...we'll see if I can get anyone to come with me the 2nd time. Maybe I'll have to have some unwitting victims...er guests...up to Glacier some year.
By 
Justin, at
5:08 PM, September 28, 2006
Oh for the love of Jesus H. Christ, Mt. Gould. Gyaaaaaagargargrah. I'm proud to say that we reached the summit and the views were spectacular. But I am sitting here in my house, weeping out of panic at the memory of the 12+ hour day of climbing and descending. *Rocks by herself in a corner*
I did love teh photos tho, they are beautiful. Good memories and good times of that year! I should really go organize and pick and choose my photos from that year. Hay Kat you wanna do it for me?!?!?! :D
By 
Rachel, at
6:33 PM, September 28, 2006
Well, I think I *do* have all the pics you guys took! In case you didn't notice, all the ones in the album with an asterisk by the name are photos from your collection with credit to you. There are more, of course, but the ones I used are the ones I liked as a compliment to my own.
Lemme make sure to add that your photos are in there to my post. *goes and does that*
But srrsly, I'd be happy to do something with them for you, especially since I already edited and sized about 70 of them. :D
By Kat, at
7:17 PM, September 28, 2006
