A 4 Hour Standing Ovation

Waking up this morning, I still didn't have a plan for the next 2 days. I had put together a few possible hikes, but it all depended on the availability of the campsite. After taking a few pictures of the mountains at sunrise, I headed over to the backcountry office. The ranger that I talked to was very helpful and recommended a few overnight hikes that had open campsites. I finally decided on one in the Two Medicine region of the park. So I was doing a solo overnight trip, my first one ever and I picked Glacier NP to do it; this should be interesting. He gave me the quick debriefing about bears, fires, giardia, and extreme weather. It was all stuff that I knew about, but since this one was solo it made me a little nervous. I got everything in order there, but before heading off to the trail head, I decided to treat myself to possibly my last meal. I stopped by the park restaurant and got a delicious breakfast served by a cute Ukrainian girl. She was there on an exchange program and working in the park for the summer. Really wish I had done something like that. My breakfast was delicious and satisfying, and I left to travel on Going-to-the-Sun Road.

This was supposed to be on of the most amazing mountain roads in the country. I was interested to see what it had to offer. Let me say this, it did not disappoint. Since it was still early in the morning, the sun was low enough to make everything seem even more amazing. The peaks and valleys of Glacier rival anything I have ever seen before, and that is a lot. I got stuck in construction traffic a few times on the road, but I didn't mind because it gave me a chance to take in all the scenery. Once I got up and over Logan Pass, I was ready to get to the trailhead. I was able to the keep the car in neutral for the last 15 miles of the road, and on the way down saw a huge black bear crossing the street. This guy was not in any sort of rush, just strolling his way across the road, stopping traffic and seemed completely unfazed. It was awesome to see a bear that clear and in the open. That was a huge boost of adrenaline, so now I was really ready to get to the trailhead. Two Medicine was another 40 miles once I got to the end of GttS Road. I was definitely anxious, but the majestic scenery was enough to calm me down.

As I approached Two Medicine, I was looking at all the mountains, thinking that I was going to be hiking around in there. At this point, I was just flat-out giddy. I got to the trailhead and did my ritual of putting on some music while doing my final pack. Once I had everything, I headed for the trail. Oh shit, almost forgot the map, I guess I probably need that. Quick run back to the car, and now I was ready to start. The worst thing you can do is sneak up on a bear because then they will be startled and just swipe your face off. Kidding, but it is not ideal to startle a 400 lb grizzly. You are supposed to make your presence known by making noise as you hike along the trail. I didn't feel like yelling because that would be tough if I was all ready breathing hard during the hike. My form of noise was clapping. Trust me, occasionally clapping for 4 hours is pretty painful, but you get really good at clapping.

I can't really say too much about the trail; the pictures are really the best way to describe it. This hike had everything that I ever wanted in a hike; high alpine meadows, wildflowers, high alpine lakes, amazing peaks and view, and the weather was actually perfect. I was blown away by how amazing this hike was. At one point, I actually started to get choked up thinking about how fortunate I felt to be there. It's a little ridiculous, but true. I just couldn't grasp how spectacular it was. The fact that this was the most gorgeous place I had ever been to definitely helped with the fact that I was climbing 2500 vertical feet that day. I was tired, but it didn't even kick in until I had to drop down 1800' to get to my campsite. This wasn't part of the normal hike, but I added it on to make the hike an extra 6.4 miles. I regretted it a little bit, but then realized that it just made this whole thing much more ULTRA.

When I finally made it to the campsite, I was surprised to find people all ready there. The ranger told me I would be the only person at the campsite, but I was not complaining. To keep my pack light, I didn't bring anything to do, so a few hours and a night by yourself in the middle of the wilderness would be a little boring, and creepy. Turned out that it was a group of friends from Portland, who were out on a road trip for a week. 2 of them had just finished their residencies in internal medicine and one was almost done an opthamology residency. They were all a lot of fun. They offer me some whiskey and wine, and I was hanging out with them for a while. We played a couple card games while one of them went rogue and hiked up a snowfield to a giant cliff. I was impressed by his actions, especially since he came back after it got dark and had to bushwhack his way to the campsite. We then watched as all the stars came out and saw my first shooting star! I made a wish, but I can't tell you what it is.

I then said goodbye to my new friends, and thanked them for making this camping experience a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be. I then headed back to my nice big tent all for myself and just laid there. I couldn't go to sleep yet because I didn't want this day to end. As I fell asleep I was looking up at the stars, possibly the most amazing sky I have ever seen. ULTRA day 32/39: COMPLETE.

JM