Father and Son climb up to Piegan Pass—a good share.

 

Original Date: 7/8/24

It’s another classic Glacier Park combo, at least in my book, which I’ve done many times with many different friends.

The best thing about doing a hike/peak combo you are familiar with is sharing it with someone who has the skill to do it and will appreciate the outing.

And what better someone could I ask for than my son, Mitch? Unless it was the 1980s. Then, I would have requested Morgan Fairchild.

Piegan Pass is one of my favorite hikes in the Park. If you’d like to know why, please take a look at my previous posts.

It has good miles, good gain, and good views. And you’re ahead of the game anytime you can share that with good company.

The morning was iconic GNP beautiful. An early start, but not too early. Fantastic shadows with the trees. These meadows are about to pop and go crazy with wildflowers. Today the Park is giving, so take it while you can.

The trail has incredible breaks with both the meadows and the subalpine. You get the texture of the lower elevation vegetation and the contrast of the beautifully raw barren upper scree fields. From flowers to rock flour (like that?), all yours to be had in a mere 10-mile round trip.

Above the Pass, you get up close and personal with that famous basalt layer—Glacier’s diorite sill. I talk about it on every tour, and everyone is bored except for me.

When I close the Red Bus doors, I tell my guests I’m doing the tour for myself, and they are all just along for the ride. (And my tips show it).

Mitch took to the boulders like any son of a goat boy would. Just a little bit faster with a little less knee pain. But those wonderful traits will be felt in due time. We can’t all be forever young.

I’ve had many tales of lament while walking this boulder field. It’s okay when you’re doing it in good weather with beautiful skies and a true friend.

But in the early AM, with a layer of frost, before the sun hits them, it’s better to have your orthopedist on speed dial (and a satellite phone).

Clearly, there’s a certain sense of pride and happiness to see Mitch out there in front. At the end of the day, if I’ve taught anything to Mitch, it is to praise the stromatolite.

A form of life fossilized billions of years ago, commonly found in Glacier’s oldest rock layers from the days of being an ancient inland sea bed floor.

But when the sun is high, the sky is clear, and it’s a beautiful day, Cataract Peak is the place to be.

It’s amazing how few people climb the pass but won’t do the extra 800 feet. The boulder field is NOT kind to the unsteady.

I love the barren rocky summits of Glacier Park, with their crushed and scattered fragments of diverse sedimentary rock.

The stuff that scares off the technical mountain climbers from Yosemite and Colorado. But I enjoy it even more so because it keeps our peaks clear of the riff-raff.

I never get tired of looking at the summits of Mataphi and Going to the Sun. A wonderful pairing of symmetrical peaks. Especially if you have bragging rights to the summit of both of them.

It is hard to tell from this photo, but Mitch is actually staring down a two-thousand-foot shear face. Of course, if I was his age, I wouldn’t care either. At least until I had a fully vested 401k.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Solid granite peaks in other states are pretty cool. But do they have the cool swirl?

And the texture, beauty, and taste of these crazy and diverse intertwined ecosystems? Many creatures thrive and die daily from peak to valley to flowing river.

I love how they now tell you to tear down cairns in National Parks. But remember, cairns have been markers for climbers and travelers for thousands of years.

They really need to specify that only the ones for social media should be torn down.

This was from a climb at the end of the season, but I’m going to get as much mileage out of it as I can!

The backside Piegan and Pollock. Mitch and I even spotted a mountain goat traversing through this area.

Clearly, there was no food for foraging, and he was going to someplace where there might be some. All animals follow the food. Even most of us.

I don’t know why Mitch wore a button-up shirt and Marabou hat for this climb. But toss in a porn mustache, and I guess all is good. It must be a generational thing.

The wildflowers are starting to burst. The only way to really see the best blooms is to hike off-trail in Glacier. The meadows are off the beaten path, hidden in the wilderness. The higher, the better. And the deeper, the sweeter. Actually, that was the name of my high school band.

If this were Plymouth Rock, Mitch would make a fine Miles Standish. Or he might just be trying to get the high ground over the marmot infestation.

They were everywhere and a little aggressive because they knew I loathed every single one of them.

And on an unrelated note. When you have to wear this much sunblock to go on a Red Bus tour, you should not wear shorts. Or a short-sleeved shirt.

Just invest in a beekeeper’s suit and call it good.

 

GoatBoy out. And happy. Family makes life better in so many ways.