Category: GNP 2025 – The Way of Water
Ah, this summer was not about peaks and trail miles. It is much more intimate. I logged over 150 miles kayaking St Mary Lake! The things I found and learned were amazing. Forty years – and Glacier Park is still new to me!
It is hard to believe my Delica spent 25 years as a ski shuttle for a couple of months a year on the slopes of Japan’s northern island. But it has taken to its new home and summers in Montana without missing a beat.
Being close to St. Mary Lake has advantages. Like being able to hit that early-morning burn-off before there are any people (or wind) to contend with.
This was an almost spiritual trip on the water. If I had put in 30 minutes later, I would have missed these once-in-a-lifetime morning clouds.
I wax and wane over this crappy little cabin about once every other season. There is nothing to it. Simple, a little beat up, needs some caulk and stain. But then again, don’t we all???
Piegan Pass and Cataract Mountain are my go-to spots on a mid-season afternoon. And the summer rains really manufactured a nice batch of wildflowers this season.
I have had a strong pull towards the water this summer. So much so that I’m starting to like it more than hiking. And it is sooooo much easier on the knees (not so much on the hips).
Sometimes I don’t really know what I want to do on a day off until I turn the key and just see where the Delica takes me. Still a great day in Glacier!
Never thought I would hike the famed Iceberg Lake and see NO PEOPLE on the shores and pass less that fifty on the ten mile round trip. Even in the Great Northern horse pack saddle days there would have been a steady string of tourist. A step back in time!
The only way to spend the 4th of July – Glacier Style! An amazing July day to be one of the few boats on long and lovely Upper St Mary Lake. But I’ll take EVERYTHING I can get!
It had been a few years. The summit of Goat Mtn is as lonely as ever and unchanged since the last visit. Just the way I like to find them.