Winter is Coming. August freeze on Cataract Mtn.

Original Post 8/24/2021

Of course, this post does not contain all of the strong language, nudity, incest, and horrible wedding scenes that Game of Thrones fans expect. The previous working title of this post was Of Mountains and Molehills. I must admit that is even too lame for me.

Best weather day of the entire summer.  It got up to 70F, sunny, AND our first freeze last night. A little dusting above 8000 ft and the puddles in the trail were frozen. All the vegetation got the first heavy frost of fall as well. Winter is suddenly in the air. It was a great day to climb Cataract Mountain off of Piegan Pass.

Cataract Mtn is a smallish blip off Piegan Pass that will cost you just another 600ish gain (which still would make for a 2500’ day). Once again, proving nothing in GNP worthwhile doesn’t come without some elevation effort.

Since early July, this was on my radar when I was putting in the trail miles. You have heard me talk of Piegan Pass. It has everything going for as far as a destination hike or just a stop on a thru-hike. You get a little taste (and sometimes more) of all Glacier offers. From the summit:

I expected this peak to be overlooked because of its proximity to the trail, even though it shares a ridge with mighty Mt. Siyeh. I was right. That ridgeline would be a horrible 3-mile approach to the Siyeh summit.

But I’m sure it’s been done by park employees wearing canvas tennis shoes, munching on a can of Pringles, and sipping on a Royal Crown soda. Sorry for the flashback.

Cataract sits lower than surrounding peaks, but the location should compensate for the lesser vantage point. At least, that was my thinking taking on this hike/climb.

That and not having my end-of-season memory of this area shrouded with a heavy coat of smoke/haze, which has been so prevalent this summer. As you can see from the photos, this turned out to be one of the best climbs of my entire season this summer.

It was hard getting out of bed that early, but it was worth it. Getting out of the car at 30F in the predawn hours was even harder. There was this wonderful fog because of the moisture and the temperature difference. Watching it pour over Piegan Pass and the saddle to the right of Cataract Mtn was amazing. It made it look like an island in the sky.

I’m sorry for so many repeat photos from prior hikes. It was my first time seeing these mountains this season with blue sky. The fog filled up Siyeh Bend and then stayed into the late morning. It was glorious.

The summit itself is enjoyable. A razor edge all the way. You can see all the critical features in the Many Glacier Valley, even old friends like Mount Wilbur and Grinnell Point. I had some wind pick up, and it was pretty cold, but I didn’t mind. It was such a beautiful moment seeing everything so clearly. The fog, azure sky, and glaciers across the peaks all looked incredible this morning. This is clearly why I do what I do. Here is a goofy, giddy slideshow of me on top, having the best day of the summer.

Not only was this morning a great climb in a great location with great (albeit COLD) weather to start, I broke the 400-mile mark and the 100,000 feet of elevation gain/loss mark. Now I guess I can coast thru the remaining days of the season and be a total slacker. 🙂

The ascent was not particularly my favorite. That six hundred feet of gain was all broken blocks to climb over. In other words, great big 200-pound rocks that you have to skip from one to the other.

Of any terrain, this type always bothers me the most. I have this fear of getting a leg stuck between the shifting boulders and then starving slowly to death—not the way I want to go. But slow and steady always wins out. Especially after the sun came up and turned the thin layer of ice crystals on the surface of these boulders into a thin layer of water, it was like walking on giant wet marbles. Lucky me.

This peak had another bonus beyond having the perfect day for the weather. I found the stone base where the locomotive engine bell used to be. In the mid-1920s, the Great Northern Railroad placed bells on four passes in Glacier Park.

The concept was to copy the European approach, where hikers could ring a large mounted bell when they hiked by. To mark the passage, and to give hope to those farther down the trail. The NPS told them no way, and GNRR did it anyway.

All of them were pulled down in 1943 and scrapped for World War II. Exciting part of Glacier history.

During the down hike, I could tell the weather had warmed quite a bit because everybody coming up was wearing short-sleeved T-shirts. But there was that smell in the air. That chilled, damp decay smell that comes when leaves have died and don’t know it yet. Winter is definitely coming. Summer is over in August for Glacier Park. It’s so fitting that my time here is almost done.