Who Wants to Go for a Hike?

Hello everyone!

We have been having some amazing weather out here lately! First thing in the morning, I ran out onto the lake in my slippers to snap some pictures as the sun was coming up (it was only 1 degree). Later, in honor of the beautiful weather, Jeff and I skied out to Fishercap Lake on Wednesday. It was nine degrees when we left but there wasn't a cloud in the sky or a breath of wind. All of the mountains had a perfect white coating of snow of them. It is impossible to describe how beautiful everything was. We headed out about 1:00 pm. Along the way to the lake, we passed five sets of wolverine tracks, as well as coyote tracks and snowshow hare tracks. Plus, we saw the tracks of a very busy squirrell that goes back and forth between two trees. We also saw a beautiful gray jay sitting in a tree. I didn't think the beauty on the trail could be topped until we reached the lake. Fishercap lake is surrounded by tall, beautiful, and white mountains. We skied around the lake before we headed back to the cabin. The way back was so much fun (it was almost all downhill), and it took a fraction of the time that it took to get there. When we got back to the cabin, we restocked our wood supply in the house and relaxed.

Thursday, Jeff and I hiked/snowshoed to Apikuni Falls. It is only about a four mile round trip hike from our cabin, but it's extremely rewarding. We climbed the snowy trail to reach the falls. They were breath-taking! I had never even been to the falls in the summer before, so I was surprised at how big they are. The falls are over 100 feet tall! Right now, they are a solid mass of beautiful blue ice. We didn't stay at the falls too long because it was a just like wind tunnel and snow was being kicked up in our faces.

Friday, we had some more company at the cabin. Two more volunteers, Megan and Ken, with the wolverine study came out. The three of us skied out to Grinnell Lake in the late afternoon. Megan and Ken conducted a track survey as we went out there, so I got to learn some new animal tracks. We didn't see any wildlife, but the weather was perfect with no wind and temperatures near 40 degrees. On the way back, we collected hair samples at both sites on Lake Joesphine. We saw the sunset from the lake and also the moon rise. It was so beautiful. We took the trail to Swiftcurrent Lake using our headlamps then skied across Swiftcurrent Lake back to the cabin by moonlight. It was so bright out! Later, once the moon was high in the sky, we all went out for a bit of moonlight sledding. We had one sled and lots of cardboard to sled on. What a blast! It was so bright with the nearly full moon, and there was no wind. We even heard the coyotes calling.

Megan left Saturday morning, but Ken stayed for another night. We were also joined by Dan, Nick, and Leslie who are volunteering on the wolverine study. It started snowing in the early afternoon (finally), so we headed out on the trail. We skied part of the Iceberg Lake trail, and played around for a couple of hours on the hills. When it started to get dark, we decided to head back to the cabin.

Sunday, Leslie, Ken, Dan, Nick, and I skied to all five of the wolverine sites. The sun showed itself for most of the day, so it was quite an enjoyable day. We were out there all day long. We replaced the deer legs at both sites on lake Josephine and collected hair samples from all of the sites. All of our guests headed out at about 5:00 pm, so it is quiet again.

Okay, let's do something fun this week. I would love for you all to come out to Glacier NP right now and go for a hike with me, but I know that's not possible. So, the next best thing is to go on an e-hike! What is an e-hike, you say? An e-hike is a virtual hike that you do on the computer. The NPS has created an awesome e-hike for the trail Dawson-Pitamakan. This trail is one of my favorite trails in the park because of the dramatic scenery. It is a long hike, about 18 miles, that can be done as a backpacking trip (with overnight camping) or a day hike. I've done it as both.

Before you can even begin your virtual hike, we must talk about what you need to bring with you. There are ten essentials that every hiker should have with them. These ten essentials could save your life (on a real hike, of course). So what are these essentials? You will need a flashlight, map and compass, first aid kit, bright colored tarp, rain gear, matches and fire starter, whistle, knife, extra food and water, and extra clothes. These are the things that will keep you alive until you are rescued or until you rescue yourself. I never leave for a hike without these important items. You just never know what might happen on a hike. The weather may change suddenly, or you might get lost when hiking off trail. Also, don't forget the sunscreen, even in winter!

Okay, I think you're ready. Click on the link below.

http://www.nps.gov/glac/photosmultimedia/ehikes.htm

Page down to the bottom and find the backpacking trip for Dawson-Pitamakan. (Teachers, your internet should be plenty fast enough to click on power hike.) Click on the power hike link, it will pop up in a new window and begin to load. Read each page and follow all instructions so that you don't miss out on any of the cool videos. On the upper black bar you will find the buttons to advance to the next page or go back. You will also find icons next to the arrows that show you things like a 360 degree panarama, videos, animal sounds, and trail information. On the left hand side of the lower black bar you will find more icons. These will show you the elevation, statistics, and 3D views. Don't miss the extra pictures found on the left side of the slides (like on slide five). Just scroll over these pictures to see them. Cool, huh?

So, who wants to come to Glacier now? Don't forget you can see some really cool stuff right where you are. You just have to get out there to see it!