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| Andrew's Glacier and Tarn |
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| Jason swimming in the tarn |
Our first night in the tent was awesome. At about 2AM we were woken by elk bugling in the field nearby. It didn't take me long to guess what it was but it is definitely a unique sound that I can't imagine coming from anywhere else. Jason, who had opted to sleep on the picnic table had been watching them for some time and called for us to come outside. After watching them for a bit, Lindsay decided to go back to bed, and Jason decided that he wanted to try and get a picture of them. Being that it was night and camera flashes don't work well when it is that dark he kept edging closer and closer to the herd which had to number close to a dozen or more. At one point the elk were spooked and began moving across the field. That many elk make a heck of a racket when they all stomp off at once. I sat and watched from a rock on the edge of the meadow as Jason inched closer and closer to them. As he moved closer I could hear someone else whispering "no...no...no...this is really stupid...really stupid". Jason took a couple of pictures from close range, and while you can't see anything in them he says that he when the flash lit up he was face to face with a big bull elk flaring his nostrils. I'm glad I sat far away. We headed back to bed, Jason on the picnic table and I in the tent, and slept like babies until the sun came up. Interestingly enough, the ranger told Jason that he had a 50/50 shot of being woken up by a licking elk in the middle of the night, I guess he wasn't lucky since that never happened. Once the sun came up Jason was woken by large birds sitting on top of him. Being in the tent, Lindsay and I had it a little better. Today we were going to hike to Andrew's glacier. I made oatmeal for everyone for breakfast, we loaded our packs and left from the Glacier Gorge trailhead. I had read in the hiking guide I bought that this was one of the most easily accessible glaciers in the park. I misunderstood, and thought that this was going to be an easy hike. I was wrong. It was about 5.5 miles each
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| Alberta Falls |
way through beautiful country, including great views of the mountains, Alberta Falls, and Loch Vale which was gorgeous. Andrew's glacier lies at the end of a big Canyon at the top of a huge slope of talus. Lindsay eventually succumbed to altitude sickness in the canyon and had to stop. Jason and I kept trudging up the slope, sometimes I had to stop what seemed like every ten feet. On our way to the glacier we kept meeting people who told us it was just a little up the trail, or just 1/2 hour. I learned an important lesson on this part of the trip. People in Colorado lie. If someone from Colorado tells you that something is nearby that must mean that its at least 10 miles away. Even Jason got in on the lying. As we were climbing all the talus I attempted to give up multiple times, and each time Jason would say that it was just 200 yards, or we were cresting the hill. Not true. Finally we made it to the glacier. Its pretty much a pile of dirty ice and rocks at the top of a mountain. What was beautiful was the tarn (small lake at the bottom of the glacier), and the view of the canyon from the top.
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| Andrew's Tarn |
The tarn was a cool green blue color and looked really cold. I put my feet into it, I was right, it was really really cold. I would imagine that if ice was a liquid that is what it would feel like. I had worn my shorts up on the off chance that I felt like swimming in it. After putting my feet in I decided that this was a bad idea. Jason on the other hand went in, fully submersing himself in a glacial lake. After getting out he dried off, we had a victory lemonade at the top of the canyon, and began the descent back to where we had left Lindsay. When we finally exited the talus we passed the spot where Lindsay had been however there was someone else sitting there and Lindsay was nowhere to be found. Jason and I double and triple checked the stands of trees where we were sure she had been and I saw some bear scat, but no trace of her. I panicked, (Lindsay would say overreacted) and ended up calling the ranger station. Luckily we had cellular service (rare at RMNP). I called ranger dispatch and they quickly located her at the Bear Lake trailhead (not the same one we had started at). Apparently Lindsay had started puking. With her altitude sickness worsening on the mountainside she had made the decision to hike back before she couldn't get back on her own. Jason and I began heading back. On our way down Jason started getting sick as well and we had to move very slowly so as not to exacerbate his nausea. We're thinking the cold swim at the glacier did him in. At one point we rounded a corner on the trail and were confronted by several elk, including a large bull. I headed up a hill next to the trail and warned Jason. The bull took several steps towards Jason but then decided that the female next to him was more attractive and began copulating in front of us.
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| Copulating elk |
When we were almost back to the trail head we saw one of the buses leaving. It was the last one of the night and we missed it. Again, we were lucky that the cell phone worked. I called Lindsay who came and picked us up. On the way back Jason had to exit the vehicle to vomit, we bundled him up in the front seat and got him back to camp. Lindsay gave him some anti nausea medication and he was out for the rest of the night. That night we were again awoken by the elk. This time there was one stomping around about a foot from the tent, disturbing, but not too bad. Then it started bugling. Elk bugling is loud, especially when it is right next to your head. Eventually we got some sleep.
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