TR: Traversing Mountain Ranges (aka trying to be like Jason H)

[kevino]

Kind of kidding with the title. But reading the banter regarding lack of TR's motivated me enough to put this together.

This past fall, a couple friends and I started scheming about traversing Glacier National Park. Nothing earth shattering, but a fun outing nonetheless. The weekend we picked six months prior, miraculously turned out to have great weather and snow conditions. The trip itself entailed about 40 miles, 15k vert and 2.5 summits.

Day 1:

It started with finishing a bottle of North Fork Whiskey from the Glacier Distillery in the Many Glacier Parking lot. Our antics caught the eye of usual weekend tourists, who really wanted to take our picture:

DSC01377 by Kevin Oberholser, on Flickr

After dealing with the usual spring shenanigans of snow/dry patches, down trees, etc, we ascended into the alpine.

DSC01383 by Kevin Oberholser, on Flickr

We set up camp and left for objective number one, Siyeh. Much to our surprise, we found a reactive wind slab guarding the upper mountain. Therefore, we took a moment to bask in views before descending:

DSC01392 by Kevin Oberholser, on Flickr

DSC01396 by Kevin Oberholser, on Flickr

Day 2
A brisk morning, coupled with a gigantic mountain to the east of our camp blocking the sun, led to a lazy start.

DSC01406 by Kevin Oberholser, on Flickr

Once in the sun, it got hot.
DSC01411 by Kevin Oberholser, on Flickr

The Route Ahead:
DSC01412 by Kevin Oberholser, on Flickr

Our first descent of the day had a rocky entrance, I managed to avoid the sharks. A skier to remain nameless was not so lucky:
DSC01415 by Kevin Oberholser, on Flickr

He bounced back quickly:
DSC01418 by Kevin Oberholser, on Flickr

From there it was 2,000' of great corn to the still snowed in Going to the Sun Road:
DSC01423 by Kevin Oberholser, on Flickr

We eventually reached Logan Pass, and happen to find a bare patch to transition:
DSC01437 by Kevin Oberholser, on Flickr

Speaking of bears (f-ing huge ones):
DSC01439 by Kevin Oberholser, on Flickr

DSC01440 by Kevin Oberholser, on Flickr

Quite warm that afternoon:
DSC01441 by Kevin Oberholser, on Flickr

We set up camp, leaving everything behind but out skis and post holed our way up another peak:
DSC01447 by Kevin Oberholser, on Flickr

DSC01452 by Kevin Oberholser, on Flickr

DSC01462 by Kevin Oberholser, on Flickr

Day 3

Up a bit earlier this morning:
DSC01469 by Kevin Oberholser, on Flickr

After one member of the party got himself cliffed out, we found our way to Hidden Lake, intact. In the summer this place is a crazy zoo between tourists who have never hiked and bears looking to eat their food. Right now, it is empty:
DSC01476 by Kevin Oberholser, on Flickr

These are not man yoga pants:
DSC01483 by Kevin Oberholser, on Flickr

After a great corn run, we started to, guess what, traverse:
DSC01487 by Kevin Oberholser, on Flickr

Ugly:
DSC01488 by Kevin Oberholser, on Flickr

There was a bit of soul searching that afternoon, I convinced everyone the search would be complete at the summit:
DSC01494 by Kevin Oberholser, on Flickr

Photo Slut:
DSC01501 by Kevin Oberholser, on Flickr

Milking Hot pow in May:
DSC01504 by Kevin Oberholser, on Flickr

Doing our best to eat all of our food and drink the rest of the whiskey:
DSC01517 by Kevin Oberholser, on Flickr

Day 4
Exit
DSC01522 by Kevin Oberholser, on Flickr

Until the next TR...

[auvgeek]

So there are trips that require you take a pack larger than a 35L...

Excellent job, dude!

[klar]

Awesome. That is ridiculous luck with the weather. I've pretty much given up planning anything more than two days prior.

[danmelon]

Sweet TR!!

[GeezerSteve]

Now that's a ski tour!

[PNWbrit]

Fantastic. Thanks for sharing.

[406]

Awesome photos!

[bean]

Way cool, and great photos!

[Ted26]

Nice

[garyfromterrace]

Yeah! Sweet photos and story.

[LightRanger]

Super cool. Thanks dude.

[AKbruin]

Awesome!

[DeathVan]

Very cool outing!

[yeahman]

Fricking awesome.

[peds]

Great stuff dude, thanks for that.

[brutah]

Radical as always kevin. Good read, better pictures. Looked like a wicked fun way to enjoy the park!