Iceberg Lake

Following up the climb to Grinnell on Tuesday, I decided on Wednesday to climb up to Iceberg Lake, up one of the other canyons that empty into Many Glacier. It was another sunny and warm day!. The trail started steeply for about a 1/2 mile, then shallowed out nicely. This hike went up onto the same mountainside that I had seen the bears through the telescope two days earlier. However, we were further west and had no encounters. On the trail up, I encountered a funny looking bird - a ptarmagin, sitting in the middle of the trail with its young. It kind of looks a bit like a quail. Check out the picture. Apparently, the bird has white feathers during the winter. A chamelion of sorts, providing good camouflage in varying seasons.

On the way up, I met a nice group of people from Wisconsin. The guy in the group was a saleman of .... you guessed it... cheeese! It was good to have some company on the climb up.

Once we arrived, I found a mother and baby moose swimming through the lake to some bushes on which they fed. I got some great pictures and share them here. The lake was less spectacular than Grinnell, but beautiful just the same. The hike was 10 miles roundtrip and gained about 1600 feet in elevation.

On the way down I was feeling hot, tired, grumpy and a bit lonely. I think because I was beginning to look forward to the next part of the trip (Yellowstone and the Tetons) for which I had planned to share with someone else, but will be by myself. I decided to pull over to the side of the trail on a grassy slope and take a bit of a nap (why not?). After a brief nap interrupted by people coming along now and then, I composed this poem. The picture is of the spot on which I laid. A perfect pillow and grassy mounds on either side of my body.

Cradled By Nature

Lying in the shade

Amongst the tufts of mountain grass

Filtered sun by firs

Provides ample warmth

With gentle breezees blowing

Rushing through the branches

Stone guardians loom

On the mountain

Keeping watch over the canyon

I feel cradled by nature

I felt refreshed. When I reached the bottom, I got some huckleberry ice cream. Very similar to my favorite at home - black raspberry. Enjoy the pics!