so in the previous post we told you that we were planning on doing a 22 ish mile hike. we did it and now we all walk like old men :) it was totally worth it though because we saw some things that no amount of pictures could do justice.

we woke up at first light, packed our sleeping gear and took out our pre packed day trip bags. we had a couple of pop tarts each and we were on the trail a little after 7am. it wasnt as steep as some trails but it was knowing that it would be this steep or steeper for a little over 10 miles. we talked about all sorts of random things including whether or not my subaru would make it up the trail. we got warm from moving but the air was still rather cold. its that weird situation where you can be sweaty and warm in some parts of your body and cold in others. we got passed by a about a dozen pack mules and teased their driver a little bit about how he was cheating by riding a horse and not walking.
the first major stop was a little over 6 miles up the trail. it was called Sprerry Chalet and it was about a quarter mile off of our route. It is a collection of buildings on the edge of a sheer cliff that i guess people can rent or get rooms in some how. anyway the view from the cliff is fantastic. we went around to the cliff edge and sat down to have a snack. we were eating some jerky and trail mix when a fat little chipmunk came up to us. she came right up to us, totally unafraid. we didnt feed her at first but she was so cute we couldnt help it and she ended up getting a few bits of dried mango, peanuts and some other tasty crumbs. Austin had a peanut in his fingers and she came up and put her paws out to grab it. he pulled it back a little and she waddled forward with her outstretched paws, trying desperately to get hold of this glorious morsel. it was so funny see a fat little chipmunk grasping at the air!

while we were playing with our friend which Austin named Clarice i turned to find two mountain goats! they kinda snuck up behind us. i have never seen mountain goats up that close, fact i dont even know if ive seen them in the zoo!


we packed up and headed on to our destination which was sperry glacier and which the map told us was just under 4 miles away. the trail left the forest and started switch backing up the next clif. the trail crossed some rock slides that were more than a half mile wide. the trail crested a false summet and we walked into a series of giant sized steps filled with glacier melt pools.

this is some of the best landscape i have ever seen in my life! nothing i can remember comes close to this!

we sat down to take a little break and i took off my boots and socks to let my feet air out. i noticed a little mousey thing under the rock i was sitting on which made squeeking noises every so often. eventually it came out and Thomas and i guessed it was a pika (we found a book this evening which identified it as an American pika). this little guy ran around my rock and then back into a series of tunnels in the ground. the thing came back out and sniffed my foot, decided it was good and took a few test nibbles! fortunately it didnt break the skin but it totally nibbled on me! it came back again and went over to my socks because i guess it really liked the way my feet smelled. i watched it closely to see what it would do. i guess Thomas was willing it in his head to jack one of my socks. sure enough it looks around an grabs one and makes a break for one of its tunnels! i scared it and it dropped my sock. sock thief!

we kept moving and came across these little furry guys. Thomas looked in a book and told me what they are called but i cant remember what it was now that im typeing this. at the time we decided that they were mountain beavers (hoary marmots)

still further up the road we found some mountain chickens(white tailed ptarmigans) - Thomas told me their name too but ive forgotten it.



we climbed up this little crack blasted into the rock and we were at the top! the glacier wasnt as cool as we expected it but we were told that there woudnt be any of it left in 15 years. the old ranger guy said it was like two ice cubes fighting a battle aganst the sun.

i was taking a little nap on a rock and Austin wondered over to a little water fall about a quarter mile away. Thomas and i went over and joined him we ate some more jerkey and the last of our trail mix. we also had some weird hard cracker things which the package called bread. we put a little peanut butter on them and they were ok.






we started back down the hill and came across another pair of Mt goats! this time they were walking up the trail that we were trying to walk down. we didnt exactly know what to do since we had no idea how they would react and since running around on the rocks is their forte we decided that it would be best to back off the trail and let them go past. they walked right up to us! we wanted to pet them but they have pointy horns ...


we kept going down and found a total of 13 something goats!

all of us were tired on the way down and we talked less and less. you just kinda heard each persons foot steps and knew that they were still moving. we went to a picknic spot swam in the lake and cooked some dinner. we came back to the same Macdonald Lodge that i wrote yesterdays post from because they have soft chairs and a fireplace!

tomorrow we are going to see a couple of things that involve really short hikes and then head south to Yellow stone. hopefully somewhere along the way we will find internet and a church to go to sunday morning. we should be in yellow stone some time monday.

just as a funny side note as we type these in the lodge people wander past and ask us if we have internet here. most assume that its a public computer because we are sitting at a little desk with a lamp and potted plant. we have to explaine that it is infact not a public computer and that it does not have internet. this evening i think 5 people have asked so far.

thanks for posting that you saw us on the road! this is awesome to hear that our sign is actually working :) sorry about spelling and out of order pictures and what not, im really tired and blogspot is kinda frustrating at times