Tag Archives: hiking

Bighorn National Forest, Wyoming

trailday2We hiked twice in the Bighorn National Forest.

Once on the way to Glacier National Park and once on the way back.

We found both hikes using the trail.com app.

bighornThe first hike was at Circle Park.

It is pretty close to the interstate from Buffalo, WY. so it does not take long to get there.

laketrailcloudusThe 5.6 mile loop we did had several lakes on it.

lakeview lake3 photo crossingbridge

almostfellI almost fell in this pic.

I knew that was a possibility since I am clumsy but I thought it was worth the risk.

For the second hike we drove a little further in to the West Tensleep Trailhead.

westtenWe decided to take the trailhead to Helen Lake.

We did not really know how far it was but I thought it was just a few miles.

I try to keep these opinions to myself because I am a horrible judge of distance, as I found out over and over on this trip…

cloudpeakIf you hike into the Cloud Peak Wilderness you have to register.

There is a place for that at the trailheads.

ohgoodabrigeThere is a water crossing.

We did not see a bridge and the place the horses cross was way too deep so this was our crossing.

crossinglogsThis is me telling myself over and over “I do yoga, I got this, I will not fall”.

I really did not want Nick to get a picture of me falling.

trailblaze

wherearewe mapI could not handle the whole “hiking to a lake somewhere ahead of us anymore” and decided to try and figure out the distance.

I used a folded up tissue to measure.

Eye balling it does not work for me…

I just stopped hiking and sat down to do this.

I figured Nick would notice eventually.

It ended up being over 11 miles round trip.

helenlakeHelen Lake

We took a different trail back which added onto the miles and elevation climb.

I did not know about the elevation.

I would have chosen to go back the easier way!

This was supposed to be my easy hike after  a lot of hard ones in Glacier, my poor legs had been told easy all morning.

lasthikeI had a lot of moments where I thought we should turn back and that I had made a big mistake!

Like when they made me climb a little hill…

flat upontopI think my biggest “maybe I made a bad choice” moment was when we were up here with a storm approaching and no sign of the trail down.

It did have beautiful views though.

mountviewsAnd I felt like I was in a different world.

storm

The wind was blowing in the storm and we were freezing so we were both REALLY happy to see the trail down!

deer babydeer momdeerWe saw these deer on our drive out of the forest.

There were so many we did not even pause anymore when one of us would say “deer”.

lightningsunset lightningLighting at sunset.

This place is beautiful!

I definitely want to go back.

Maybe someday I will be able to hike to the top of Cloud Peak!

Of course I would probably have to start training now…

Glacier National Park, Montana

 

 

Our first hike in Glacier National Park was the Packers Roost Trail.

We went on a 12 mile(total) out and back to the flattop campground.

I was really happy to see that a lot of the campgrounds have outhouses!

One of my least favorite things about backpacking is the lack of privacy.

We did not backpack this time but I am going to remember this for next time.

packers glacier1sthike mountians takingpics nick flattop flowersThere is a pretty big elevation change on this hike so you legs will definitely get a workout!

It looks like a fire has been through there in the last couple years so a lot of the forest is burned up.

We only saw TWO hikers on this trail though!

I was so happy to be away from the crowds!

mylovemorningWe camped that night at Bowman Lake.

The road to get there is called a trail for vehicles, not a road.

Trailers would have a pretty rough time getting there.

lake4The next day we hiked Bowman’s Lake to the Quartz Lake trail.

It ended up being a very rough 15 mile(could be shorter if you do not lose the trail like we did) loop.

newbridgeThey are building a new bridge and we missed the existing one, adding a mile onto our hike.

lake quartzlakeThe trail leads to a beautiful campground on Quartz Lake.

toilet

We then travelled around the lakes and started our way back up.

secondbridge stillaliveWe stopped for breaks several times on the way up.

I was pretty sure it was a magic hill that never ended.

storageSince the hike took most of the day we decided to spend another night at Bowman Lake.

We slept in our vehicle on a platform my husband built.

We meant to bring a tent just in case but forgot it.

We did not really need it though.

foodHe built it so two of these underbed storage tubs could fit under it.

One held most of our food and the other clothes.

clipI used clips to hold the curtains up, I saw that idea here.

bungeeI used a bungee cord for the front curtain.

We took one of the pads from our popup to sleep on.

An air mattress would have worked as well.

Good things to bring also would be a lantern that you can hang and a fan.

I bought a little USB fan and it worked great.

insidestoveMy husband built us a little stove for cooking on.

These pieces fit together.

It boils water really quickly!

redbusThe next day we drove over to the Many Glaciers Area for a hike and shower(there are not many places to shower in the park, you have to pay for all of them).

We got there early enough to get a camping spot and go on the Grinnel Glacier Trail.

It is an 11 mile out and back.

trailsign pathwayglacier glacierlakes glacier grinneltrail2This was another leg killer(for me) trail.

It probably did not help that you kept meeting people on their way back down saying how far you had to go and how hard it was…

insideglacier insideglacier2 myselfIt was a beautiful place at the glacier though.

The next day we drove back down to Logan’s Pass for the more popular Highline Trail.

It was really crowded on the weekend so we saved this hike until Monday.

highlineIt was a beautiful foggy morning.

highline4 highlinetrail6 high cliff highlinetrailWhen we first started we could not see anything so I started joking with Nick about the amazing views.

I also tried to pretend that the edge just led to a gentle slope and not a sharp drop.

ledgeIt did clear up though so I had to deal with the reality and my fear of heights…

This trail had breathtaking views!

views highline2 dontfall highline5 sheep

We saw a LOT of chipmunks(they were all yelling at us!).

I thought it would be funny if we drove all the way up there and that is the only animal we saw but we did end up seeing others finally towards the end.

mooseThis guy was on the side of the road.

I kept my distance and was okay with this shot.

Other people were crazy and wading into the brush to get nice and close to the wild animal…

bearWe saw three bears while there but this is the only good picture I got of one.

We had a really good time and it was a beautiful place!

If you are planning to go I would definitely try to avoid weekends and the busy season.

They shut a lot of campgrounds down mid-september so I would think the beginning of September would be a really good time to go(we got there just as they closed a lot of campgrounds).

We hiked in Bighorn National Forest and the Rocky Mountain State Park on the way to and from Glacier.

I will be sharing some of those pics in another post!

What is your favorite place to go on vacation?

I am a mountain girl for sure!