Daily Didactic
7:00 AM came promptly at 7:45, as we realized we had failed to set an alarm. We're not very good at the early morning thing. We packed up camp quickly and headed for the Backcountry Office. The trip, Okotomi Lake in the eastern part of the park, was still available and we laid down our ten dollars for the privilege to hike uphill for five miles and sleep outside. Having secured our spot outdoors, we grabbed breakfast and then headed for the absolutely great "Going To The Sun Road". This thirty mile stretch of road spends about half of it's length winding up the very steep Logan Pass. It's another one of those nineteen-thirties roads that probably couldn't be built today. Very narrow, shin high stone guardrails, switchbacks that vehicles over twenty-one feet can't make, perfect. We hit the top of the pass by 11:00 and dropped the twelve miles down the east side of the pass to Rising Sun campground and our trailhead. After pulling the packs off the roof and filling them up, we were on the trail by 12:30 or so.

The trail to Otokomi Lake was, as advertised, five miles long and 2000 feet up. Theresa rates it "moderate" and Brian rates it "strenuous". The trail was mostly in the trees, which was good for keeping the sun diffused, with occasional breakouts of beautiful scenery. We made it to the backcountry campsite around 3:00, before anyone else and in time to grab the one site with a little distance from the others. For "backcountry" camping, at the end of the trail Glacier really forces some mixing with neighbors. We pitched our tent and headed another hundred yards up to the lake. The lake itself was gorgeous and we found a path around the edge that lead to an incredible view and a ridge Theresa really wanted to climb up. We tabled the ridge for a bit and returned to make some lunch and take nap. Sometime later we made it about half way up to Theresa's ridge before deciding it was more of a climb than we had in mind. After another stellar camp stove meal, in an equally impressive swarm of mosquitos, we called it a wildly picturesque day...

Morning in the very green Apgar Campground		Starting up the seriously steep Going To The Sun Road, loving the guard rails
Looking back at the traffic and terrain		The old park buses are still in service
Weeping Wall		Looking up at Logan Pass
Sort of a bridge on a cliff		Very nice
Looking at the road behind us		The summit of Logan Pass
Looking down the east side of the pass, not as steep but equally pretty		St. Mary Lake
Our trailhead for the day		The bus' campsite
Nothing but joy		Five miles up
All very scenic		We don't know what they were, but there were a lot of them
Lake Otokomi is up in that basin		The rocks were incredibly colorful
Looking back down the valley, which thankfully will be five miles down tomorrow		Our 'backcountry' site, sort of a different definition than we are used to
Looks peaceful because you can't see the mosquitos		Spawning fish at the head of Rose Creek
Lake Otokomi		Theresa...
...not satisfied with the day's elevation gain		She's a fan
This was a fun game, the Glacier bear pole. You use a pretty heavy metal rod to hang your bag on a bolt		Later in the evening, higher up Theresa's slope
Brian, trying to stand upright

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