August 14, 2021
Miles: 29.1 miles
Steps: 64,773
I wanted to get up early but that didn’t happen. I wanted to get through the first section quickly as I was in a burn area with no shade and had a big climb coming up but still got out by 7:45am.
The first part wasn’t too bad. I did get to walk over another suspension bridge which is always fun.
Then came out to a large lake, Saint Mary Lake, that I hiked all the way to the west shore. Would have had amazing views of the mountains across the lake had it not been so hazy but that was the theme for the day.
Towards the end of the lake a came across lots of awesome waterfalls. I spent almost an hour at one of them, Virginia Falls.
At another one there were people jumping off a bridge into a deep pool. I thought about jumping myself but didn’t want to take any chances of getting hurt this close to finishing my hike.
Once I got around the lake I had my one and only climb for the day and believe it maybe my last pass I will have to go over.
The hike up was a lot easier than the profile map showed.
Right before the top I came across 3 long horn goats. One seemed kind of aggressive so I didn’t stay around long. There were 2 girls trying to go downhill but were afraid to go near that goat.
At the top I took my long break right next to some rocks to get a little shade and shelter from the wind. I did have a rodent that wouldn’t leave me alone, it wanted my food.
After my break it was downhill all the way to Many Glacier Campground where I would be spending my last night on trail.
Many Glacier is much bigger than I thought. There are a lot of people here. Feels kind of weird spending my last night around all these people where most of my trip I’ve been alone. The people next to me are having a party with music and lights.
I will wake up early and get to Canada as early as I can. I hope it’s not too hard of a hitch back to East Glacier but I’m afraid it will be. There are some shuttle services but they are charging over $100. I feel like I need to try to hitch first. I’m finishing a full day earlier than I thought so I have a little more extra travel time to get to the airport.