Glacier 2022 - Day 8

We woke up to the sound of others getting their breakfast. We got up and packed our gear away quickly — not because we were in a hurry, but because after 8 days on the trail we know just what we need to do and how to do it efficiently. After packing our gear up we went over to grab breakfast before heading out on the trail.

We wanted to get a somewhat early start as we had 3,000 feet of elevation gain today and we wanted to do it before it got too hot out. We set off down the trail and quickly reached the same cabin we stopped at on day 2. We filled up our water, ate some snacks, and headed up the big uphill portion. Thankfully the sun has not reached the trail yet and we were hiking in cool weather. We climbed until we eventually met the sun. The trail was tough so we took several breaks along the way. We ran out of water just as we reached the top, but it wasn’t a big deal as we only had about a mile to the campsite.

We rolled into the campsite around 11:45, exhausted and ready for a break. We got some fresh ice cold water before laying in the shade and eating our snacks. We had time to kill so we headed over to the stream and sat down to see what creatures would come alive under the water. There were two that we noticed: one was some sort of crawling creature that kind of looked like a bug. It had what looked to be a shell made out of rocks around it and it could easily blend in with the bottom of the stream. We could easily lose sight of it if it stopped moving. The other creature we saw seemed to be like a tadpole, but not quite. It was the same shape, but bigger and black/brown. Under the larger portion of its body, it had a suction piece that it would use to attach to various surfaces. We watched it move around for a while and will have to look it up once off the trail.

While we were sitting there watching, several hikers arrived at camp. We chatted a bit and this was their first backpacking trip in Glacier. They had gotten a walk-up permit and had a map, but it wasn’t that great. Since I have maps on my phone and we only had one day left I gave them my National Geographic map which is more detailed.

We went back to our stream watching but soon noticed some other hikers coming in. About a mile away on the mountainside is the Highline trail. Hikers on the trail look like ants from the campsite. After a while, they arrived at camp exhausted from a long hot day.

Dinner time rolled around we started cooking dinner as even more hikers rolled in. This time some CDT thru-hikers. They’re only 12 miles from the end of their thru-hike here and it was pretty cool to see.

After chatting for a while we turned in for the night to read our book and drift off to sleep.