Glacier Day 2

On the morning of Aug. 3, we woke up to a misty yet beautiful lake view:

Not quite worth the ordeal of getting there, but still rewarding.

We headed out early with another long day ahead of us.

I finally had enough energy to pose for a photo with the absurdly overgrown trail

How it really felt ^

more river fording, more wet shoes

a bear marking its territory?

I liked the flower fields

Our hike involved a bit more elevation gain this day, but not much as far as views. As you can see below, it was very smoky and the trees were either dead/burnt from wildfires, or very young and small (growing after a fire). This made the hike very bright and hot. 

We hiked along a big stream for a long while, which I'd assumed we could access at any point for water. Unfortunately, the trail was far above the stream and both of us ran out of water for a couple miles before we could refill. That was not fun.

so close, yet so far

artsy wildlife pic

The trail was easier to follow for much of the way, but then disintegrated once more into an overgrown mess. Laini, who was wearing shorts, started to get very scratched up by the thorny bushes and weeds. Ever innovative, she tied a bandana around each of her shins to protect her legs.

 

After a lot of hiking, we reached a point where the trail crossed some fallen logs. We climbed over said logs. Then there were some more fallen logs. We climbed over those too. Then the trail disappeared. We climbed back over the logs behind us and searched for the trail — to no avail. 

I did a lot of back-and-forth along the trail, trying to find where we missed it. Then I pushed on ahead, trying to find it in the direction we were supposed to be going. The fallen logs multiplied into a veritable field of fallen logs, completely wearing me out and scratching me up and making me nervous about twisting my ankle. By now it was close to sundown, so we gave up on finding the trail and camped in a mossy area near the stream.

The very beginning of the fallen logs. It got much worse from here.

somehow still smiling after another tiring, frustrating day!