6 Lake Elizabeth to Many Glacier

 Lake Elizabeth to Many Glacier

Today would set the benchmark for our fitness and ability to hike at altitude.  The lake was at 4,900 feet and our climb to Red Pass would take us to 7,400.  I hadn’t expected the effect to be noticeable  as the hike up the mountain would be similar to walking up to Snowdon’s summit.  But as Lake Elizabeth grew smaller and we reached 6,0000 feet our breathing became a little heavy as we tried to maintain our normal pace.  By 6,500 I was feeling decidedly sick so we decided to introduce a break every 200ft rule and by 7,000 our hearts were thudding and our pace very slow.  

Red Pass is called Red Pass because it’s Red and the trail goes between two peaks.  Iron in the rock oxidises and this rock was most prominent here.  However throughout our stay in GNP snow patches would have a pink raspberry ripple hue from the red eroded dust that would be blown by the wind across the whole range.  The geological history told within these mountains tells the tale of 1.6 billion years of oceans, sediment and thrusting.

As soon as the decent began our breathing picked up and we relaxed as we headed down into Many Glacier, a resort village where we were set to camp the night.

As we finished the final couple of miles of our twenty two mile day we relaxed our ‘hey bears’ and walked the meadows beside the road to the resort along stable buildings and outhouses.  In the lead I took a bend in the path and came within 25 feet of a Grizzly foraging in a hedgerow.  It was thrilling and my first thought was how small, docile and unaware it was of my presence.  I signalled to Sally to stop, reached for my bear spay (hot chilli 🌶️ in a can),  gently called ‘hey bear’ 🐻  and took a couple of steps back.

Bear attacks are rare; lightning and bee stings kill more hikers in these parts.  But recorded attacks occur because the bear is startled and because humans make eye contact (seen as a challenge).  Sally and I learned an important lesson that evening  as our grizzly walked away and although ‘hey bears’ were a bit tiresome they are as necessary as a pair of shoes for hiking in these parts.

.

.