Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Siyeh Pass

We had a little bit of everything that the weather can provide on today's hike - snow, a bit of sun, wind, ice, and more wind - it was cold on Siyeh Pass, with freezing temperatures. But, it was a beautiful hike, the kind of vistas that only Glacier can provide.

The hike began at Siyeh Bend, a large hairpin turn in the Going-to-the-
Sun Road on the east side of Logan Pass and the Continental Divide. Along the way we had to cross Siyeh Creek several times.

As the trail winds upward, it passed through stands of sub-alpine fir and spruce. 

This area is call Preston Park which, in the summer, is called a "flower-adorned oasis". Today it was filled with fall color under leaden skies. The slope in the background, the trail to Siyeh Pass, switch-backs up across this barren terrain.

As we were leaving patches of kruppleholz, we began to encounter patches of snow on the trail.

Siyeh Pass - at this point our advance was stopped by a snow-blocked trail. (Frederick is wearing only his parka [hoodie] while I was wearing a wool sweater, my hoodie under my Gor-tex hard shell and my Gor-tex rain pants over my regular pants. The Gor-tex fabric was great for serving as a barrier against the wind which seemed gale force.)

From Siyeh Pass - view to the south and the ruddy summits across the St. Mary Valley.

Other peaks farther along the Continental Divide.

Heading back down the switch-backs to descend back to Preston Park. Notice the two, un-named, tarns in the base of the bowl.

Some great - mountain peak - views.

I think this one looks a bit like the Matterhorn. 

Preston Park in the foreground.

As we passed through Preston Park on the way back, these two, a deer and her fawn, were browsing along the trail.

Baby was mostly curious, but disappeared into shelter while...

mom didn't seem to be bother by us at all. We passed her about five feet off the trail. (She sure does look like a "mule" deer.)

Hike statistics:
Length - 9.77
Elevation gain - 2,240 (269 floors on the Fitbit)
Duration - 5 hours and 5 minutes

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