Sore Toes on Big Mountain

Flathead River by campground

We have been running getting resupplied and gathering information while here at Hungry Horse. Why haven't we done anything inside Glacier? We are waiting on our niece to arrive to do all the fun stuff - to get WOWed at the same time she will be.  We did walk down to the Flathead River which runs by the campground - about a 500 foot walk down to the banks.  Lovely.  We can imagine in the fall when the fishing is great that the banks would be lined with many fishing folks.  Rafting is the big thing now - as we drive to and from town to do some shopping we pass by and over the River a couple of times and we always see rafters floating along.  We did check out possibly going on a rafting tour while Donna is here, but too costly and only goes down the Flathead River for a small distance.

View from top of Big Mountain looking at Glacier NP - trail we hiked

Danny On Trail - 3 more miles to go!

Yesterday we were antsy so we decided to do something - we were told that if we go to Whitefish and drive up to the Big Mountain Ski Resort, there would be fantastic 360 views of Glacier, the Canadian Rockies and Flathead Lake.  We took the ski lift up to the top of the 6,817 Big Mountain (not as high as Rendezvous Mountain in Jackson Hole), looked around, then decided to hike down the Danny On Nature Trail to the bottom - a drop of 2,096 feet down the mountain.  Beautiful scenery, for sure!  But discovered that my hiking shoes do not fit - my feet moved forward in the shoes and crammed my toes big time.  I spent the last 2 miles of the downward hike concentrating on my feet - they hurt so bad! - that I didn't enjoy the rest of the hike.  Once we got back last night I blogged why my feet hurt and found out that I need to get either new shoes since these don't fit, or try to put insoles in the shoes to help.  I'll try the insoles first before spending another $120 on hiking boots!

Back to the hike - we were surprised at the amount of people transversing this trail. Since huckleberries are out, many hikers stopped along the way to pick and eat them (kinda sour) and we weaved around these folks picking and eating berries.  Many hikers started at the bottom (base) and worked up, and by the time they got to the top - they were absolutely pooped and covered in sweat and breathless.  This trail is 5.6 miles long, we didn't know it but it was rated as difficult (dah) but the views were stunning.  Flathead Lake, Whitefish Lake, the Glacier mountains, the Rockies, all magnificent. Along the way you would get an update as to how much more in distance and time, and at one point - the  sign said - it's easier to go down than hike up - reconsider if you can't make ti.  Pretty little streams meandering through the forests, other ski lifts silent right now waiting on November's first snow,  in the distance we could hear a zipline going - people woo-hooing going down, the cars taken off the ski lifts and those cables used for the zipline. You walked in the woods for some time, then out in the open, then back into the woods and the path was well traveled.  This resort also had dirt bicycle tracks and at times we could see the bikers riding by us - whiz. We had no fear of animals - too many people making noise.  Got to admire the folks who were hiking up - I certainly could not have done that. By the time we got down to the ski lodge (base) I could barely walk due to my toes hurting so bad.  I was limping. Will have to get this problem resolved before Thursday because we are booked on a boat ride that takes us within 2 miles of the Grinnell Glacier, inside the NP.