In 1984 and 1985 I lived in Butte, Montana working for a company as an exploration geologist. This put me in the heart of some of the best outdoor areas in the country, but without much free time to explore them. The field season in Montana is short, and cramming a full workload into the brief summer doesn’t leave much spare time. But I was able to get away to the Wind Rivers (1984 Winds) the previous summer, and had made a few weekend trips (including a backpacking trip to Lincoln Lake in Glacier) earlier in 1985.
While
I was perched precariously in Montana, Buddy and I decided to take a shot at
the two big prizes in the region. In northern Montana Glacier National Park is
one of America’s crown jewels, while further north, Canada’s Banff National
Park, and the other national parks that surround it, are perhaps that country’s
best known hiking area.
I’m
not sure what our original plans were for this trip, but things got shaken up
by bad weather, though that’s something to be expected after Labor Day in those
high elevation northerly climates.
Bighorn sheep in Banff.
I
left Butte at 7PM on Saturday, September 7 and drove through drizzle and heavy
fog to pick up Buddy at the airport in Great Falls. He had spent the first part
of his trip at Red Rocks taking in a couple of Grateful Dead shows. We still
hadn’t decided yet to add Banff onto our Glacier visit, but with the poor weather,
losing some time with the extra drive to Banff didn’t seem a bad idea. We drove
north to Shelby, MT where we able to get a room at ~1:30 AM.
Sunday
wasn’t much clearer, but we did find a good spot for breakfast in Shelby. We
drove north through Lethbridge and made it to Calgary in time for a late lunch.
Thick fog prevented any sightseeing. Then it was onto the town of Banff.
We
found the ranger (warden) office and got a three day backpacking permit
starting for the next day. I had spotted some loop hikes, but Buddy pointed out
that the loops weren’t in the alpine zone, which is where we really wanted to
go. Our trip would be point to point, but we thought we could get it done by
hitchhiking back to my car. After the hike, we hoped to get another permit for an
overnighter in the Lake Louise area. But we knew we’d need to be flexible
considering the weather. 
Buddy approaching Healy Pass.
Banff
was more of a small town then, than the mega-tourist destination it has become.
But there’s no knocking the quality of its outdoor equipment shops. That was
lucky for us as we needed a variety of gear such as guidebooks and maps, and a
wool hat for Buddy. We got a good dinner at one of the many restaurants in
town. But before we could eat, I needed a trip to the shop for my Chevette, I’d
left the lights on after the drive in from Calgary. But the drive through town
led us past the famous hot springs, which we planned to visit after the
backpack. We got a site at the Tunnel Mountain Campground where we were able to
do our repacking for the hike. Unfortunately, we used the car headlights to
help pack, and needed to get another jump start in the morning.
Banff Egypt and Twin Lakes Route.
9-9-85
Sunshine Gondola to Egypt Lake Cabin, 7.7 mi.
After
finding someone to help us jump start my car battery, we went into town for
coffee donuts, and jumper cables of the literal sort. Our plan was to hike from
Sunshine Road, at the ski area just west of Banff to Castle Junction, where Highway
93 meets the TransCanada Highway.
The
Sunshine Gondola Road was quiet, with a band of grazing bighorn sheep. The temperature was only about 45F when we started,
with thick fog, and 1-2” of snow on the ground. It took about three hours on
the Healy Pass Trail to reach the pass. Luckily the trail was mostly dry with only
1-2” of snow higher up. Despite the initial cold, I was down to T-shirt and
light wool pants by the time we reached the pass. The trail was easy to follow,
and well signed at all junctions. The highlight was popping out above the
clouds as we reached the flat below the pass. There were good views north to
the Pharoah Peaks, which we would pass on the next day’s hike. We spent about
two hours at the pass, eating lunch and enjoying the views. 
Egypt Lake Cabin, Banff.
From
the pass it was a wet 45 minute walk to the cabin at Egypt Lake. The cabin was
neat and looked relatively new. There were tent sites also, but these were all
wet. Also at the cabin were two guys from Edmonton that we pumped for local
information.
I
cooked up soup starter meal fortified with extra noodles. It was fine but needed
more extra noodles. It was my cooking experiment for the trip, but wasn’t much
different from having my usual Dinty Moore beef soup with noodles. I drank
quite a bit of tea to help me warm up.
We’d
only had a 12.5 km hike, so I was feeling good. I’d had four weekend trips over
the summer, so I was much fitter than I had been the previous year in the Wind
River Range. We hadn’t anticipated all the snow and fog, but things were working
out so far.
9-10-85,
To Twin Lakes, 12.4 mi.
I
had a poor night’s sleep, most likely too many cups of Buffalo Thunder Tea. Once
on the trail we also got lost twice, past Haidu Lake, and another time on the
stretch from Gibbons Pass down to Twins Lake. We started the day with a
strenuous climb up the Whistling Pass Trail, then took a 0.6 km side trip to
Scarab Lake, a beautiful spot well worth the extra distance. We were well above
tree line with incredible scenery. 
At Scarab Lake.
We
took our lunch break at Haidu Lake, further up the valley and likely should
have camped there. We missed the junction with the Ball Pass Trail, and were on
and off smaller user trails all the way down to Shallow Lake. We had thought we
were on the main trail, until we hit it just below the Shallow Lake outlet. 
Buddy at Whistling Pass.
We
had no navigation problems from the outlet to Gibbons Pass, just a long steady
climb. The pass is a wide expanse of boggy tundra with a large cairn. There
were no other markers on the north side of the pass, and with four inches of
snow on the ground we couldn’t follow the trail. Apparently the trail was high
to the east, while we were slogging around below it. It was a frustrating trip
for both of us. We were tired, had soggy feet, and the sun was starting to set
behind the peaks. We reached the outlet of Lower Twins Lakes, and then couldn’t
find our campsite. Luckily, we were able to set up on the northwest side of the
lake.
Buddy at Gibbons Pass.
9-11-85,
Hike out and car shuttle, 9.2 miles
After
our troubles the prior day it was nice to wake up to clear skies. Before we
were even out of our sleeping bags we saw two people hiking past the lake. We
assumed they had stayed in the official campsite that we had never found. We
had a hot breakfast, and then went to work packing up the sodden tent.
Waterfall, Lower Twin Lakes.
As
advertised, the first 2 km of the Twin Lakes Trail was wet and boggy, then we
had a steady descent down to the Bow Valley. I didn’t mind the mostly woods
walk at all. We had great views of Castle Mountain ahead of us, with the broad
face of the mountain facing us it looked like something from Yosemite.
Down
at the trailhead by Castle Junction we decided that I would hitchhike back to
Banff and pick up my car, while Buddy would hitchhike to Lake Louise and get
our next backpacking permit. It took us both about 45 minutes to get a ride,
despite some heavy traffic. At the Sunshine Junction I decided to hide my pack
and start walking up the road to my car, just in case it was hard to get a
ride. That was a smart decision, as I walked 4 ¼ miles and was only passed by
two cars, before I got a ride for the last ¾ mile. But the walk was worth it. I
saw three herds of 13, 11, and 10 bighorn sheep grazing along the road. Only
the last herd appeared to have rams, though some of the animals in the other
two herd had horns. I wasn’t sure if those were juveniles or females.
I
found Buddy by the Lake Louise ranger station, and we took a brief tour of the
lake area after lunch. We then had a hell of time deciding on our next hike.
Both our first two choices had bear warnings. My notes don’t indicate what
route we settled on, but afterward we took a drive up the Icefield Parkway,
enjoying a few beers on the way. My folks had not yet been to Banff, and I was
sure they would really enjoy the parks. (They would visit Banff a few years
later, and my Mom always considered it one of the most beautiful places she’d
ever seen.) 
The classic view of Lake Lousie.
We
returned to Banff, got cleaned up and soaked in the hot springs. It was awfully
good to get clean after four days of driving and hiking. We had a pizza in town
and then set up camp at Tunnel Mountain Campground again.
9-12-85,
Drive to Glacier NP
We
woke up in the middle of the night to a gentle rainfall. By morning the rain
was steady and the sky dark. Neither Buddy nor I wanted to spend two more days
hiking in the rain, so we decided it was a good time to drive south to Glacier,
and see if we could catch a break in the weather there.
Before
leaving Banff we went to the park HQ, and watched their slideshow. Then we did
a little shopping in town. We took the long way out of town, Castle Junction to
Highway 93 and over to Radium Hot Springs on the west side of the mountains. We
took another soak in those springs, an attraction of the parks that hadn’t
occurred to me before this trip.
The
rain quit about the time we got to Cranbrook. In the open country we could see
that we were racing the edge of a major front. But the weather stayed clear. We
ate dinner in Whitefish, and camped at a place by the highway in West Glacier. 
Gunsight Lake Route.
9-13-85,
To Gunsight Lake, 9.3 miles
We
woke up to much improved weather. We decided to try for a campsite at Gunsight
Lake, which would be just above the campsite from my only previous Glacier NP
trip that July to Lincoln Lake. Between breakfast, the stop at the ranger
station, and the drive to the trailhead, we weren’t on the trail until 11:20.
My notes aren’t specific about where we started, but it was mostly likely at
the Gunsight Pass TH. Gunsight is an odd trailhead in that the trail starts
downhill to the St Mary River. It was an easy hike to the side trail to
Florence Falls. Then the trail began a long scenic route through open country,
slabbing along a ridge to Gunsight Lake.
Glacier NP, Buddy hiking toward Gunsight Lake.
After
about 2 ½ hours of hiking, we set up camp at the lake, then headed over to
Jackson Glacier. The unofficial glacier trail forked left of the main trail
immediately after the bridge over the outlet of Gunsight Lake. The trail
started out in a stream, then headed sharply up a ridge. After about 30 minutes
we were out of the trees, and the trail became harder to follow. But we headed
for an obvious lateral moraine left by the glacier. Upon climbing up the
moraine we were rewarded with tremendous views. The glacier had retreated
considerably recently, and several lateral moraines were clearly exposed. The
valley floor between the two main moraines was smoothly polished, and
striations were very common in the exposed bedrock. I could also see a lot of
small folds and faults in the rocks in the cirque walls.
Lateral moraine on Jackson Glacier.
We
made our way to the foot of the glacier (total time ~1 hour and ~3 km) for some
pictures, and to split a beer I’d hauled in. I couldn’t describe the glacier
well, but noted that it would be worth a couple days of exploring, just to look
at all the geology.
At Jackson Glacier.
The
trail back to camp was easier to follow, and we were back in camp by 5:30.
Dinner was Tuna Helper with peas and carrots, marginally tasty, but I was
hungry. There were a lot of east moving clouds above. If the weather was still
good the next morning we hoped to hike out over Gunsight Pass to Lake
MacDonald, with a long hitchhike back to the car. If the weather was still
doubtful, we’d retrace our way back.
Buddy on Jackson Glacier.
Jean
and I would repeat this trip to Gunsight Lake on our 2022 visit to Glacier (Glacier 2022) with a simple out and
back hike to the lake. On that hike, we’d been told Gunsight Pass was closed
(it would open that day), and the bridge was out (it was, but the water was
only ankle deep), so we didn’t do any side trips.
9-14-85
We
woke up during the night to hear a rising wind and the beginnings of a
rainstorm. By breakfast it was a little nicer and we decided to try the exit
via Gunsight Pass. But as soon as we made the decision, the weather turned and
we ended up heading for the St Mary River. The weather gradually improved
enough for us to take the side trail to Florence Falls. It was worth the walk,
The water fell over series of steps created by thick rock layers and numerous
basins, with shorter falls throwing up a lot of mist.
Florence Falls, Glacier.
By
the time we reached the trail junction at Deadwood Falls the rain had quit, so
we decided to hike further east to Sun Point. That section of trail was super
scenic. Even with the extra
miles, it was still only about a five hour hike from Gunsight Lake to the Going
to the Sun Road.
There
wasn’t much of a place to hitchhike from the trailhead, but I got a ride within
about five minutes. The ride out was a bit depressing. It seemed like Glacier
was the only spot in the state with bad weather, and we’d been struggling with
rain all week. We talked about heading to the North Cascades the next year,
hoping for some better weather after two consecutive rainy trips. Our North
Cascades trip would happen the next year (1986 Alpine Lakes) but not without a
similar amount of bad weather.
As
amazing as Banff and Glacier were, it would be a long time before I would be able
to return (2016 Glacier). Jean and I would
celebrate her retirement in 2016 with a two week trip to the park, mixing in
three backpacking trips with a variety of day hikes. And we’d return to Glacier
again in 2022, even staying another night at Gunsight Lake. We wouldn’t get to
Banff until 2018, having waited much too long to visit that amazing place (2018 Banff).
