Day 8: Hiking Glacier National Park's Back Country- Chief Mountain Trailhead to the Foot of Glenn's Lake

We parked Minnie Winnie in a small lot only a hundred yards or so from the Canadian Border in the extreme northeastern corner of GNP.  Descending about 700 feet in the early part of the trail, the remainder of the day's 10.3 mile hike would be relatively flat, albeit muddy, rocky, and uneven ground.  We ate a lunch of tuna wraps at the edge of the Belly River, which snaked around our trail for about 4 miles.  Next we crossed a wobbly suspension bridge [max capacity= one hiker] before traveling through a wooded area leading to Cosley Lake.


Several hikers warned us that they had spotted two Grizzly Cubs and a Black Bear in separate incidents on this stretch, so we were extra careful to make lots of noise.  No problem for Greg.  At one point, with Nick in the lead, we ran right into a deer.  This scared the living daylights out of us when we saw movement in the brush only feet away.

The views became even more breathtaking as we continued deeper into the wilderness. We entered a valley between Cosley Ridge and Mts. Kaina & Cleveland containing a chain of lakes.  There we enjoyed our first glacier sightings in the distance: White Crow Glacier and Miche Wabun Glacier.

We arrived at the Foot of Glenn's Lake Campground in the mid afternoon to find two other hiking groups.  One middle-aged couple was from Minnesota, and a younger couple hailed from Washington.  This four-site campground had its own food prep area, hanging pole (to protect the food from bears), and a rather disgusting pit toilet.  A pack of resident nuisance deer were very aggressive and would steal any salty/sweaty items left unguarded.  The Man from Minnesota had his shirt, pants, and hat stolen by the deer and proceeded to chase the hoofed scoundrels around camp.

We set up our tent, being careful not to leave anything out for the deer.  We ate some re-hydrated beef stew for dinner and played a quick game of Crazy Eights before going to bed.