Day 9: Hiking from Glenn's Lake to Mokowanis Lake

We were overjoyed to have only a 4.1 mile hike today since our bodies were a bit sore from yesterday.  We didn't have to rush, and it was a good thing because our lunch break locale turned out to be one of the highlights of our time in the backcountry!  The waterfall connecting Glenn's Lake to Mokowanis Lake was indescribably gorgeous!  The upper part of the falls was quite wide, spreading out over an enormous area.  The result was only inches deep water sort of cascading over a sparkling surface.  It was so sunny that everything seemed to reflect sparkles.  I dangled my aching ankles from a primitive wooden bridge, letting the wind and water restore my strength.  Nick and Ron made "just a few casts" into the lake, and Greg persisted in climbing higher up into the falls than my safety standards would allow.

Eventually, we continued hiking to Mokowanis Lake Campground.  This pristine lake was like something out of a wilderness postcard collection with log pole pines and twisty white aspens bordering blue-green waters.  A muskrat's path left the only ripples in the smooth surface.  The food prep area was the perfect viewing spot for the splendor, so we sat there for awhile, soaking it all in.  We were soon joined by a group of 5 rowdy Canadians, who appeared to have their backpacking act together (except for a lack of toilet paper which forced them to use leaves instead).  They showed us a video made the day before where they were recklessly body-surfing down a deadly ice formation.  Greg thought this group was super cool, eh, so he followed them into the icy waters of Lake Mokowanis on a dare.  Nick caught the only sizable fish of the trip later in the evening, one bull trout and one brown trout.  At one point, we attempted to take a side hike to a set of waterfalls about a mile down the trail, but aborted the mission when the weeds and berry patches were taller than our heads.  With the sun setting soon, it was not the safest place to be in Bear Country.

One of the more noteworthy aspects of this campground had to be the pit toilet, which we dubbed "the throne."  You see, this wooden box sat upon a high hill overlooking the camp.  It had no walls or cover except for what Mother Nature provided, so a patron was literally left exposed while conducting business!  Later that night, 1:00a.m. to be precise, I begged Ron to accompany me to the throne, and honest to God, it was the scariest experience of the trip.  Probably worse than last year's rattlesnake scare in the Grand Canyon.  In the PITCH darkness, I was certain that we would be mauled by a bear near the pit toilet.  Then the kids would be orphans, raised by the crazy Canadians next door.  Well, we survived to see an incredible lightning display about an hour later.  We stayed dried, though, and packed up camp the next morning without any fanfare.