Of
Trails Wandered
Wednesday.
August 29, 2001
I laid in bed, it was
still twilight, calm, serene, slight chill in the air. I could
have stayed there for a long while and absorb what I had hoped
would be languishing serenity. A squeak. You have got
to be kidding me! Like a maestro conducting a symphony,
the one herald dozens other squirrels to squeak in unison until
there was this cacophony of squeaks echoing across the lake. Forest
alarm clock!?!?!? I was trying to stifle the laughter so
hard I almost choked. I had tears in my eyes. Oh well,
coffee sounded just as good. Snickering, I hauled myself out
of the tent and over to the cooking pit.
The morning at
the lake was quite peaceful. As
much as I hated to leave the backcountry, the thought of a nice
steak dinner and a Fat Tire definitely appealed to me.
The winds had shifted again and the skies were clear.
An early start would probably put us in around lunch time.
I had hit
my hiking groove by Day 2 and hadn’t had the opportunity to really
do a good push. After
about a mile, the muscles loosened up and I decided to turn on the
gas. As much as I hate
backpacking alone, I do enjoy the undisturbed solitude and at times
can block out my own sounds of hiking.
I would
burst ahead about 300 feet or until I lost eyesight of Dave and then
wait until he came back into view. In between, I would absorb everything around me (maybe I
could do this solo). It
was the slinky maneuver in reverse from my Canyon trip.
At one rest point it hit me what Elliot was experiencing;
there is something about cruising at your own pace and loosing
yourself. And believe me I had lost myself in this hike. Life was
good. When I was
checking my GPS for distance, I noticed I was traveling at 4.3 mph.
<BIG GRIN>
The trip
back was completely uneventful and we covered the trail in good
time. There was no need
to stop for lunch and a Balance Bar was enough for me to keep the
energy up. It was
barely even 11 when we made the parking lot.
I gave the traditional whoop for a good hike completed.
We piled our gear into the car and drove down the road to St.
Mary and stopped and had a burger and fries.
It was
still pretty early and we were wondering what we could do until we
could check into the hotel.
It was only about 12- 12:30 and we couldn’t check in until
three. Hmmmmm.
Well, how about we go for a hike.
Yeah that’s the ticket.
No joke.
We drove
down the road to the trail head for Apikuni Falls.
The roundtrip distance to falls was only 2.2 miles.
Fanny packs and a little water will do.
The Apikuni Falls Trail rises out of the valley and offers
some good views of Sherburne Lake and the surrounding range.
The trail does end abruptly about 50 yards from the falls,
but you can get to the base by doing a little bit of a rock
scramble. The falls
were not nearly spectacular as some of the other that we saw, but
still wonderful nonetheless. To
get back to the trail we decided to take the path across a scree
field on the opposites side of the creek.
That route looked more benign but it wasn’t.
Scree skiing. We
quick footed back down the trail and to the car.
Hmmmm, still have a
good hour to kill. Wanna’
go for a hike? The look
from Dave summed it up. We
were done for this trip.
|
Day 6 Photo Map |
Apikuni
Falls Photo Map |
 |
 |
Trail:
The trail Red Eagle Lake Foot is basically easy. The trail is
free from brush and offers splendid views of both Red Eagle Mountain
and Kakitos Mountain. You do have the opportunity to cross two
more of those wonderful suspension bridges. The trailhead starts at
the foot of St. Mary Lake. Look for an access road on the left
as you approach the park entrance.
Distance traveled: 7.6 miles
(trail length). Time: 2 hrs 25 minutes.
Difficulty: Easy
Apikuni Falls
Trail: The trail head
is at the same location for the trail head for Poia Lake and Redgap
pass. The trail follows a series of switchbacks that takes you
quickly out of the valley. Your elevation gain is only about
400 feet
Distance traveled: 1.1 miles
(trail length) one way.
Difficulty: Moderate
