My wife and decided to take her brother and his new fiance on a nice leisureley backpacking trip as neither of them had ever been before. They are also both from Saskatchewan which is flatter than a pancake so we thought we would go easy on them for their first time out. Spider Meadows was the first place to come to mind as it's a spectacular place and is fairly easy to get to.
So taking three days we started out on Friday morning which was pouring down rain at the TH but the weather people said it would quit by afternoon and be nice for the rest of the weekend. For the first time in ten years I decided to believe them and we headed out under the canopy of forest for the first five miles. It was wet but not bad. The temps were mild, we all had gortex on and we were getting a little warm but semi-dry. By the time we made the meadow it had stopped raining. Evrybody was in good spirits and wanted to go farther so we pushed through the meadow. None of the creek crossings were hard to cross but there was plenty of water for Ellie the dog. I pointed to the top of the valley headwall and told them that was our camp for the night. They cringed a little but agreed to go. The meadow was a nice place but it doesn't match the view from up there. The trail to the end of the valley is in good shape. The flowers were mostly Paintbrush (red and white), Cow Parsnip, Columbine, and some purple daisy type. We took a good lunch braek at the ""Y"" in the trail but didn't stay long as the bugs were starting to 'bug' us. The trail up to the top was pretty rocky and steep but not too long. It took us about an hour to make the foot of the glacier/snowfield. My favorite campspot is to the right of there and on top of the knoll over looking the valley. It has about a 300 degree view of everything. Our guest forgot all about the grueling last mile as soon as they saw the view. We set up camp and by the time we were done the sky was starting to break up. The temps at night were mild and when we got up the nect morning the sky was as blue as it gets.
I told them it was a short hike to the summit of Spider Gap and the view was even more impressive so we decided to go for it. they were'nt too beat up and wanted more. SO we packed up and headed up the snow field. Some of the cravsses are opeing up and are quit deep. We picked our way around them and up to the Gap. The weather and the view were awesome. The color of upper Lyman was gem like. We broke for lunch there. Then the easy descent on the snow field towards the lake. AFter that the prairie folk thought we were trying to kill them. I forgot how brutal the scree slope to the lake can be.
I have a new found hatred for people who build cairns willy nilly with no prupose other than to show off their artistic BS.
I have a new found love for hiking poles!
Finally make the main trail around the lake. We make ot all the way to lower Lyman looking for a spot to camp. Feet tired we had a snack and waded into the ice cold lake but man, it felt good! The sites there are tucked back into the trees and the bugs were bad mostly flies with a mosquito thrown in for good measure. Thinking we will be hiking the whole distance tomorrow we decided there was a decent camp sopt back up at upper Lyman. By the time we got back there a couple of guys had set up camp at the spot we were thinking. But some friends of mine told us about a great spto just at the top of the big falls that flow from the upper to the lowere lake so after further investigation we found it. Nice spot close to the creek for water, the falls for sound effect, the Lyman glacier for view. Perfect! The bugs were almost non-existant. Perfect! Had a nice night. By the way I have to give kudos to MountainHouse ProPack foods! Didn't have one bad meal.
The next moring we got up early before the sun hit our camp. It was a little chilly but hot coffee cured what ailed us. Had breakfast, packed up everything and on the trail again. I was a little concerned about getting our guests back up to the Gap because they were getting a little trail worn. Sore ankles and knees, even the dog was walking gingerly. But we made it in good time, especially onvce we hit the snow field we were having a snack at the gap in two hours. It only took us a half our to descend the glacier on the other side and we were back in the lowere meadow in four. Stopped to cool our feet and have lunch there but the flies were SO bad we didn't stop for long. I'm not sure why but the trail from the meadow back to the car always seems like the longest to me. But we finally made, dsore but happy guess and all. I actually think we converted these two to backpackers. They were asking about other placs to go next summer. Well beers and dinner never tasted better at Gustavs before the drive home. All in all a great trip!
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