3/22 to 3/25/2019 – As the cold days of winter begin to lengthened, the siren song of the deep heart of the mountains becomes unavoidable. The stints of sunshine and birds singing quickly remind us that the mountains are opening their arms to us. It gently lulls us into a false comfort with the assumed pleasantries of ski-traversing. Our heads are filled with images of grandiose views, buttery-smooth corn turns, and timeless camaraderie, which easily silence the inner-skepticism of previous toilsome affairs. With these thoughts swirling around, I had a great conversation while deep in a fiery pit with a new found friend – Mike.

We quickly dove into a discussion of hopeful ski plans for the upcoming spring, and realized a mutual interest in the classic Many Glacier to Lake McDonald traverse in Glacier National Park. A couple of weeks later, the weather looked to be lining up a window so we packed our gear, dropped a car at the Sperry trailhead, and got dropped off at the Many Glacier gate (thank you Lindsey for driving us all the way over there!). We spent the next few days enjoying the remote heart of GNP, wandering through quietly and respectfully. We encountered both blue skies and socked-in whiteouts; saw our first bear tracks of the season and heard the migrating tundra swans just overhead. These swans were moving with similar motivations, ever-forward towards their endpoint, through the ebbing and flowing clouds of the high mountains.

I write this post a couple of weeks after, when most of the toilsome facets of the trip have eroded away and the gem that it was is all that remains.