The harder walk this day was scheduled to ascend Mount Washburn, altitude 10,243'. After a fair amount of discussion between Mike and Dave, they agreed that we would ascend the old road from the South, and descend the Northern spur.
The day started with the usual drive to Canyon Visitor Centre, where the groups split up. Bo dropped the harder group where the old road joined the 'Grand Loop Road'. The old road was well graded for walking, and had zigzags (that the Americans call switchbacks) so we made good progress. Rosie coped with the altitude pretty well.
As the path levelled out before the last part of the ascent, we came across a herd of goats on the rocks alongside the path. Lots of photos were taken. As we tried to pass them, the herd spread across the path and we had to edge past them.
The top of the mountain is crowned with a fire tower, which is home for a warden for the whole of the summer. It looked pretty cosy and had incredible wide-ranging views, but it must be hard to sleep with 360 degree windows.
There was a sign indicating the height, so we took the compulsory photos but, probably inadvisably, kept out hats on. Lunch was taken sitting on a log at the top.
The long and gentle descent passed the site of a previous fire, with a mixture of charred black and silver trees. As usual, Glynis, the 70-something Australian, was with us on this harder walk (2,000' of ascent). Not long after a short stop to photograph yet more goats, she noticed that the bottom half of our of her hiking poles (attached to her rucksack) had dropped off. I vaguely remembered seeing something metal alongside the path, so I did the gentlemanly thing and walked back a while to fetch it for her.
The previous evening, I'd suggested to Bo that it would be nice if he brought his guitar into the hotel so he, and Rosie and I, could play some music for the rest of the group. So, when we got back to the hotel, I asked at reception whether there was somewhere we could gather for some songs. They eventually agreed that we could use one of their conference rooms. Over dinner, which was a little cold, but surprising OK otherwise, I let the rest of the group know what we had in mind.
After dinner, we collected some drinks and most of us (but not the antipodeans) gathered in the conference room. Bo kicked off with a nifty jazz-guitar version of Misty and later played Over the Rainbow and (after we'd done some country songs) sang the Merle Haggard song, Today I Started Loving You Again. As we'd crossed the Continental Divide whilst in Glacier National Park, we had to try Kate Wolf's Across the Great Divide. We usually play this in D with Steve singing lead and playing guitar, Rosie singing the harmony part and me playing bass. Rosie decided that G is a better key for her, and it went pretty well. We also did Willie Nelson's Red Headed Stranger (set in Montana), Looking in the Eyes of Love and (as Bo had set a jazzy tone), That Ole Devil Called Love. And Rosie sang The Kipper Family's (from Norfolk) The Unlaid Maid. It was great that Laura joined in with the spirit and sang Flanders' and Swan's The Gasman Cometh (All makes work for a working man to do...).
And then, after another round of drink, off to finish packing because we were heading to Jackson the next day.
The day started with the usual drive to Canyon Visitor Centre, where the groups split up. Bo dropped the harder group where the old road joined the 'Grand Loop Road'. The old road was well graded for walking, and had zigzags (that the Americans call switchbacks) so we made good progress. Rosie coped with the altitude pretty well.
As the path levelled out before the last part of the ascent, we came across a herd of goats on the rocks alongside the path. Lots of photos were taken. As we tried to pass them, the herd spread across the path and we had to edge past them.The top of the mountain is crowned with a fire tower, which is home for a warden for the whole of the summer. It looked pretty cosy and had incredible wide-ranging views, but it must be hard to sleep with 360 degree windows.
There was a sign indicating the height, so we took the compulsory photos but, probably inadvisably, kept out hats on. Lunch was taken sitting on a log at the top.
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The long and gentle descent passed the site of a previous fire, with a mixture of charred black and silver trees. As usual, Glynis, the 70-something Australian, was with us on this harder walk (2,000' of ascent). Not long after a short stop to photograph yet more goats, she noticed that the bottom half of our of her hiking poles (attached to her rucksack) had dropped off. I vaguely remembered seeing something metal alongside the path, so I did the gentlemanly thing and walked back a while to fetch it for her.
The previous evening, I'd suggested to Bo that it would be nice if he brought his guitar into the hotel so he, and Rosie and I, could play some music for the rest of the group. So, when we got back to the hotel, I asked at reception whether there was somewhere we could gather for some songs. They eventually agreed that we could use one of their conference rooms. Over dinner, which was a little cold, but surprising OK otherwise, I let the rest of the group know what we had in mind.
After dinner, we collected some drinks and most of us (but not the antipodeans) gathered in the conference room. Bo kicked off with a nifty jazz-guitar version of Misty and later played Over the Rainbow and (after we'd done some country songs) sang the Merle Haggard song, Today I Started Loving You Again. As we'd crossed the Continental Divide whilst in Glacier National Park, we had to try Kate Wolf's Across the Great Divide. We usually play this in D with Steve singing lead and playing guitar, Rosie singing the harmony part and me playing bass. Rosie decided that G is a better key for her, and it went pretty well. We also did Willie Nelson's Red Headed Stranger (set in Montana), Looking in the Eyes of Love and (as Bo had set a jazzy tone), That Ole Devil Called Love. And Rosie sang The Kipper Family's (from Norfolk) The Unlaid Maid. It was great that Laura joined in with the spirit and sang Flanders' and Swan's The Gasman Cometh (All makes work for a working man to do...).
And then, after another round of drink, off to finish packing because we were heading to Jackson the next day.
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