Marc Ankenbauer's 10+ year quest to jump in every named lake in Glacier and Waterton National Parks for charity.
168 lakes. Only 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ZERO LAKES LEFT!!!
-- Marc jumped into Fisher Cap Lake on Sunday September 8th, 2013 to complete his goal! --
Read about Marc and how this project started...

The Magical Moments of Calm

How many of you have experienced Glacier National Park, during her rare, entirely calm moments?



There is nothing quite like standing at the foot of Two Medicine Lake, at midnight when the lake is perfect glass.

A full moon finally slipping into what sky the mountains leave unfilled.

 

The moon illuminates the Sinopah while the lake mirrors it and every canoe tucked along the shore.

The chalet boathouse providing the only man-made light, somehow adds instead of detracting from the whole.

Appistoki Peak oversees his entire domain and dwarfs the tiny historic buildings.

 

The whole scene is flanked on all sides by enormous, mountainous silhouettes.

Unique names like Rising Wolf, Sinopah, Lone Walker, Painted Tepee and Never Laughs all take on their imagined, midnight personalities.

Much like clouds can look like dragons, poodles or hoagie sandwiches.

 

When dawn rises from the east, each mountain will reassume its daytime persona.

But, right now they are powerful beings from a night time universe.

For me this is when the park is at her most romantic and enchanting, begging you to sit just a few minutes longer.

At this very second you are more than aware that that these are the moments you are supposed to catalog and store away for use in the future.

Delaying logical, much needed sleep, and ignoring the human instinct to go inside, simply to extend the magic for just a tiny bit longer.

 

It is a tough feeling to forget.

The smell of actively growing July vegetation.

The sound of literally everything other than the standard east side winds.

The feel of sitting on cold, flat shore rocks as you take in the profound scene unfurling around you.

 

Those moments are what get us by when life is not as… Perfect.

Glacier National Park draw over a million travelers and wilderness seeking nomads every year.

I have always loved meeting people who haven’t been to Glacier in decades.

Often, the simple fact that it’s out there, just like they remember is calming.

Somehow it’s a centering, grounding reality check in an often chaotic world.

As I was huddled indoors on this gloomy, February afternoon, with my head cold in full effect,  I found myself yearning for it.

I figured that I probably wasn’t the only one.

Pull from the catalog, que up the memory…

Maybe these photo will help.

To Life,

Marc Ankenbauer

 

*Do you have any personal experiences with the magic of Glacier on a calm night?  I’m sure you do!  Lets hear them.

The Winter Time Machine

Hello all,

Is everyone enjoying their spring?

Or, does it feel more like summer there?

Where ever there is…

 

Summer is slow to arrive in the mountains of the Eastern Front of Montana.

It’s a strange phenomenon, to literally drive back to winter.

 

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

 

No matter where my early spring has ever been spent, it’s always pretty nice by mid-May.

Spring in Missoula is absolute paradise!

There are Brew Fest’s, outdoor music, flip flops, bicycles, sun dresses and just a generally great vibe. 

May is by far my favorite month in the Garden City.

 

winter1                       

 

My home town of Cincinnati is essentially in summer by then.

Reds games, green lawns, driving with the windows down and road trips to Red River Gorge. 

 

winter 22

 

This winter was spent in Northern Wisconsin.

The town of Amery, to be exact.

 

winter21

 

We had just survived the harshest winter they’ve had in years. 

And, it was even starting to green up in the land of PBR and all things dairy! 

 

Winter2 

Winter in the Northwoods was more intense than any I had ever experienced in my life.

We had well over 50 days this winter below zero.

 When it dropped way below freezing, my apartment windows would grow beautiful snowflake designs all over them. 

 

winter3

 

Just up the road, Duluth Minnesota broke a record.

23 days below zero in a row!

That is obviously a dubious record that no one was excited about breaking.

 

winter4

 

The snow on the side of our driveway rose to five feet at its most ridiculous!

It’s not that I’m not used to seeing that much snow, but not in a suburban front yard!

 

winter5

 

Since working in Antarctica, I now use my phone to keep track of temperatures at the South Pole.

There was a few nights this winter, which were colder than the thermometers at the end of the globe.

 

winter19

 

Negative 30 degrees before factoring in wind-chill, is a very serious thing to deal with.

Cars hardly start, the seat is hard as a rock and the whole vehicle feels like it’s made of granite.

It’s impressive, in a “trying to kill you” kind of way. 

 

winter6

 

The great thing, is that you Northwoods folks just adapt.

 

winter8

 

You grin and bear it, and continue on with what has grown to be a normal annual process.

 

winter7

 

So, when the spring finally broke, I believed it was over for the year.

Surely, an epic winter in Northern Wisconsin ends about the same time as the eastern slope of Glacier Park.

Right?

 

Not so much…

 

winter9

 

After more than a month of flip flops, shorts and t-shirts, it was time to return to the park.

I had heard that the winter in Montana was robust.

But, I was not prepared to drive directly back into the thick of it.

It’s like some sort of bizarre seasonal time machine.

 

winter15

 

 

Facebook brought me photos of the first plowing of the Two Medicine Road.

A few friends had posted photos of them standing for scale in front of 12ft high vertical walls of snow.

 

winter10

 

There was snow literally encompassing our entire apartment building.

 

winter11

 

Conventional plows won’t make a dent in snow this deep. 

The park uses large trucks with heavy duty rotary snow blower mounted on the front.   

They eat vertical corridors through the packed white.

 But, after a while the once vertical walls slump and melt in the sun into something Dr Suess would imagine.

 

winter12

 

So, I’ve again driven back to winter in my time machine packed full of outdoor gear and groceries.

The gushing waterfalls and a watchful eye proves that it is indeed melting.

It’s tough to see the daily changes, until one day it’s obvious. 

Kind of like a watching a child grow or watching an adult age.  

 

winter13

 

Two Medicine Lake is finally starting to melt out, almost giving access to my kayak.

But, the loose chunks keep choking up the outlet giving the impression of an unending supply of sheet ice.

 

 

winter20 

 

The bighorn sheep climbed down from Scenic Point and ran amuck through the plowed parking lots.

More and more employees and visitors are showing up every day.

Glacier Lillies pop up over night where a foot of snow stood two days previous.

 

winter16

 

Winter ends slowly here and lingers for much of the calendar.

But, that makes summer that much more spectacular and special.

 

winter17

 

May you all be primed for a good Summer Solstice party.

And, please wear those flip flops for me.

I’m excited for my second round of spring to hit.

To Life!

Running Crane Lake : Grizzly Bears, Icebergs and Captain Clint #161

Remember in early July when it was like 5 million degrees in the Western United States?

Obviously an exaggeration, but it did break records in Las Vegas and Death Valley of 117 and 129 respectively.

This was also when Glacier’s already hot summer took it to the next level.

It was breaking 90 daily for a couple weeks.

That is very hot here.

RC27

 

I was still recuperating from the brutal Lilly Lake outing.

And with temperatures like this, I didn’t really want to hike much of anywhere.

But I had to choose something from the list.

They weren’t going to jump in themselves. ..Now were they?

 

running crane - Glacier Explorer

 

So, my friend Captain Clint and I decided that the best thing to do on a hot day was to go swimming.

Come to find out, Running Crane Lake was the cure for this summer time scorcher.

There would be very little bushwhacking and lots of lovely clear lakes.

But there would also be absolutely no shade on an outrageously hot and sunny day.

 

RC1

 

Captain Clint, is actually a Captain.

He heads the Two Medicine faction of the Glacier Boat Company.

Countless visitors have experienced the park through his brand of intimate knowledge and sharp, witty banter.

He is one of the biggest characters I’ve ever met and we were “goinona mission”.

It was gonna be a good day…

Two Medicine to Running Crane Lake and return in a day.

And lay our overheating bodies in as many pools of water as possible.

This was our task…

 

RC2

 

We left Two Med at 6:15am and B-lined it to the Dry Fork Junction which is on the way towards Old Man Lake.

We paused to rest by the creek for five minutes before continuing on.

 

RC30

 

As we walked up hill slightly, we looked down where we were just sitting and saw a bear cruise down valley.

He was literally in the exact same spot we had just been resting five minutes earlier.

I’ll call that great timing for everyone involved.

 

RC3

 

From here on it was all off trail as we headed toward the saddle between Spot and Red Mountains.

 

RC4

 

I had been up there once before when my good friend Josh Paulson and I went to Lonely Lakes in 2005.

Josh is a well more comfortable climber than I was or still am.

I knew at the time that I had to start working on the off trail lakes and Josh helped work me into that era of the project.
He also turned me into a trekking pole believer!

Eight years later I owe the project to trekking poles, gaiters and goat trails.

Thanks for all your help and insight.

 

RC5

Josh and I in 2005.  It was windy… Really Windy…

 

This is an extremely windswept and barren valley.

In winter, the winds must absolutly howl through here.

There was a tiny rivulet stream running through flower filled scree.

 

RC6

 

Our early start allowed us to have shade until almost the saddle.

That was huge!

 

RC31

 

At the top we paused to take it all in.

Many climbers have stared down at the Lake Creek Valley, but few ever roam around in it.

Clint and I both knew how special this area and today was.

We had a lot of distance to cover, but were excited about the opportunity.

Seeing as it was July 2nd  and we had the opportunity, we both made a snow ball to throw over the cliff before dropping in.

That kind of stuff still makes two boys from Ohio and Texas smile.

 

RC7

 

We dug our heels in and scree skied directly down towards the Lonely Lakes.

Halfway down we had to choose a gulley and luckily chose correctly.

Once down at the lake we looked back at our descent and found that we took the only “good” way.

We kind of funneled down to the ideal cliff exit, which was consistent with how our day progressed.

 

RC30

 

Since our real objective was Running Crane Lake, we resisted temptation to hang out at the Lonelys and pressed up the next ridge.

 

RC8

 

We rose above Lonely Lakes which were cradled by Red Mountain’s namesake hues.

 

RC(

 

Eventually Running Crane came into view tucked high into the upper valley.

Josh and I peered out at Running Crane in 05’ but short on time, we left it for another trip…

 

RC10

 

Eight years later Clint and I hardly broke stride past my previous stopping point.

Onward across a couple snow fields and down bright red scree filled slopes.

 

RC11

 

As the lake came into view we noticed icebergs floating near the beach.

We both looked at each other and knew that those bergs were our destination.

How often do you get to climb out on icebergs on a 90 degree day?

This was going to happen!

 

RC12

 

The snow beyond the lake had a melt spot that looked exactly like a soaring eagle.

Clint liked the Eagle…

 

RC13

 

Hot from our hike here, we jumped in immediately and dealt with lunch and photos later.

 

RC13

 

Sprawled out on the rocky shore, we ate our lunch and smiled widely.

Clint was telling an animated story and threw his hands in the air.

At that exact moment, we looked left and saw two sub adult grizzly bears running away from the lake.

I don’t think they saw us until Ol’ Captain Clint told a rousing story about lord knows what!

I’m guessing they had some swimming plans of their own and they weren’t expecting that two loud humans got to the pool first.

I certainly do appreciate them letting us continue.

Thanks guys.

 

 

Obviously, from that point on I kept one eye out for the bears and one on my icebergs.

They never returned, which is good… but what an amazing sighting.

With the time we had left we hopped up on the icebergs which had started to float around by now.

 

RC14

 

We had to jump off before the wind blew us down lake.

Ah, July 2nd in Glacier National Park.

 

RC15

 

Clint eyed a high point on the ridge off Red Mountain and we pushed for it.

The views were amazing!

 

RC16

 

The skyline to the west was the Cutbank Valley and a sea of layered peaks.

 

RC17

 

To the north was the Madwolf Circuit with Eagle Plume directly above Running Crane.

The South was Red Mountain and the ridge we had just come over.

And, to the East was the Great Plains stretching past Browning and the Sweetgrass Hills all the way to Chicago…

 

RC18

 

Red Mountain is obviously red but the Eastern part of the ridge is tan.

At one point, there is the transition and it looked like the red and tan rocks had a fight.

Fallen rock soldiers strewn about, making the transition very chaotic.

 

RC19

 

As we wondered down the ridge it had officially gotten HOT!

The sun beat on us making the idea of the Lonely Lakes extremely inviting.

We made really good time by starting early and knowing the route from last time I was back here.

 

RC20

 

Just beyond the red and tan rock battle, we found a nice ramp back down to the lakes.

Clint had beaten me to the upper Lonely Lake.

While I was still high above the lake, I watched him cannonball off a lakeside boulder.

 

RC21

 

Thus began a two hour, swim, snack, swim, drink, swim, kick it fest at the Lonely Lakes.

 

RC22

 

There is a flower filled rock shelf separating the upper and lower lakes.

Between them are two tiny ponds which we named the Upper and Lower – Middle Lonely Ponds.

It’s a catchy name.

I know.

They were comparatively quite warm, but only about two feet deep.

Clint skied down a snow bank into the Upper Middle Lonely pond in his Chacos.

 

RC23

 

The lower Lonely Lake was spectacular also.

We continued our lazy, swimming ways while tucked into a piece of shade made by the rock shelf.

We must have said, “This is amazing” 763 times throughout the day.

We just somehow earned the perfect high elevation, mountain lake swimming extravaganza!

And on a hot day.

 

RC24

 

Last time I was back here it was 50 degrees and the wind was blowing so hard that I had to put rocks on my clothes so they wouldn’t fly away.

The swimming conditions were much different.

I would like to thank Good Juju, Glacier Park and a hot weather pattern for this one.

 

RC25

 

Eventually we left our cooling salvation and headed up the rocky ridge towards Two Medicine.

We took a slight detour to check out a vegetation filled waterfall chute.

Today was a good day!

The scree was soft, the ridges sound, the views extensive and crisp, and the water cold and clear.

 

 

A couple miles from Two Medicine we bumped into what we believe was the same black bear from this morning.

He didn’t seem to have any time for us.

We stepped off trail behind some trees and he cruised past us bound for his next destination

Clint and I mused about how he was headed home on his work commute.

This morning he headed down valley to his 9 to 5 and tonight he was headed back up valley.

Headed back to the casa to have a bear beer and put his paws up.

I figured we should follow suit.

 

Thanks for a great time Clint.

We got a hold of a great lake trip and four bears in one day.

That is certainly a Waterton Glacier Lake Jumping Project single day bear record.

Most of them aren’t this good and it was even better with the great company.

 

RC28

 

Josh Paulson, thanks for showing me the way on this one.

You’re the man.

May you all be having a great summer and enjoying your bear beer and your commute.

To Life,

Marc Ankenbauer

 

 

 

Nyack Lakes – Into the Abyss – Lakes #155 & #156

Anyone who has hiked the Dawson Pitamakin loop in Glacier knows where the Nyack Lakes are, they just might not know it.

They are these two little lakes at the bottom of what looks like an impossible drop 3000’ feet below the goat trail path that is the actual trail.  The only part of the Nyack Lakes that I’ve been excited about is simply to have them off “the list”.

Nyach Lakes 01 - Glacier Explorer

My trusty partner Pat and I have been debating the best way to address these lakes for years now.

No option is a “good” option.

Either climb 3000’ up to Dawson Pass then drop in on them 3000’ down a constant steep slope, then climb back up that 3000’ back to the Dawson Pass trail and drop back 3000’ back to Two Medicine Lake…OR

You get down there and bushwhack out two miles of 15’ high vegetation till you meet up with the upper Nyack trail and five more miles to a camp, then another 15 miles out the Nyack Valley to the Middle Fork of the Flathead, OR

Up 3000’ to Cutbank Pass which would have been 17 miles out to Two Medicine.

I know that read like a car stereo manual but it’s as straight forward a description that I could give.

Pat came to my apartment to stay and debate out methods, set on picking one or the other.

We sat looking at each other and not wanting to pick from the quiver of awful options.

We actually still had no plans set when we woke up at 6am.

“What are doing”? I asked?

Dunno…what do you want to do?

Dunno…

Wanna flip a coin?

Sure…

Nyach Lakes 02 - Glacier Explorer

So, Pat flipped a two Pence piece that oddly enough was sitting on my table in which I haven’t a clue where it came from but at 6am, you just flip the coin.  You don’t ask questions.

Three flips, landed on the “squiggly thing” twice.   This meant we camp and make it a two day endeavor…

So, obviously at the last moment we decided we were going to hike in and out in the same day.

Uh…6000’ feet elevation gain, 6000’ elevation loss.

14 hours later, we were done.  Never to go back again.

If you ever ponder this, Stop It.

Go somewhere else.  Fast.

Nyach Lakes 03 - Glacier Explorer

We caught a boat ride from a friend across Two Medicine lake covered in fog but calm as glass.

Nyach Lakes 04 - Glacier Explorer

It was truly an amazing sight.

Nyach Lakes 05 - Glacier Explorer

It was a great way to start a terrible death march.

Nyach Lakes 06 - Glacier Explorer

A hard frost had settled on the valley the night before leaving frozen leaves and visible breathe.

Two moose hung out a mile above the north shore of Two Medicine Lake.

Nyach Lakes 09 - Glacier Explorer

They were not too happy to have us push past.  One started to follow me.

When in doubt, NEVER mess with Moose.

They kill way more people a year then Grizzly Bears.  They just freak out and stomp on you till you are mush.

The north shore trail was posted for Grizzly activity, so we made a whole lot of noise at this early hour.

Nyach Lakes 09 - Glacier Explorer

The walk up towards the Dawson Pass was great, cool and the lighting was amazing.

Nyach Lakes 10 - Glacier Explorer

When we arrived at pass, we also saw about 10 bighorn sheep.

Nyach Lakes 11 - Glacier Explorer

Two even butted heads silhouetted by a sea of mountains.

Pretty beer commercial of them.

Above Dawson Pass is a shoulder of Flinch Peak and from there extends a flat almost goat trail that leads four miles along the continental divide.

Most hikers enjoy the views as they stroll effortlessly along the spine of the continent.

Nyach Lakes 12 - Glacier Explorer

We, instead surveyed for a good route down to two arbitrary bodies of water at the bottom of a truly enormous valley.

As we sat enjoying a snack and making decisions, two CDT hikers passed by.

A French Canadian guy was hiking with an older fella with a ZZ TOP beard and a Mountain Hardwear kilt.

Off course he did, why wouldn’t he?

We exchanged plans.  They told us that they would watch as we descended the slope.

If they saw anything catastrophic, they would hit the emergency button their SPOT locator.  We hoped they would not have to do it, but always nice to have people watching out for you.

Nyach Lakes 13 - Glacier Explorer

The whole time I planned this trip, I figured that I would have two nasty marshes to jump into if I waited too long into the season.

In hind sight I think we stumbled into the best possible scenario.

Nyach Lakes 14 - Glacier Explorer

There is a series of cliffs that a month earlier would still have been running water and making everything slick along with steep.

Instead we found a perfect set of cliffs.

Nyach Lakes 15 - Glacier Explorer

Every time we looked further down slope it seemed they we would cliff out and when we got to there, it was a manageable way to continue.

Thus we dubbed them the illusion cliffs.

Nyach Lakes 16 - Glacier Explorer

The brush on the other hand was horrendous.

Fifteen foot high alder bushes interspersed with prickly whatnot.

Pat forgot to wear convertible pants.  So, when it got nasty, I tossed on my pant legs then threw the gaiters over them.

He is an animal, but his knees were on fire throughout the whole bushwhack and what he said was way into the night.

We plodded though a thick curtain of brush for about an hour.

We tripped a few times over invisible downed trees and Pat even bent one of his trekking poles.

Nyach Lakes 17 - Glacier Explorer

After a while you pretty much lose your mind.

It’s impossible for me to explain the weirdness that ensues when you have been being ripping through mile after mile of plant material.

You have to constantly be yelling so you don’t surprise a bear…

Bushwhacking is a part of this project that never ceases to seem odd.

Why on earth are we doing this?

We are so far beyond the middle of nowhere, screaming and hollering and somewhere , somehow…

We find this fun.  We are happy.

Happy screaming at the top of our lungs such inane things as “Bob Saget” and my uncle’s friend Joe Buckles name.

Or, how about Arnold Schwarzenegger quotes like “get on the choppa”!!

Odd…

Nyach Lakes 18 - Glacier Explorer

Well, eventually we popped out of the brush into a huge marsh.

But, like I said, it was perfect.  It was all dry.

It would have been awful, almost impossible earlier in the season.

Nyach Lakes 19 - Glacier Explorer

So, I put on my water shoes and Pat his Croc’s and we started plodded through foot deep mud enroute to the lakes.

Nasty as it may have been, it worked.

Nyach Lakes 20 - Glacier Explorer

I hopped in the upper lake which was so much nicer than I had ever expected.

Nyach Lakes 21 - Glacier Explorer

I stayed in my swimming trucks and we just pushed down the creek to the lower lake, and hopped in.

Nyach Lakes 22 - Glacier Explorer

Pat has the luxury to pick the lake he wants to swim, since he is just along to make sure I don’t kill myself.

Nyach Lakes 23 - Glacier Explorer

He picked the pleasant lower one with a great view of Mt. Tinkham in the distance.

We enjoyed a short 30 minute lunch, swim, water pumping, video filming and pixie sticking….

Huh?

Pixie Sticking?

Well, no matter how much water you drink to rehydrate, you are also losing salts.

So, we bring Gatorade mix with us.

There is simply too much time involved in mixing it, so we just pour the powder in our mouths and wash it down with a swig of water.

Nyach Lakes 24 - Glacier Explorer

Like eating pixies sticks.

More or less, it works.

I kinda like it, really.

I can’t express how disheartening it was to sit by these lovely little lakes looking up at the ridge we had to regain.

We just did it.  Why did we have to walk back?

I mean, REALLY?

Uh…

I actually see trips like this as being a good analogy for life.

I can’t just build a house.

I can’t not do it.

You just, pick yourself up and keep going.

Hard as it may be, you gotta just do it.

So, we headed out towards the task at hand.

Nyach Lakes 25 - Glacier Explorer

We kept trying to figure out where the trail was…

Somewhere above that grey strip of rock.  A few hundred feet above it.

Did I mention…Uh…

Also, I can’t find my bear spray.

Yeah…

I couldn’t find it.

Nyach Lakes 26 - Glacier Explorer

I hopped the creek and went back looking for it, but no luck.

So, off to the thickest of the thick and now… also defenseless.

Nyach Lakes 27 - Glacier Explorer

So, I stayed that much closer to Pat who had the sole bear spray.

Nyach Lakes 28 - Glacier Explorer

So, We Yelled LOUDER AND LOUDER!!!!  BOB SAGET!!!!  JOE BUCKLES!!!   HEY OH!!!!

The brush seemed a bit better headed up hill for some reason, but I think it was that we were just over it.

Climb over a down tree, Check.

Walk directly into Alder bushes and brush seven feet above our heads…Check.

Just, HOME!

Nyach Lakes 29 - Glacier Explorer

The rock and cliffs though seemed well worse headed up hill.

Nyach Lakes 30 - Glacier Explorer

Loose scree, talus slopes, the illusion cliffs…

Nyach Lakes 31 - Glacier Explorer

Onward!!

Nyach Lakes 32 - Glacier Explorer

All a race with time as we just simply didn’t have that much daylight left.

Nyach Lakes 33 - Glacier Explorer

At one point, when I was just beat and staring uphill at Pat whose young legs carry him faster up the steep slopes, he yelled out.

TRAIL!!

Nyach Lakes 34 - Glacier Explorer

Pixie Sticks or not, I had started getting cramps in my hamstrings.  His shouts of joy pushed me uphill and on to the trail though.

We had an hour and half before complete darkness.  We had to drop 3000 feet in 4 ½ miles…And we had to haul it.

Nyach Lakes 35 - Glacier Explorer

Dig for that extra energy that really doesn’t exist.  Just the thought of missing our friend’s boat pick up spurred us on.  We didn’t want to do even more miles and in the dark.

So, ONWARD!!!

Nyach Lakes 36 - Glacier Explorer

As in hurry as we may have been, we had to stop for a couple pictures on Dawson Pass.

Not often are you sitting on top of a huge pass at sunset.

Normally you make sure you aren’t stuck in that situation.

So, you have to click a few.  Thanks Pat, for making me stop a minute.

Amazing View!

Nyach Lakes 37 - Glacier Explorer

So, we ripped it out.  Somewhere along the way we decided that we were going to scream like the guys selling beer at a baseball game.

Instead of beer and peanuts, we were selling Tepid Huckleberries…

Don’t ask.  I don’t know.

So, as we bombed down the pass towards Two Medicine Lake, we were selling “TEPID HUCKS” in our best Brooklyn accent.  I bet the poor people staying at No Name Campground hadn’t a clue of what these two Looney’s we yelling about…

But we liked it.

Got to the boat dock at dark, picked up and by our friend and whisked away to a grilled cheese sandwich and cold lemonade….  Well, and a beer.

But, oh the Lemonade!!!

To Life!

So how about you? Have you ever had to do something that you knew you were gonna hate, but then it ended up being pretty good? If so, tell me about it in the comments. (Did I mention I’ve got a new commenting system *hint *hint.)

Old Man Lake – With a National Geographic Film Crew – #117

Big News !!So, in the future when you hear about some knucklehead roaming around in the middle of the mountains trying to jump in every named lake in Waterton and Glacier National Parks……..It very well may be while watching a documentary about Glacier on the National Geographic Channel.
 
What?Yeah!!!No…Really…What?
 
A very nice guy I know that holds a pretty high position in Glacier was contacted by National Geographic because they were doing a documentary entitled “Wild Spaces – Glacier National Park”. It is an installment of a series about the wildest National Parks in the country.
They were hoping to find a good human interest story about the park and he passed my story on to them.

They then contacted me and we worked out the specifics.

Actually it was funny, I checked my email one day and this was the subject title.

FW: National Geographic – Man who jumps in lakes.

I stopped for a moment and thought…Wait, that’s me…..

I was absolutely floored when I read the email. As you can obviously imagine.

They wanted to make sure they were doing a lake that I had never done before and capture the whole process on film.

That is not that easy to accomplish these days, as most of the lakes that I have not been to are getting to be extremely removed and inaccessible.

Luckily, for the last few years while I was making major strides in the project there has been a lot of grizzly activity at a lake called Old Man Lake. The campground at the lake has been closed for the last couple years, so I have been essentially ignoring it.

We really lucked out. There is nothing as beautiful and simultaneously still on a trail as Old Man Lake.

So, I drove to East Glacier on Wednesday and met Brian and Chad at the Two Medicine Grill for breakfast. Brian was the producer and Chad was his assistant.
We got to know each other a bit and off we went.

Perfect day for a swim. It was warm, blue skies, and not too much wind. Just enough to keep the bugs from being real bad.

They would stop me at a section and set up their video camera. Then they would have me walk across a foot bridge and then pan out to all of the mountains as I walked into the far distance.

The hardest part was a bit when we hit flat trail and the producer wanted to ask me some questions while we walked backwards. He was walked slowly backwards and would ask me interview questions with the camera in my face.
He would like what I had to say, but I would say “um” or walk off screen in the wrong direction, or look at the camera instead of him.

He would then have me say it again.

But the problem is that I don’t know what I said. I would then start to preface what I said earlier.
I realized that restating something with the same enthusiasm and as genuinely, over and over again is very tough. I give credit to actors.
I can’t recreate and plan spontaneity. It goes against the main tenants of the word spontaneity. Odd.

We got it though. When it comes out on video, hopefully you won’t even notice a difference. I did though.

We got to the lake and shot an interview and the actual swimming portion after lunch.

Actually, I did not eat lunch till after the shoot. I felt like if there was ever a moment in time that Marc Ankenbauer did not need to have a big lunch it was right before he took his shirt off for a documentary for National Geographic.

I was all fine with all of this. I mean it was a great honor and a once in a lifetime experience.
But, come on. Any of you out there that would like to be the big, bald, kinda frumpy bald guy with a farmers tan that was filmed for an hour with no shirt getting in and out of a mountain lake in broad day light.
I imagine if everything goes right and I make the editing process; you may very well be watching the sun bounce off of my white Montana farmers tan chest for many years to come in syndication while sitting around on a lazy Sunday afternoon watching TV on the couch.

Eeehhh..

It is what it is and I am very lucky to have gotten this much exposure. (Literally and figuratively) Ha-ha..

I was able to explain that I was raising money and awareness for childrens cancer. I’ll do most anything for that kind of help.

Anyway, back to the scene. All went wonderfully!!. They really went all out. They even submerged themselves with an underwater camera and had me swim over them and swim at them. Crazy. I still can’t believe that this happened. Know?

I mean they had me in a 40 something degree lake for about an hour off and on. Getting out, getting back in. Getting back out again. Swimming back and forth and back again.

Camera’s are funny things I’ll tell you..

I was told that this will not even air on National Geographic Television until about November of next year. We have plenty of time to wait.

Anyway, that is my story. Old Man Lake was number 117 in all. I have 51 left and it is high season for busting out some more.

I hope the summer is treating everyone very well.
Get out there and enjoy it. You will have your winter coat on before you know it.

To Life,
Marc

Sky Lake Bid – A whole lot of straight up

Speaker:
Good Morning everyone,
Can I see a show of hands…Who here has been to the Two Medicine valley of Glacier National Park? It’s in the southeastern corner…Huh…..
Great, that’s actually a good amount of you.

Speaker:
Yes, Maam? You in the back with the blue shirt on…Do you have a question?

Lady:
Dmoiunamdklsdfjlkoiwekdfasdklfj (enter Charlie Browns teacher sound.)

Speaker:
I’m going to repeat your question, I’m not sure everyone understood, uh…..heard it…

She asked: What is the highest mountain in the Two Medicine area? Also, is it true that the highest elevation named lake in the park is in a hanging basin on that mountain?

Speaker:
Well, you are very correct. The mountain is called Rising Wolf and the highest elevation lake in the park is nestled in a hole on the east side of it…

I know I’ve got a picture around here somewhere of that mountain…Gimme a second… While I look for it, allow me to recount the day my friend Laura and I scrambled up to it…

*(enter dream sequence sounds from movies like Wayne’s World..)

It was a slow start to a hot and sunny day, as the residents of the St. Mary trailer park awoke. There was the normal scramble at the end of the night before attempting to figure out what to do for the next day. Laura and I had the day off and we were staring at the Glacier map that is tacked on the living room wall. This thing is tattoed into our subconscious but it’s still nice to have map. We could, blah, blah..or maybe blah, blah….

As the morning drug on I was enjoying too much coffee and lazy conversation…Laura was being patient, but forced me to decide… we decided that the only day hike left on the east side of the park that ends in a lake and could be started at noon is Sky Lake in Two Med.

Off we go, zooming down the east side border of the park in Laura’s trusty steed TT. As we approach Two Med we peer down into the valley at our day’s project.

The mountain on the far right is Rising Wolf. The red scree slope in the center is directly above Sky Lake in a small hanging valley. During the early season there is a spectacular waterfall that jets right out of the hanging valley and runs a couple thousand feet to the main valley below.

This is a very short yet angular route. I looked at it every day while I worked down here in 2005. From the Two Medicine Ranger Station you can see that you simply walk straight up the side of Rising Wolf for 2500’ to the top of that ridge to the right of the summit. Easy as that…huh?

It can’t be more than a mile but you raise 2500’. From the second you walk off trail and head through the brush you are headed up hill.

We picked our way through the cliffs and loose rock.

If there is a positive, it’s so steep that every time you take a step you are about a foot higher on the mountain than you were before. You gain some serious elevation quick.

Here we are looking back down on Two Medicine developed area. The campground is to the left next to Pray Lake and then the ranger station, picnic area, camp store and boat docks are to the right on Middle Two Medicine Lake.

Nearing the top you can see that this was an amazingly steep incline.

We are happy to gain the top of the ridge.

We could not drop down the other side at this point, so we had to climb around on the top of the ridge to a better spot for decent on the lake.

We got further down the ridge and we found a spot that was “acceptable” to try and climb down.

Laura led the way through the cliffs, this girl is a goat.

She quickly was down bottom waiting for her slow hiking partner.

So, a quick interjection. I lost my sunglasses right before this hike. You don’t go hiking around in the windy/sunny mountains with out sunglasses. Well, what do you do then?
You take sunglasses from anyone that can offer them, and that includes your female friends. That is how this picture came about. Thanks for the glasses Anna.

While we were climbing back up to the ridge top, I snapped a picture of where the waterfall normally comes out of the lake. So, remembering back to the first picture, this just reinforces how much this basin is just perched on the side of a mountain.

From the top of the ridge you can see out into the plains that start rolling east as you get out of the park.


After a good boot picture we started climbing back down.

There was a band at Charlie’s which is the best bar on the planet. We got things to do..


So, down, down, down it is…

When we got back down to Laura’s car I ran in to a good friend.

Mr. Pat Hagen who is a naturalist in the Two Medicine Valley and has been since before Rising Wolf dated Sinopah. Sorry, a little Two Med humor.

Pat wrote a book a few years ago called Seasonal Disorder, well worth the read. It’s about the mental and emotional affliction that is seasonal work addiction, but using well more funny words. Check it out on Amazon.com.

So, anyway, he read my blog and knows of my deranged lake idea, and he is under the impression that I should take my stories and write a book. He has gotten in my head since then, I have been thinking about it a lot since. Any opinions? I’m open to them..

So, to all of you… I miss you much and wish you well. Summer smells of fall and cooler temperatures. We got our first light dusting of snow in the highest of the peaks the other day. It went virtually unnoticed and burnt off within hours.

Go enjoy that summer weather while it’s still there..it’s fleeting in some peoples backyards.

Other than that,
Thanks for taking care of us, Rising Wolf..
You have always been a good mountain to me….

To Life,
Marc