Sperry
Chalet
 Sperry
Chalet is a 3432 ft. climb from Lake McDonald lodge, 6.8 miles
each way. On the way up we came across a group of park workers
on pack animals. They were supplying the chalet for the next season.
We were warned that a grizzly bear kept them waiting for half
an hour. I was hiking with two local hikers and we were armed
with pepper spray. We decided to hike up a little farther and
stop for lunch, well before where the bear was spotted, and wait
and see if anyone else would come along. After lunch still noone
had come along. We were about to abandon the climb when down the
trail came 2 park workers with chainsaws and shovels, they had
not spotted the grizzly but informed us that it has been in the
area for over a week. Deciding to continue we prepared our spray
cans and started back up the trail
As we continued to
ascend the noise from Sprague
Falls got louder the plants closed in and the grade got steeper.
Now were approaching the bear's area and he would not be able
to see of hear us coming. We started yelling to announce our presence
and hoped that he would hear us over the noise of the falls.
 Finally
we reaches the sub-—alpine zone where the vegetation decreased
and we could see the area around us. unfortunately the grade increased
and now we were in the open sun climbing steeply.
Well needless to say
we made to the chalet and were greeted by a family of mountain
goats who walked right up and insisted that I take lots of photographs.
At the chalet the park
workers have built a state of the are $1,.000,000 solar powered
composting toilet. That Darn thing has enough power supply to
power a rock concert, true overkill.
A few more shots before parting Back
to the introduction to Glacier
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