Swiftcurrent Lookout (Day Five)

We stayed in bed til 9am for some much needed rest that wasn’t so easy to get due to the snoring in other rooms. For breakfast we upgraded to Bagels and Cream Cheese for some extra energy. Taking a hike was inevitable, but we didn’t want it to be to long since we did the 8 miles the day before and had 9 coming up the next day. After talking to Lars he said we should head up to Swiftcurrent Look Out, which was only 2.4 miles away, well except for the 2300 ft gain! The last mile was nearly straight up and one of the most difficult miles we had done on the entire trip. That aside when we got to the top we were at 8436 ft with a 360 degree view of the park. Breathtaking! After snapping a few pictures and hanging around for a minute we here a voice from the look out tower “Do you want to come in and warm up? I can offer some Tea and Coffee”. How could we say no?

Buck lives in the lookout tower for the summers as a volunteer. He watches over the park for any forest fires that may occur. It seems like a pretty lonely place up there, but he has a spectacular view and all the solitude you could want. As he made us coffee and tea, we got a glimpse of what it’s like to live up there, and he seems to really enjoy it. He also gave us tips on hikes to do in the park.

We trekked back down the mountain and cooked some lunch back at the chalet. Our afternoon consisted of reading, taking in the view and playing games. This led into dinner, a sunset and bedtime.