Conquering Old Chief Mountain

Justin's cousin Tara got married mid August. At the reception we heard that a bunch of the cousins were going up Chief Mountain the next day. Those of you who aren't from Southern Alberta most likely have no clue what Chief Mountain is. It is a big shale covered square rock on the eastern border of Glacier National Park that is falling apart as we speak. Old Chief is a big piece of Justin's heritage though, if we are going to get sentimental. His Grandpa Low has climbed it over 45 times! They made a video for the Cardston Temple visitors center and Grandpa Bob Low was the main character in the film climbing Old Chief. Justin has always wanted to take me up, and since I'm not pregnant or nursing and a big group of family was going it sounded like the perfect time!

Our pre-hike picture at the base of where the hike starts. I'd be lying if I didn't say I was nervous. The whole hour trip to the mountain Uncle Ron and his girls were telling us of all of the crazy things that happened the last few times they went up...crazy weather, hail, snow, wind, a girl that got going too fast down the shale and ended up going head over heels several times...lots of stories. My problem is I am very accident prone. I wasn't afraid of the hike, I was afraid of getting injured, because quite frankly I do it a lot and it is inconvenient! Having to deal with that while taking care of 3 little ones and living life isn't worth the great view for me! There. I said it!!! Yet alas, I really have wanted to hike this with Justin and we did and all was well and we had a great time. Looking back I am glad I did it.

A little further into the hike.

And a little further.

It was funny to see the shape of old chief change as we walked around the side of it. When you drive up from the states you watch it morph into several different shapes before you see the big square face from straight on.

That one in the back is Needle Mountain or something.

Some of the gang on one of our pit stops.

The Rockies!

Canada

Part of the trail we came up. We actually did a lot of bush wacking, especially on the way back home. We got a bit lost... I think there are people in this picture somewhere...

I really did save everyone by holding up this rock while they walked past. I know, I'm strong. I work out. And it certainly paid off in this moment. 



Another odd view of Old Chief. The back side. Here we are with some of the cousins that came...Amy, Mary, Annie, Karen, Jaclyn, Connor, Me, Uncle Ron, and Jaclyn's Justin.  



Me and Needle Mountain. My only regret is that I carried that stupid sweater the whole way. It was a perfect day for hiking, but I thought, we are in windy Southern Alberta and even though there isn't any wind now, there will be near the top. Or some freak storm is going to roll in just like Uncle Ron was scaring me about. :) But it didn't. The Lord knows what we can handle and he sent me perfect hiking conditions the entire time or else I might have had a panic attack...not on this easy stuff, but on the shale and the cliffs soon to come.

Part of Glacier National Park behind me (I think!). BEAUTIFUL! If you've never been there, you need to come up! And visit me while you are at it too!

THIS is where my panic attack starts...Getting nervous right before going up the back side of Old Chief. Oh shale.

What's shale?? I didn't know. But when we got to the back I found out. It is a bunch of various size rocks, mostly sharp and jagged, that you have to walk up. As you walk, they slide down and you sometimes slide with them. Basically you are climbing a rock slide. A really steep rock slide. There aren't really any solid foundation rocks you can grab on to to steady yourself either. And when you think you've found a steady rock, don't totally trust it because looks can be very deceiving, right Connor? He almost got his foot pinned under a boulder... Oh yeah, and step lightly as you don't want to knock any rocks loose because they may hit the people coming up behind you, gathering speed as they roll down, down, down. So now I am not only worried about my safety but of the safety of all of the other hikers, including a 10 yr old boy, behind me. Steer clear!!! I was seriously stressed out the entire time and literally crawled up the last half of the shale! But I am a major worry wart. I like to call it a prepared planner. :)

This picture kind of captures more of the steepness of it.

Near the top. The shale leads to little cliffs covered in shale. Here I am crawling up the mountain side. Nice view, eh? :) Glad I had my trusty sweater for this shot!

DANGER! It looks scarier than it was.

I even did it, so you know it couldn't have been that bad! :)

Ahhhh!!! Pretty cool though.

The view from the top. Everyone kept asking if I felt like it was all worth it now for this view...Hmmm...I was stressing too much about going down the shale without going head over heels to really care too much for the view! Sad, I know! Good thing I took a few pictures!

I loved the little mountain lakes that were connected by streams. They were beautiful and BLUE!



After we got to what I thought was the top I was told we had to walk another 10 minutes to the real top...another flat landing 400 yards away, separated by 2 deep crevices...Whaaaa?? Isn't this good enough? :) Nope. I just went with it, walked on the 3 foot wide path with drop offs on each side pretending it was a side walk. I'm just walking on a sidewa--ahhh! I touched that "peak" marker and felt a tiny bit of accomplishment. Here we are with Robbie...



And Karen...

And Dallin made it too!!!

And here is the whole gang. This was a pretty scary picture to get. Our group was BIG and the top was not so big! "I'm on the edge...of glory" The theme song for the hike. I don't know how many times it was sung. Thank you Lady Gaga. :)

Supposedly these man made rock piles are called Karens. Well, actually Cairns, so we had to get a picture of Karen with one! That one kind of looks like her, hey?

Us on the way down. I spent a lot of time on my bum. Another reason that sweater came in handy I guess. Padding. Although it knocked some rocks loose...whoops. This was scary going down. I didn't want to get going too fast, and like I said, you never knew what rock was going to be stable and what wasn't. I know I am a worry wart, but I had never done anything like this before and didn't know what to expect. When I finally caught up to Justin, he held my hand down the worst part of the shale and we skied down it together. That was actually fun! Once you got the hang of it and I could make myself take big steps and just slide down. I liked that. :)

And the end. Man the way home seemed like it took FOREVER! We got lost and came out a completely different way that we went in, but we made it! Few! I still don't want to see or step on any rocks. I saw and walked on enough rocks for the next 3 years. :)

I told everyone to make the face of how they REALLY felt after being done. Look at those keeners celebrating. You know you were all sore and exhausted...

After the hike we all met up at Justin's house and had a family dinner with all of the Uncles, Aunts, and Cousins that were still in town for the wedding. It was SO fun! I love the family that I married into. They are wonderful people and I really enjoy being with all of them. That makes me happy, especially since all of my family lives so far away. It is good to have some family close by.
Anyway, Aunt Shirley is a very musical lady. She even teaches music classes at preschools all around Edmonton. When we are all together we have a big sing along. I think they always used to do this at Grandma Low's growing up. So fun.

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Here, you can join in on the sing along fun!!

Don't they all look like they are having a blast!! :)



Grandma and Grandpa Low, you guys are so great. Just look at all of your posterity! We love you!

And the rest of the gang.

The moon on our late night drive home. It looked way cooler in real life, low on the horizon and orange, but you kinda get the picture. What a beautiful day. I am glad I am still alive and intact physically and mentally. :) Would I do it again? If I have to. :) I am perfectly content never going again, however I do think it would be better the 2nd time around because I have an idea of what is coming and how to handle it. I don't like surprises...I'll just spend all the rest of my summers pregnant or nursing. :) I do have to say though, whenever I drive to Cardston and see Old Chief looking at me, I think, I conquered you. And it makes me feel good. :)