From the summit, we hiked down the steep backside to Picnic Lakes, and then following the Alpine 7 trail, we crossed through Noisy Notch and back to Camp Misery (watch Vida’s scholarly explanation of this name).
A jewel indeed! The Jewel Basin is nestled atop the Swan Range above the Flathead Valley, and it is a hiker’s paradise with miles and miles of well-maintained trails.

On this trip, Vida, Jeff, and I ascended up an exposed ridge to the summit of Mount Aeneas. This mountain is the namesake of Kootenai Chief Aeneas Paul (also known as Big Knife II) who was born in 1828. He is believed to be one of the negotiators of the Hell Gate Treaty of 1855, and an interpreter for missionaries such as Father Pierre Jean DeSmet.

With Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness close by, the Jewel Basin is thankfully overlooked by the tourist crowd.