Extra Walking

Alright, Glacier National Park, here we go! Almost. I got up and ready to go, bag packed, and eagerly set out for the visitors’ center. I hustled there to make sure I had a spot in line for the 8:30AM shuttle. I crossed the bridge and entered the parking lot, spied my parents in the line, and jaunted over full of excitement.

There was a long line, which peaked my curiosity. And then the look on my parents faces didn’t match my excitement, so worry grew. Come to find out, the shuttle was having mechanical issues and the 8:00AM one hadn’t even taken off yet! Noooo! I wasn’t eager to drive after 7 days on the road, but I also didn’t want to wait around to find out if the shuttle may get up and running. So we made a quick decision to head back to my camping spot and start up Sunny. Eight tenths of a mile back, I was framing this a a good warm up for the hike.

Once we hopped in Sunny and took off, driving was smooth. As we approached the trailhead, parking lots looked mighty full. Ok, no problem, we can go to the next one, I thought. Well the next one was full, and then the pull out was full, and then we were about a mile from the trailhead in a pull out that didn’t say “no parking” but also clearly wasn’t a designated parking area. Well it was this or we bag the hike, so I was brave and left Sunny there, hoping for the best.

We headed down the side of the road, being careful to move over when cars passed, to the trailhead. The good news is the walk to the trailhead was slightly down hill. The less stellar news was our intended 4 mile hike was already 2.6 miles for me and we hadn’t even hit the trailhead. Ugh.

Once we hit the trailhead, some of the stress from the day melted away. The hurdles of the morning were behind us and we were still going to make this happen. The sun was out, the sky was blue, and I was at GNP. Life was still pretty great.

The trail started out through a forest reinvented itself after a forest fire many years ago. The charred trees still stood tall, gray and weather, but warriors nonetheless. All around them life was restarting, green shrubs and saplings and wildflowers emerging. Mother Nature is so resilient. She is inspiring.

We meandered along the river, soaking up the sun, and soon came to the first waterfall: St. Mary’s Falls. The icy water poured over the ledge and dropped into a swirling teal pool below. The power of the water pounding down made it bubble up, like a volcano about to erupt. It then escaped and flowed under the bridge and out into the river, onto its next adventure. The sun hit the mist just right too and a small rainbow formed. It brought me so much happiness.

After admiring the power of water for a bit, we continued on to the next spectacle. The great thing about continuing just a little further down a trail in a national park is that the crowds thin out. Ahhhh. We passed two more unnamed waterfalls, each a fun slide of water twisting and turning down rock chutes. We paused briefly at each, planning to stop and admire them more thoroughly on our way back.

Our final destination on the hike was Virginia Falls and it did not disappoint. A tall tower of water plummeted over a cliff edge and misted us with a welcome cool bath. The roar was immense and rhythmic. While I enjoyed being right there at the falls, being down below on a rock in the middle of the river, sitting and looking up at the cascade was even better. I had the spot all to myself for a while and it was just lovely.

On our way back we stopped for lunch, lingering at a smaller but no less wonderful waterfall. Climbed like mountain goes down to the bottom of another for a different view. And paused back at St. Mary’s to marvel at the unbelievable color of water one more time.

As we hiked out, someone passed up and said, “Kathleen?” My mom kept going but I said, “Yesss?” It happened to be my mom’s cousin, her husband, and daughter! What a fabulous surprise! We embraced each other and tried not to block the trail, but it was just so surprising and exciting! What are the odds? We chatted with the Melaney’s for a while but eventually had to go. The mini family reunion was definitely an added highlight of the day!

Hearts full and heads happy, we continued out. I walked the extra mile back to get the van, narrowly made it out of my parking spot, and drove back to pick up my parents at the trailhead. After dropping them off at their bikes, I opted for a quiet afternoon alone and found a secluded spot on St. Mary’s Lake to relax. A little sun bathing, a very quick and chilly dips in the water, and some rock hunting was a perfect end to the day.