Gail, Ramona and I took two days off to head up to Glacier National Park for one last adventure before I leave the Northwest. We didn't plan things out too carefully...just got directions, found out the cost of a campsite, borrowed a friends equipment- and away we go!! (Bears? Soap? Sunscreen??)
On Tuesday morning we woke up early, drove up, arrived awed by the beauty of Montana in general- especially Glacier National Park itself- and then did a 4.5 mile hike before heading back to the campsite to 'chillax' (play cards, roast marshmellows etc.)
The next morning we couldn't get our stove to work, so we ended up trading a bag of brownies for two mugs worth of hot water (we REALLY wanted some tea!!) Then we packed our things and then headed up to Logan Pass, elevation: 6646 ft., (right on the continental divide) to do a longer hike. We realized at every turn why people seemed shocked that we were only staying one night...most stay for about a week in an attempt to absorb all this beauty. It is an incredible place.
I was insistent on doing a 'bigger' hike and from 'up high' so we could see more. This ended up being 11.6 miles through the Rockies...BEAUTIFUL!! And difficult! Especially since the last 4 miles were all "downhill" (quotations to indicate understatement!) and had no shade since almost the entire face of that mountain had been burned in a fire from 2003. I should also mention that the campsite eight miles in had no running water, and I only had a half-liter bottle of water. DOH!! (Hydration?)
When we got to the bottom we waited for a shuttle to take us along the 16 mile road back to where our car was. After an hour and a half of waiting and seeing about seven shuttles heading down the mountain while only two already-full ones had come up, I decided to hitch. A young guy in a pick-up stopped and offered the back of his truck. He was instantly my favorite person in the world, so the three of us hopped in, followed by four others who had been waiting with the crowd and amid cheers from people waiting to go down who had been rooting for me while I hitched. ("Pick her up!!")
So despite not being able to move to well today, and the worst sunburn I can remember having, I think I can speak for all that it was in incredible trip and will be a joy to think back on.
Here is a shot of a mountain goat that came walking down the trail- it's fuzzy because I barely had time to grab my camera after jumping out of its way. (Note- my camera is not zoomed in at all!)
There was much to meditate on while hiking in mountains on the Feast of the Transfiguration. Also, it occurred to me while walking across the snow that last August I was walking across snow in the Andes, now here I am in the northern Rockies. Next August??
"Rise, and do not be afraid."
