After weeks of anticipation, at last our promised day off dawned over the Rocky Mountains. With such a large park, we had many options to choose from for what to do in Glacier National Park in a condensed time period. Some of us now-permanent early risers opted to visit the park as soon as it opened to use the shuttle system and visit various spots and hikes, while another group chose to visit the west side of the park at a similarly early hour and hike the Grinnell Glacier trail, and some chose to take the day off seriously and relax. Our steadfast van driver Nina and safety nav Kelly for our ride out of Glacier opted to ride the Going-to-Sun Road and got a chance to experience the magic for themselves. Hats off to fearless leader Avery as well, who took on the road, driving the lunch truck over the pass to leave on the other side for the next day.
As for how everyone’s days went I can only report great things, those jagged stone peaks and enchanting valleys with deep turquoise lakes would captivate anyone. However, woken up by the sun and stoked on eating more cereal out of a bag, I will further speak to the experience of hiking up to Grinnell Glacier. After packing up camp and hiding all our scented items (there is no shortage of BE BEAR AWARE signs in the area), about eight of us took the van out to the west side of Glacier. We ate a classic B&B breakfast and stuffed our bags with sandwiches and trail mix and set off on a trail that led us past glacial lakes, hillsides bursting with mountain wildflowers, colorful rocks, and waterfalls. It slowly got warmer and we climbed a solid 2200 feet and finally arrived at ridge where we could look down at the glacier and the valley behind us.
One common thread since our arrival to the Rockies is how unreal it all feels - the mountains seem impossibly massive and looking down into the valley makes you feel a very small part of it all, like a tiny little ant on wheels. Of course, a body of water, even if it was filled with ice, presented a classic opportunity for us…to get in! After a lot of mental preparation we very quickly jumped in and scrambled out. I’m not entirely sure how to describe being in glacial water besides it feeling like all your nerves activate. Afterwards, we dried off and warmed up in the sun, looking at the views before hiking down and running into a bighorn sheep directly on the trail.
Eventually, everyone came back to the camp site and we had a classic cooler dinner before going to bed before the sun went down. It was an amazing day filled with wildlife and stunning views all around. Not so bad for our one day off!
Cheers,
Masha
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