"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
-John Muir
The trail is flat only for a short stretch, then takes off uphill. When I say uphill, I am not just whistling Dixie. The first part wasn’t bad, but the second half felt like the trail dogs must have said, “Let’s just get this thing done,” and cut the path straight up the mountain. About a mile from the pass we emerged from the timberline into alpine megafauna territory. Sure enough, we found a bighorn sheep perched on a cliff eyeing us suspiciously. Her partner in crime was blocking the trail. Kevin had to talk her out of our way. Had she been a ram we would have had trouble. Those dudes are huge and would think nothing of pounding a hiker into next week, yet we saw people feeding them in the parking lot at Logan Pass.
We didn’t make it. Justin and Shelley got there first and the boat was nowhere in sight. We waited around on the off chance they might return for one last trip, but no luck. At 6:00 we gave in and chose to hike around the south side, thankful that it stays light pretty late here. Kevin commented, “Maybe God allowed us to do this to ourselves so He could show us a moose.”
We met AJ and Rachel because I chickened out of Angels Landing. We got to know Justin and Shelley because we missed a boat. We found Kim and Chris, Debbie and Scott, and the Boyinks because we ditched our introverted tendencies long enough to reach out either in a campground or through a blog. All these relationships have been pleasantly on my heart and mind for the last few days and I think this is what I will remember first when I recall our time in Glacier.
So I think maybe I missed the boat on what God wanted me to see in this park: it isn't about the splendid beauty of the mountains, it's about what God can bring through the beauty of His people.
-Jenni