Day 22 Glaciers National Parks 2011
It’s a good thing I slept in a double sleeping bag, I was
so cold last night. I did not get up until I felt
the soft warm sun through the tent. It
was lovely, warm, inviting, and gentle. The
wind was continuous in the morning, yet it had become a gentle persistent cold
wind. I did not have to wear my
beanie.
I knew which trails I wanted to do each day and I felt a
need to get on with it. But I was tired
and did not get up until 9:50am. I
rolled up when it was no longer a struggle and stressful. It is safer this way, to do things after a
full rest. The last time I didn’t do
that, I fell and tore my ankle and hurt the entire right side of my body, of
which I am still recovering from.
This morning in bed, I found my mind wondering to
California, Taiwan, TV shows, Movies, and novels. My body has traveled so far and my mind keeps
slipping back refusing to get on board and in alignment with being present in the here and now, wasting these precious hard earned
conditions, guidance, and protection.
An eleven year old boy from a neighboring camp sang acapella
the entire morning working on his vocal exercises. What a treat.
He was so lovely to listen to. He
must be in a boys choir, he had an amazing voice. What delightful sounds to wake up to. I have been showered with so much amazing
music within twelve hours of my arrival here.
What a good way to start my journey of recognizing my voice, hearing my
voice, and recovering it.
I had sate mung bean noodles at 11am. I then made cabbages in hot and sour soup. Then I had a cup of green tea. I laid on the hammock and just took in the scenery.
I had sate mung bean noodles at 11am. I then made cabbages in hot and sour soup. Then I had a cup of green tea. I laid on the hammock and just took in the scenery.
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After cleaning up camp I organized my bins. The sink wash area is small but adequate. It has a toilet flush system. I am glad my dishes fit in my rack and the rack fits right on top of it. I was able to keep the dishes off the flush fill system and the ground. It was almost 1pm when I finally got all set up to recite and do my morning prayers. It’s just how it is today. It’s better to keep up my practices even if it’s out of order of thing and at a different time of the day.
When I was done, I decided since it was afternoon tea time that I would make more tea and have a cherry turnover. I heated up the turnover on the dash. I didn’t want to pull out the griddle.
I swung by the other loops to check out the different
campsites. I met a couple who felt so
fortunate to have found their perfect spot which faced the road. I found that particular loop to be a bit yin for me and
over used, that the nature has yet to exhale and recover. Perfection in this case is held in the eyes
of the beholder.
At 2:40pm I finally rolled off for St. Mary’s Falls and Virginia Falls. I saw a sign of closure at both of these trail heads. The sign posted Bear danger. So I did not get my hike in. I drove up to Gunsight Pass Trail and looked at the Glacier from there. It is as far as anyone can drive right now. The workers are still working on clearing the road of snow. You are allowed to walk on the street for the next two miles until the snow plow section begins. I made a turn and decided to wait until Wednesday in hopes that by then more snow will have been cleared.
I went to Swift Gorge and did the walk there. The water was a beautiful jade color. It looked so clean, and healthy. All the water ran fast in the waterfalls and
the cascades. It was just a marvelous
sight, a beautiful piece of gem. I walked
a bit down the trial to pee. I decided I
didn’t want to pee in the outhouse as usual.
I won’t pee in the outhouse unless I really have to. I prefer the green and lush nature. It is
cleaner than the outhouse.
A Christian group form Ohio was there and a group of boys touched the water too. One who kept on throwing rocks by me dipped his head in and wanted my attention. I saw him and I knew, I acknowledge spiritually, I just didn’t acknowledge physically. He did his head cleanse with his head dunk. Good for him. One of the moms said I looked so peaceful there. Yes it was peaceful to be there. She suggested all the kids to take their shower in the water. I said ti her, "then shower and church are done with, two in one.
Both sides of the road was covered in beautiful wild
flowers of purple, lavender, yellow, red, and white. They smelled so sweet and lovely. It was an aroma therapy drive. I had to pull over in various places to
photography the flowers.
I stopped at Wild Geese Island vista point pullout. This vista point had the perfect view. I decided this was the place to have tea and
rice crackers. I stopped snacking to
photograph tourist, standing in a their personal photographer. It’s a good
service of good karma. I am skilled, I
am capable to give. What a pleasant way
to spend the afternoon.
I met an elderly couple who has been here for the past
seventy years. They heard the Logan Pass
is cleared. However because the snow is
twice as high of the yearly average and the annual avalanche has yet to fall,
the pass remains closed for safety measures.
Both in Yellowstone National Park and Glaciers National Park, people asked me if I worked in the park. I must look like I live here. I wouldn’t mind. I must look not transient, instead one with nature.
At 6:38pm, I was back at camp general store. I checked out the shower situation. The shower is $2.50 for 8 minutes. You pay at the store. The shower is behind the store. You get a token to put into the slot in the
shower stall. There is only one stall. The shower is hot. You have to buy your token by 8pm when the
store closes. Showers close twice a day
for cleaning and closes at 10pm. You can
return unused tokens for refund. No hair
or hand dryer. There is an outlet to
plug electronics in or your own hair dryer.
At the store the T-Shirts I liked had the following
sayings: “Forget the box, just get outside”, “ Let someone else climb the
corporate ladder”, “Enlightenment begins where pavement ends”. I bought the last one. A bag of tortilla chips costs $4. here, same
as all the national parks.
Dinner, due to fatigue, no cooking, I had chips, tomato,
avocado, nutritional yeast, cream of corn out of the can, baked beans out of
the can, and drank a cup of honey water.
The mosquitoes were diving into my face, hands, and neck. Dinner was a total workout dodging them. They were super aggressive. The soft shell jacket really helps. I realized they can’t see but only sense heat
from me.
The camp is full tonight unlike last night. It is surprisingly busy on a Monday
night. The ranger talk at 8pm in the
amphitheatre lasted sixteen minutes, super short. I noticed they put up fliers about programs, that talks do change things. I had complained
to Rangers about how no one knows what is going on because it is not communicated
and therefore all the ranger preparations for performances, presentations go in
vain, no one knows to show up.
I noticed a shelf was put up in the wash sink, nice
improvement, you no longer have to put your clean dishes back on the
ground. In front of the trash can area,
I saw a man make a pass at a blond lady.
Then a man on his motorcycle asked me out for beer at the
restaurant. I didn’t know camping here
is the place to pick people up right in front of the toilet and trash dump. Seriously, totally not the atmosphere for success in my opinion. It’s
turning out to be quite the meat market in front of the trash can.
