Grinnell Glacier and Going to the Sun Road

This trip brought out all the worry in me. I'm really good at it. No need to list all the things I was worried about . . . but this day was high on the list. I love nature and I love to hike but for me, my hikes are really just walks and they don't go much further than 2 miles. As much as I try, my body doesn't like physical activity. This hike was 11 miles long. We booked two boat rides that would cut out 3 miles if we rode them there and back. So my goal was to do the 8 miles and see Grinnell Glacier. We had to book those boats 6 months in advance so we were going, regardless of the weather (and I heard all kinds of horror stories about Glacier weather).

Another thing that kept me up at night was my fear of not sleeping. There's no way to bring you into my story to understand the trauma I have experienced as an insomniac. It's just me and God in that place. And He has said over and over again, "that's not part of your story anymore." But the fear of going back to it can grip me. I pictured me sleepless the first night headed to Phoenix and then sleepless again in a new bed in the hotel, and then sleepless again in Idaho and, by the time I got to West Glacier, I would be right back in my old place. And, on this day, we had to drive 2 1/2 hours from the west side of the park to the east side to get to our boat ride. And again, people said, "leave plenty of time, you'll hit delays." So we were up at 4:30.

Another thing that I didn't even know I needed to worry about was the Going to the Sun Road being open. We picked these dates to make sure the main road through the park was cleared of snow. This year was the latest opening since the parks original opening in 1933. So on Monday, when we were in Idaho, I was calling anyone I could find to see if we could rent bikes to ride the road and no one was able to shuttle a family of 5. The road opened on July 13th, the day we arrived in the park.

My friend Stacy read a quote today that fit this day: "What you are afraid of is never as bad as what you imagine. The fear you let build up in your mind is worse than the situation that actually exists." Was the author of that quote including God in the story? I don't know. But He was the author of this day . . .

We got up at 4:30 and drove down around the park (the GTTSR was closed for construction until 6am). All that worry about delays and we went past maybe 3 cars in 2 1/2 hours. So we got to Many Glacier Lodge about an hour and a half early. It was a little chilly to start the day but ended up being in the 80s with full sun and a gentle breeze the whole day. The 2 boat rides were beautiful but, as a "I've got you" from God the trail was closed a mile and a half before the glacier so we couldn't go all the way to the top. I was able to skip the boat rides on the way back and see more of the beauty on land. By the time we got back to the trailhead I was put-a-fork-in-me done. But I did it. And the kids did it with no complaining or whining. It was beautiful and all the worry was for nothing.

On the way back we were able to drive the GTTSR from east to west and it was as spectacular as they said it would be.