The family spent a week hiking in Glacier Park, Montana.
There were 10 of us, including my sister and her husband, several of my children with spouses, my youngest son, and two of my grandchildren - Daisy who is 14 and 13 month old Daniel .
We did three major outings, one to Rocky Point on Lake McDonald to spend the day swimming.
Another hike up to a waterfall, where we sighted a bear near the trail.
And a 12 mile hike up through Siyeh Pass through some of the Park's most dramatic back-country: Wooded forests, wildflower meadows, waterfalls, tundra, and a spectacular gorge. It is Glacier Park's highest maintained trail and one of the Park's best trails for day hikes.
The Siyeh Pass hike was one all of us will never forget, because thunder and lightning, wind, hail and rain battered the mountain shortly after we reached the summit at 7,750 feet. I have a Flickr set featuring our hikes, but it features very little of this memorable hike through Siyeh Pass - we were all running for our lives once the lightning started! It was 'every man for himself' getting down that mountain. We scattered (a good move when there is lightning) but lost our organization and communication.The Washington crowd (my family) came ill-prepared with little or no rain gear, and we behaved like recreational hikers, not true mountaineers like my sister and her husband. They doled out rain gear, waterproof mittens and warm jackets from their packs, but we got drenched from the torrent of rain and hail.
When we all regrouped (an air horn was necessary) we found that several in our group were shivering - we'd bolted down from the summit so quickly that when we had to stop for the others to join us we got chilled, our energy reserves were depleted. This could have been potentially life-threatening.
Regrouping was necessary because a bear was sighted on the trail below us. We made lots of noise, however, and never saw the bear again. Also, as we walked through the lower elevations, our clothing became dry.
We warmed up, and the hiking became pleasurable again.
I was sure glad when this hike was over, and we were dining on hot soup and home-made bread in a little cafe at St. Mary's.
It was a long day. We'd gotten up at 4:00 a.m. to set our gear (3:00 a.m. my time) and have breakfast, then drove to the Park. Ten hours of hiking, followed by dinner; then the 2 hr. drive back to Kalispell in the dark. We arrived home about 12:30 a.m.I've spent hundreds of hours in Glacier, but this time I was able to experience the drama of an abrupt storm - purple clouds roiling overhead, sheets of hail and rain, violent claps of thunder. I had to zone into acute concentration where every movement counted. It was the most wondrous afternoon I've spent in Glacier! Shock and awe, we had it all!
Next time, we'll be better prepared, with winter jackets and waterproof rain-gear, and we'll go over ground rules so necessary for survival in a group - because next time we might not be so lucky! And, we'll cut down on driving time by camping up in the Park, rather than make that long commute. I plan to hike with a large thermos of hot tea - hikers need to warm up from inside to outside. Now that lessons are learned ... I am so ready to do this again!
