On The Trail of Shadows and Light

I know that isn’t the official trail name. But there was this dance happening from early morning to early afternoon that defied any better description. Oh. My. God.

Part of that “oh my god” was for the relentless UP UP UP of this trail. I don’t know that I really got the right impression from the description I read. All the more reason for me to write my own hiking guide. I would be very clear that this can be a real grind going up. ( Gorgeous, but a grind )

To Comet Falls is (supposedly) 3.8 miles (RT) with 1250 feet of gain. ( To Van Trump Park, it is 6.0 miles with 2150 gain ) It easily felt like double that just to the falls. The trail is steep and never really moderates. All I could think of going up, was how much my knees would hate me going back down …

I continued past the falls (and more UP) to Van Trump Park. Beautiful view of the mountain but it’s like the hangout for every bee and bug in the park. The skeeters were relentless if you stopped moving. I didn’t linger. Instead. I went back to the fork and headed for Mildred Point (add another 2 miles).

Mildred Point was the best spur trail on a hike I have probably ever been on. The trail was a winding stretch straight down to the rushing glacier water. Speckfrickintacular !

There’s my official report, now let me share what I saw …

Around every turn it was like a kaleidoscope twisting. The sun cast shadows and light ahead of most every step. I was just so enchanted by it all.

The flowers are poking their little heads up everywhere. The avalanch lilies were just brilliant. Tiny white petals of perfection. If only I could paint, or write, or speak in the language of how they make me feel. It was an explosion of color, light and movement.

(I was obsessed with the lilies)

It’s days like this one that my grandmother would have stood squarely on that trail and asked:

“I wonder what the poor people are doing today ? ”