Glacier's final touches

When the opportunity presented itself to cross over into Glacier National Park from Waterton Lakes National Park, the hike I planned to do was Iceberg Lake.  The trailhead would be just a few minutes walk from where my home away home was but in the opposite direction from where the Grinnell Glacier trailhead was.  From the time I last checked trail reports for this area just before leaving Waterton until the time I arrived at the St Mary Visitor Centre a few hours later, the trail went from being open to closed!  It closed due to bear activity and remained closed for the duration I was at Many Glacier.  

Hiking the Grinnell Glacier Trail was my second choice!  The only reason it came in second was due to being a longer distance with greater elevation gain. Other than that, this trail is and was prime in every other way! 

Being back home now for a couple of days, I was not ready to let go of the adventure of hiking that route!  I invested a few more hours in being one with that place and this was the outcome!  This is my watercolour version of one of the gorgeous views I saw on that day.  Hiking high along the trail looking down at Grinnell Lake, with Mount Gould as the backdrop was worthy of stopping for many moments to capture magnificent split seconds in time.

These are my split seconds of beauty that I used as references for the painting.

Upon checking out of my home away from home, I gathered up a few items that were in the room, to take home.  Once the painting was complete, I wrote a love letter to go along with it.  It's a letter to Glacier National Park but I will keep it for myself, folded, in the envelope, tucked inside the journal beside the painting.  

While this blog post is the final for my Waterton / Glacier trip, it feels like I have been left with unfinished Gacier business.  It still interests me to hike Iceberg Lake.  I will put that thought on the back burner for now and revisit the thought next summer!