ANTHONY PALMIOTTI - AUTHOR
  • Home
  • My Story
  • THOUGHTS AND TRAVELS

THOUGHTS AND TRAVELS
Journal of the Gray Wolf

Ain’t It Cool When You’re Pleasantly Surprised?

6/24/2020

2 Comments

 
With all the negative news flying around its easy to have low expectations. It would be easy to just assume disappointment. Between COVID, protests, melting glaciers, fill in the blank, it would be easy to feel down in the dumps and wonder: ‘What the heck is going on!’ Maybe because of all of this it seems extra special to be pleasantly surprised.
Picture
My stepson is visiting us and, living where we do, it was necessary to take him to see Glacier National Park. The Park, called the Crown of the Continent, had over 3 million visitors last year (2019). The great majority of these visits happen in the three summer months. Visitation dwindles to a trickle after September. Something about snow I think.

This year, the Park had been closed for the COVID thing and was only partly opened recently. The Visitor Center is closed. Campgrounds are closed. Roads are closed. You get the idea. The only hikes seemed to be the ones closest to the few open parking lots where all the people would be. I didn’t expect much as I have found anything labeled ‘easy’ probably isn’t really worth much.

We parked the truck in the closed to campers Avalanche Campground and took the, yes you guessed it, Avalanche Trail to Avalanche Lake. Yawn, I thought. A trail for seniors and kids. (For those who know me it is not necessary to point out I am now a senior. I am in denial.)

The parking lot was full and the overflow was parked in all in the now empty camping spots. I thought, ‘Shit, all these people on the same trail.’ The route started on the Trail of the Cedars. This is a handicap access trail that winds through a valley of majestic and mighty cedar trees. Magnificent.

A half-mile later, the Avalanche Trail goes up a gorge filled with mist and the sound of rushing water. It winds through the forest for two miles, moderately uphill most of the way. As you hike, the valley widens and through the trees you can spot soaring cliffs and snow topped crests. Yes there were people, but the trail seemed to take all the hikers and somehow spread them out. Natural social distancing.

Maybe it was the view, the smells of the pines or the accompanying sound of the river. But everyone we passed was smiling. ‘Good mornings’ to strangers were more common than not. It didn’t seem to matter how big someone was, where they were born or what political party they leaned towards. It was a transformation from the day-to-day. The winding trail through a sun dappled forest was having a positive effect on everyone. Once the lake was reached, the overwhelming reaction was awe. The anger and depression we have all felt over the past months seemed, for the moment, to dissolve in a shared awe at mother nature.

How do I bottle this?
Picture
Picture
2 Comments
Eileen Femenia
6/24/2020 08:10:09 am

You hang on to those precious memories In your mind and heart! Beautiful story. It brings me back to our trip out west, my hike down the Grand Canyon and back up (ugh) while Jose took the kids down the canyon on the mules and also to another trip to the Canadian Rockies where we hiked Lake Louise. Your pictures brought me back to special times I still reminisce about.
Jose was just accepted as a Fulbright Scholar to teach in Vigo, Spain (northern Spain near Portugal). I was busy planning a trek (last 60 miles) of the El Camino while he taught and did research at the Spanish Naval Academy. His assignment was four months. Covid put a big dent in our plans and not sure if my dream of doing part of the El Camino will ever become a reality as we ‘seniors’ are not getting any younger. Unfortunately time doesn't stand still but the dream of the possible reality does. I’m so happy you are ‘living the dream’ and exploring life to the fullest. Do it while you can.

PS: I didn’t realize you kept a Journal and look forward to reading all the entries.
Eileen

Reply
Peter Jensen
7/11/2020 11:50:29 am

Wishing All the Femenia’s Well. It’s been years!!!
Class of 1978...
Loving Retirement and getting paid Triple ❤️ Time for
Volunteering...

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    June 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    July 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • My Story
  • THOUGHTS AND TRAVELS