Flying the Edge of America:
Glacier National Park, Montana
It was Wednesday, July 9th and Julia and David had been on the road, or
in the air, for ten days. They had experienced really awful weather all the
way up the west coast, Julia's fear of flying had not improved, and they had
passed in and out of customs, flown over giant mountains, survived rotating
air masses, camping, cheap hotels, and being away from home. They felt this
was a real accomplishment, but wondered if they could keep going for the
entire three months the trip was scheduled to take. Julia and David were at
a low point and the only motivation they had was their excitement about
visiting their next stop: Glacier National Park. Neither of them had ever
been there before, but they had heard it was amazing.
Oroville Video
Everything was clear under the big blue sky, the mountains were in the
distance, they had landed safely, and it felt good to be alive and on the
ground at Glacier Airport! By this time Julia had developed some coping
techniques for reducing her flight anxiety. She kept reminding herself that
each flight was usually less than three hours long, and with any luck,
required only one take-off and landing. She kept herself distracted from
obsessive thoughts about the airplane's likelihood of crashing by listening
to audio books. She had downloaded several into her phone before departing
on the adventure and listened to them under the headset she wore in the
airplane. She also became the flight photographer. She felt much safer
viewing all the spectacular scenery far below her through a camera lens. Her
final defense against her fear of flying was valium, which she would take as
a last resort. After surviving the flight over the Cascades she had decided
to try not taking the drug on this leg, she felt her other distraction
techniques would get her through and it would probably not do much for
advancing her relationship with David, becoming a valium-addicted zombie.
Avalanche Lake Video
They arrived at their motel, at the West Glacier entrance, in the
mid-afternoon, and could not resist the lure of the wilderness beyond. They
filled up water bottles and headed out on a six mile hike to Avalanche Lake.
The lake is surrounded by a ring of mountains. They stood and watched
waterfalls pouring off the cliffs into the lake below. Some were so sheer
that the water did not touch a rock until it smashed into the ground
hundreds of feet below. Apparently, in winter, instead of waterfalls the
snow falls off the cliffs in avalanches.
Hidden Lake Video
It was late afternoon by the time they finished the
hike. On their way back to the motel they stopped at
Lake McDonald (at 10 miles long it is the largest lake
in the park) to catch the spectacular sunset. They
watched as the sun dipped behind the tree covered
mountain peaks surrounding the lake, casting off yellow,
orange, and golden hues. As they sat on a log next to
the lake they felt very close to the place and each
other.
Many Glaciers Video
Continue the adventure, in my next excerpt from
Flying the Edge of America.