The day started out gloomily enough. It was raining when I got up; the rain pattering noisily on the windows. It was the first time it had rained since our 3.5 km trip up to the Lake Agnes Teahouse. And the rain brought bad memories of that long and freezing cold journey. So I was not excited, and I doubt anyone was too delighted at the weather. But fortunately, by the time we finished our breakfast, the rain had passed and the clouds were moving away ever so slowly. And then my mom dampened the mood by saying, "Let's go on our 17 km hike now!" And if you don't know how much that is... let's just say that it's a lot. It's 17 km more than I would like to do. But I didn't exactly have a choice, so I went along with it anyway.
I actually wasn't really worried about the length of the hike. There was no avoiding that. I was really anxious that the clouds would move back and it would start to rain. That would be horrible. And so far it seemed like it would rain again; the clouds were heavy and it was misty everywhere. There wouldn't be much of a view at the top if it stayed like this. "17 km, 600 elevation gain, and we'll be at the top of the treeline when we get to the Iceline trail. It'll take about 6 hours minimum. It's one of the best trails and it's supposed to be beautiful," was all the information I got. 6 hours is a long, long time. I did not want to be stuck up on a mountain with sore legs for 6 hours, but I still had to go along with it.
The first part was really flat. It was so flat that I began to feel good about the trip. Maybe it wouldn't be as bad as I expected. We went for about an hour, and it was still flat. And more good news, it hadn't started raining again. But unfortunately the clouds were still hovering expectantly above us. It was only until around 2 hours in when we started getting an uphill. And it was a steep uphill. It wasn't even a steep uphill then flat; it was up, up, up, up, and never ending up. My legs were aching and I was sweating so much that I had to keep peeling layers of clothing off. We were all heaving and panting, until finally the slope flattened out. I looked up, and found that we were still far from the top of the treeline. That was an awful discovery. We were in fact not almost there. So with a groan, we kept going deeper into the mountain forest.
We were finally almost there. I could see a gap between the trees where it looked like there was nothing. At the top, I couldn't even breathe. All I could do was look around, and think, "there isn't enough time to take all this in" and "I should move here or something". Because on top of the mountain, I realized there was nothing. It wasn't exactly nothing, but it was so different. It was so quiet, and nothing moved. No wind, just a large flat piece of green with a stream running through it. Never, in my life, had I thought of what it would be on the top of the mountain, but now I knew. And now I didn't want to leave it, ever. It was as close to the sky as I'd ever been, and maybe closer to heaven? I didn't know what to think at that moment.
We kept walking forward, while I kept looking back. I wished that we weren't walking, and that I could just sit there and try to take it all in. But what I didn't know was that there were more spectacular things ahead, like glaciers.
We finally reached the very top, and I could feel it. There were no more trees, and rocks. Lots of rocks. And glaciers, everywhere. No matter which direction I turned there was a glacier, either far, or close. It was probably one of the most amazing things I'd ever seen, and it was indescribable. My camera couldn't even take it in, without leaving the best parts out. You had to be there to understand. I didn't ever want to leave. The hike was more than worth the view.
It was so quiet. Only birds and the occasional squirrel. We were the only ones up there, and it felt wonderful. I wanted to spend more time, but I couldn't. All too soon, we were headed back down. It was sad to leave it behind. At least we stayed up above the treeline for a little longer before dipping back down into the forest.
It had been a long day, and I was ready to get some rest. So far, this had been the best, but longest, hike of our vacation. After sinking into a hot tub, I fell asleep peacefully.
 |
| Top of the treeline |
We were finally almost there. I could see a gap between the trees where it looked like there was nothing. At the top, I couldn't even breathe. All I could do was look around, and think, "there isn't enough time to take all this in" and "I should move here or something". Because on top of the mountain, I realized there was nothing. It wasn't exactly nothing, but it was so different. It was so quiet, and nothing moved. No wind, just a large flat piece of green with a stream running through it. Never, in my life, had I thought of what it would be on the top of the mountain, but now I knew. And now I didn't want to leave it, ever. It was as close to the sky as I'd ever been, and maybe closer to heaven? I didn't know what to think at that moment.
We kept walking forward, while I kept looking back. I wished that we weren't walking, and that I could just sit there and try to take it all in. But what I didn't know was that there were more spectacular things ahead, like glaciers.
 |
| From above |
We finally reached the very top, and I could feel it. There were no more trees, and rocks. Lots of rocks. And glaciers, everywhere. No matter which direction I turned there was a glacier, either far, or close. It was probably one of the most amazing things I'd ever seen, and it was indescribable. My camera couldn't even take it in, without leaving the best parts out. You had to be there to understand. I didn't ever want to leave. The hike was more than worth the view.
It was so quiet. Only birds and the occasional squirrel. We were the only ones up there, and it felt wonderful. I wanted to spend more time, but I couldn't. All too soon, we were headed back down. It was sad to leave it behind. At least we stayed up above the treeline for a little longer before dipping back down into the forest.
It had been a long day, and I was ready to get some rest. So far, this had been the best, but longest, hike of our vacation. After sinking into a hot tub, I fell asleep peacefully.
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