Glacier: St Mary and Virginia Falls

St Mary falls

The day after we did the beaver dam hike, we tried the St Mary and Virginia falls hike again. The <way too small> parking lot was full again, but there was a turn out just down the road that had one space for us. We parked there and hoped for the best (ie, no parking tickets) and carefully walked along the side of the road back to the parking lot and trailhead.

heading down the trail from road, looking down at St Mary lake

The hike starts in an area that was burned by wildfire a few years ago, but regrowth is very much in evidence. The blackened trees are surrounded by new growth and give the observer a good reminder of the cycle of life.

the downriver side of St Mary falls

St Mary falls weren’t too far down the trail, about a mile, and are quite pretty. The striking blue of glacier water is very evident and makes for some great photos.

the more exciting upriver side

After taking some photos and hanging on tight to the boys while we crossed the bridge over the water just below the falls, we continued on up the trail. As we walked, we found a couple good photo ops of water tumbling over the rocks, but they weren’t the falls.

Finally, about a mile past St Mary falls, and after some climbing, we reached the end of the trail just below Virginia falls. They’re quite spectacular in person. 

a zoomed-in pic of the falls as we drove by

You can see the falls across the valley as you drive down Going-to-the-Sun road, so you know they’re a good size, but seeing them in person is pretty impressive.

Virginia Falls

this shot was from a little ways down from the falls- we didn't feel safe taking impulsive little boys too close since the rocks were very slippery

After eating lunch near the end of the trail we headed back down. We hiked about four miles total from the trailhead to the falls, and back to the trailhead. There were some steep spots, but it wasn’t super strenuous, and it was definitely worth the effort to see the falls at the end.

there were signs saying there was a vault toilet near the top- we finally found it as we headed back down. they were on the other side of the river and reached by a log bridge, which is where I took this picture. it was scary, but we were desperate, so we all took turns using it before heading back down.

When we got back to the trailhead, one of the other hikers asked if we’d seen the bears. I asked “what bears?” And she said they’d seen a black bear and a brown bear just a little below the trailhead, but it turned out it happened while we were back by the falls. So we missed another wildlife sighting.

love Ocean's expression! 

he was not impressed with all my picture taking and my efforts to get him to smile didn't work