St Mary and Virginia Falls

Tuesday August 14 Colleen and I went to Glacier Park to hike to St Mary and Virginia Falls. We got a late start as we each had stuff to get done in the morning. 12:30 pm was our start time.

The Valley was smoky from the forest fires and we hoped east of the Divide the skies would be clear and blue. I checked the St. Mary webcam and the sky looked clear and blue.  Once we got there we found it to be smokey, though not as smokey as in the Valley.

While I offered to drive Colleen wanted to drive her pickup and off we went.

Collen wanted to visit St Mary and Virginia Falls as she had never seen them. While we could access the trail anywhere from the Gunsight Pass trail head to the Sun Point trail head, I decided we would access the trail via the Sunrift Gorge. This way we could also see Baring Falls.

A number of people were under the bridge at Sunrift Gorge viewing Baring Creek. The trail went downhill quickly and we soon left the crowds behind. The distance from the Sun road to Baring Falls is .3 mile with an elevation loss of 250 feet.

At Baring Falls I walked across a large tree that had fallen over the creek below the falls. The tree had a little flex to it that added to the difficulty in crossing it. But I approached the task with confidence and safely made it across and back after Colleen got a photo of me on a large rock below the falls. As you can see in the photo I wouldn't have gotten hurt if I fell off the tree, only wet.

Shortly after leaving Baring Falls we walked along the St Mary Lake past its west end. We met people between Baring Falls and the St Mary trail head who were unsure the distance to Baring Falls or Sun Point. On our return trip we learned why: the Park had not put on their signs the distance to Baring Falls.

Plenty of people were at St Mary Falls. Some people went down to the creek below the falls while others climbed above the falls to have their photo taken standing on the rock in the middle of the photo.

Even though the creeks are low this time of year plenty of water still flowed over the falls.

Colleen and I stopped and ate snacks while we watched the water and the people.

From St Mary Falls we hiked .9 mile and gained 285 feet to reach Virginia Falls. The two falls are on different creeks, each named the same as their respective falls.

Between the two falls we encountered a squirrel who was in a bad mood. The squirrel chattered furiously at us as we passed by on the trail. And he was bold about it.

This is not a good photo as I took it quickly in case the squirrel decided to launch himself at me.

Between the two falls there are plenty of places along Virginia Creek to stop and look at mini falls and rapids. In the one photo notice how the pine tree is growing out of the crack in the rocks. Doesn't the water below the tree look inviting? Especially with the "hot tub" hole? Both Colleen and I thought so, but this time we didn't go for a swim.

Naturally Virginia Falls didn't have as much water flowing over it as when I last seen it this Spring with my hiking group. One could stand on the rocks below falls without getting wet from the spray. Still, it is an impressive falls to view.

I ended up being a photographer for several groups of people who wanted their photos taken in front of the falls. Colleen rescued me before another group came and asked for the same treatment.

We hiked 4.4 miles round trip. Coleen was tired so we didn't do any more exploring. She had a busy weekend driving to Spokane and attending a wedding. Then she donated blood on Monday.

We lost track of time and didn't return to Kalispell until well after the weekly Picnic in the Park concert had started. The community band was performing so this was one concert that we didn't mind missing.