Since our hike to Hidden Lake had been unexpectedly shortened by bear activity, my Colorado friends and I still had our afternoon available and relatively fresh legs. Someone suggested the Saint Mary Falls Trail, and at less than two miles roundtrip with only a couple of hundred feet of elevation gain the motion passed unanimously.
Sunrift Gorge was our starting point, and I enjoyed how the gorge had a different vibe in today's bright light as opposed to the overcast conditions from my previous visit. Still really cool, just different.
Ditto for the cascades immediately past the mouth of the gorge. I enjoyed being able to see the blue and red rocks under the water.
The trail passes another falls along the way -- Baring Falls. Bright sun does make shooting waterfalls more challenging.
Lots of blooming wildflowers like this Common Yarrow along the trail, which I would have expected more on the wetter west side of the park than the drier east side. Shows how much I know.
Where you have sources of pollen you'll inevitably find pollinators like this Northern Checkerspot.
Saint Mary Falls themselves are -- not surprisingly -- well worth the trek. An impressive double cascade, and the afternoon shadows made them easier to capture.
The Saint Mary River bears the trademark blue of glacial silt in the water.
This Lorquin's Admiral was also on the hunt for nectar.
We worked up a bit of a sweat on this one, as temperatures were a bit warmer later in the day and 2,000 feet lower than our earlier hike. The final return to Sunrift Gorge is a pretty steep little bugger, too. But the exertion was a small price to pay to see two more gorgeous waterfalls and cap off our visit to Glacier National Park!
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