St. Mary’s Glacier

Wanting to make sure we got a parking spot, we found ourselves leaving the hotel close to six in the morning. Our efforts proved worth it, we found a good parking spot near the mouth of the trail to St. Mary’s Glacier. The trail that led to the lake, and the permanent snowfield that has held on to its title as the glacier, was riddled with rocks and boulders that made me take more care in hiking up it.

View of St. Mary’s Glacier from the lake with the same namesake. The clear water that used to be part of the snow field was an amazing sight to behold.

The views from the lake were incredible, the water was clear and cold to the touch. Hiking around the lake gave us access to an entire mountainside covered in snow. Passing cross-country skiers told us that this was the most snow they have ever seen at St. Mary’s in early July in the past decade. After looking at a pegmatite outcrop where we were able to find rocks with quartz, magnetite, garnet, and epidote, we made our way up the snow field to find a place to stop for lunch.

 

St. Mary’s Lake seen from halfway up the snowfield.

Once the snow ceased we were met with meadows with bushes that blocked the wind and made a perfect place to stop for lunch. After lunch, it was time for some of us to hike back down St. Mary’s Glacier. The rest of us preferred sliding down the mountain as our means of descent. Jacob’s foot skiing was very impressive to watch while the rest of us slid down on our hoodies and rain jackets. It was a blast feeling cold and surrounded by snow after weeks of boiling in Houston. Once we finished sliding we made our way back to the cars to head back to Minturn. 

 

View from lunch above the snow field in the meadows of this mountain.
The group slid down the snowfield having the time of our lives.

Dinner tonight was beef and vegetarian chili with cornbread and tortilla chips which hit the spot after a long day of sledding. After we finished dinner and the sunset, some of us went out for a walk from the hotel to do some star gazing. Since Independence Day was the next morning the sounds of fireworks could be heard from a distance while their light bled over the mountains. It was a little cloudy but the speed they moved allowed us to get a viewing of the night sky you couldn’t dream of seeing in a place like Houston. The seeing was rather well for the moon being a night from full and we got to see stars I haven’t been able to see in years. After an hour of stargazing, we made our way to the hotel to bring this long and incredible day to a close for what comes tomorrow.

 

Written by Dean Klunk