submitted by Gabriel Garretson and Iva Gillet
Sixteen hikers and two dogs joined hike leaders Iva Gillet and Gabriel Garretson on a
warm July day to enjoy an incredible water hike in the Saint Mary’s Wilderness area of
the George Washington National Forest. Birthday girl, Jeanne Siler, wore her birthday
tiara proudly as her subjects followed. They included Brad Young, Pete & Bev Fink,
David Crowe, Susan Quinn, Lisa Lampe and Max the hiking dog, Neil McKinney, Nancy Handley, Ginny Barber, Anne Colgate, Rich Bard, Lisa Auwarter, and Bill Holman, in his
preferred place- sweep.
The overall hike was 5.5 miles long with only 500 feet of ascent but the hike was still
strenuous due to challenging trail conditions. While the overall trail condition was
considerably better at the beginning, but due to the fire this past spring the trail
disappeared and we had look for pink ribbons on the trees to continue the journey up-
stream. The swimming hole at Saint Mary’s Falls was exceptional. Iva’s granddog,
Remi, jumped into the water to “rescue” several people from another group who jumped
off the cliff into the water and she thought needed assistance. Our group spread out
along the Falls and enjoyed lunch, took lots of photos, dived into the water, and savored
cookies to help us retrace our steps.
Post hike refreshments included a visit to Edelweiss German Restaurant for cold beer
and other snacks. A little storm blew through briefly while we were under the cover of a
porch which made us glad that we were not the other score of folks hiking to the Falls as
we were leaving. We have never seen so many cars lining the road…a popular
wilderness area now.
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