The Serenity of Lava Lake

There is nothing better than waking up and starting your day in the mountains, seeing the beautiful dark green evergreen trees, dotted with patches of Aspens, blanketing the slopes below the treeline. Mornings in the mountains are so peaceful, calm, and tranquil. I eat my breakfast to prepare for the day of adventure and discovery. My dad drives down the Gallatin Canyon, the old paved road follows the natural curves of the Gallatin River. Flanked by steep dark green mountainsides with rock outcroppings, we cross an old bridge with Iron Cross Beams along the sides, and crisp clear water flowing below. The parking lot is small and nearly filled, but we park in a spot on the dense dry dirt. 

My mom, dad, sister, and myself begin to ascend the first steep pitch. As we climb the path gets rougher with large spear-like rocks jutting out of the trail. The forest soon becomes less dense, with tall evergreens and the ground covered with their needles and logs of trees from before. As the trail curves towards the right, we follow a stream of water flowing down from the peaks. The foliage is breathtaking and the water sounds tranquil. The sky is clear and blue contrasting the green mountaintops 

To our left is a rock. The rock is large. It could have been mistaken for an SUV. We stop and my sister and I climb on it using it as a jungle-gym of nature. Soon after we continue we must cross the creek we have been following for quite some time. The bridge is just logs, and most of us bound across, but mom takes dad’s hand and some time to get her footing across. Soon we leave the forest and begin a gradual descent, through a mountainous high altitude prairie.

The prairie area quickly ends and the trail leads us back to the depths of southwestern Montana wilderness. The next creek we cross has a better bridge. With a railing and flat footing but it’s higher off the ground. Water splashes off the jagged outcroppings of rock under our feet, while on its journey to join the Gallatin. 

The last stretch is steep and filled with switchbacks. It may have been five, or six, or maybe even 7. I ran this part. Left my family to catch up. And made it to the top in the much thinner mountain air. As I made the last right turn, the path straightened and flattened. A gap in the trees revealed a majestic reservoir, like a bowl between mountain tops. As I walked closer towards the shore, I  walked around boulders which dotted the beach. To the left of the closest point on the lake lay a massive collection of rocks, like a jungle gym of nature. 

My family reached the top and were just as awed, noticing the clear blue water and the gray stone patches on the mountainside. I entered the water and left even quicker, the temp felt like the water should have been a solid sheet. We enjoyed our surroundings, the peace and the beauty before we had to begin our trek back down the mountain.