Penny was gracious in pushing me to go. I would have been upset not to have taken this once in a lifetime opportunity to hike this trail. It was actually exciting to walk it.
The trail starts in a small meadow with an easy downhill switchback. There were lots of ground squirrels here fattening themselves for the winter. I met a park volunteer here and chatted a while. He went on ahead of me and I stopped to take some pictures.
After about a quarter-mile the dirt trail ends and the rock ledge begins. For the cautious hikers the park has run a steel cable along the inside wall of the trail so they can hang onto something reassuring. There was also a stiff gusty wind blowing making the trail even more exciting. The wind kept threatening to blow my hat off. Once again I was surprised to find myself somewhere where a little stumble could be deadly. I walked a trail at the West Rim of the Grand Canyon that had a similar drop off. It was nothing like this, however. This one just went on and on.
This first ledge goes on for another quarter mile or so. The path finally broadens a little and opens onto a fantastic view of the valley. Here I met the young volunteer again. I was wrapped up in the beauty of the sight in front of me and trying to capture it in a picture when the volunteer said, “don’t miss the mountain goats behind you”. I turned around and there on a bench of rock about 5 feet from me were 2 goats, a mother and child. They just lay there. I was shocked that I could pass so close to them and not be aware of them. The volunteer was making sure hikers didn’t bother them. They looked like they didn’t care that we were there.
I was only going to go down this trail far enough to get the experience and hopefully get some good photos. I continued another quarter mile and came upon a narrow meadow that had some pine trees and tall grass and some room to maneuver and get some nice pictures.
The view was breathtaking and the danger in the hike to get here added to the satisfaction and enjoyment of the moment. I would guess I had traveled less than a mile on the trail when I decided to turn back. The complete Garden Wall hike is 3.5 miles in and then back for a total of 7 miles. Most of that hike is on mountain ledge. I was happy with my shorter hike.
I carefully hiked back on the rock ledge. The goats were gone when I passed the bench. The view in this direction was even scarier because I could see more of the road below and also get a good look at the trail I was about to travel. It was a long way down there. I vowed to do what Penny does when she hikes and looked down and watched where I set my foot on each step.
The return hike seemed to go faster and I found myself in that small meadow again. There seemed to be even more squirrels here now. I finished the hike, crossed the road and went to the car. I found Penny taking a nap in the back seat. My hiking experience at GNP was over.
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