Glacier National Park - Logan's Pass

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Another early morning. Camping in the mountains demands early mornings -- the animals are out, the weather is best and there are less people. I really don’t mind getting up early, but sometimes on vacation it is hoped that one could dream a little. We headed out for Logan’s Pass. At the Visitor Centre we headed up the trail to Hidden Lake. The trail cuts through an alpine meadow -- small, fragile flowers and stunted, twisted evergreens cling to the thin layer of soil that covers the slope. The trail is a raised wooden platform that helps keep all the millions of feet that visit this site from trampling on the fragile vegetation. A marmot poked his head out from under one of these platforms. I took a quick photo thinking it would scurry away. But, it proceeded to walk right across the platform and up onto an outcrop of rocks. There it sat and sunned itself, practically posing for our photos! What a beautiful animal!



Further up the slope, the platform disappeared and the trail became completely covered by snow. It was a little slippery, but we made it up and onto a rocky trail. We passed a couple wearing flip-flops!! (I bet they didn’t have bear spray either!) At the top, we were rewarded with a stunning view of Hidden Lake deep in the valley surrounded by mountains. We were now high in the alpine -- home to some very beautiful mountain goats. David had a great time taking photos of these impressive creatures. I met a very nice couple from Vermont. When I mentioned we had canoed on Josephine Lake the day before, they said, “Were you the folks in the red canoe? We were hiking around the lake and were wondering how you got there?” We told them our portage story.



As we reached the parking lot, the sun was high and it was hot. We got in our air conditioned truck headed for the road again -- the Going-to-the-Sun Road. This is a spectacular (and sometimes hair-raising) drive. The road was built the 1930’s by cutting into the side of the mountains -- far up on the side of the mountains! You really do feel like you are going to the sun!! As the road descends, the vegetation becomes a green, lush cedar forest. We had a lovely walk through the forest on a pathway called the Trail of the Cedars. Some of these cedars are hundreds of years old. Since I was young, I have always been amazed by moss. I used to take it home with me when we camped. This forest is covered by a blanket of moss -- looks like something one could just lay down in and sleep for a hundred years, and the perfect place to be in the middle of a hot sunny afternoon in the mountains.

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