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Published: September 20th 2008
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Hidden Lake
Here's Hidden Lake with the western valley beyond it. We got moving slowly this morning. Boy, was it windy! Whitecaps were out on the lake and the stove had a hard time heating water. Greg used the other stove as a windbreak to let the flames hit the pot. We're back to oatmeal and hot chocolate after 2 days of cereal, muffins, and toast (at the hotel). I packed up most of the camp and boy was I proud! Greg reminded me how to help put the tent away. It was extra tough with the windy conditions because everything kept blowing all over the place.
As we were leaving we saw a family of mule deer near a camper. We got so close! (but in the car of course). A child from the camper was wandering around near the deer (within 5 feet). We told her to be careful and go back inside. Where were the parents?
Today we drove the Going to the Sun road and headed out of the park. The first stop was the trail that we abandoned last night. There was a shortcut to the waterfall that we missed so we hiked down (~1 mile) and checked it out. Very pretty! The direct sun was quite
Logan Pass - east view
This is half way up the hike to hidden lake, looking east from Logan pass. hot so Greg had to start peeling layers (even though it was in the mid 40s). After the falls we headed up the road (literally) to Logan pass, which is where the continental divide is located. It's also another hydrographic apex... this time the water flows to the Hudson Bay, Atlantic, and Pacific oceans. The flags at the ranger station were at 1/2 mast due to 9/11.
We did a 3mi hike up from the pass to an overlook of hidden lake. The entire way was on a boardwalk to protect the wildflowers. Numerous streams of water poured down from the snow and glacier melt. The total climb was about 750 feet. To both of our sides, we could see wildflowers of purple, yellow, & fuscia. To the left there wasa giant open meadow & you could see the 'steps' in the rock which was very cool. As the elevation increased, I started to poop out. We just needed to go around the bend, eat a munchie and enjoy the view. Around the corner you could go down 800ft to the lake or view the other valleys from an overlook. We stopped just short and used our binoculars to scan
Laura at the pass
Here's Laura on the hike, note the meadow and stepped rock in the background. the mountains and lakes for wildlife, especially goats since they are prevalent in the area. After spending about 10 minutes we didn't see any and headed back to the boardwalk for the final 50 ft. walk. After going about 20 feet we saw 2 goats walking along the boardwalk! We were ~5 feet away when we first saw them. They were unperturbed and kept munching away on the vegetation. Since they were blocking the trail, someone made a noise to chase them off but they just shifter slightly off to the side. We checked out the overlook and then headed back down the trail. As we headed down, the goats had caught up and were again along the trail. I got a picture of Greg with the goat's butt in the background. The goats finally moved off into grove of scrub pine and the trail was clear for us to continue. The Darwinian moment of the day came after we saw the goats. The wind had been ripping through the pass the entire climb (to the point that it hurt and we got windburn). Everyone was in pants and jackets (at a minimum). However, coming up the trail was a
Goats!
Here's one of the goats that we saw at the top. They were not bothered by all the people nearby. group of teenage girls in shorts & tanktops with no hats or sunglasses. One girl said "I am going to remember this forever"... yeah, from hypothermia. A few hundred feet later we passed other elements of the group. One was quite hefty. The amazing thing was that she was lugging a 6'+ hiking pole that was at least 2" in diameter and covered in a heavy finish. The pole had 2 feet with rubber end caps and a huge knot on the top that was the size of a football. Greg said "give me the camera"... I hope it turned out.
We got to the parking lot - G made sandwiches & I journaled. All of a sudden G looked up and there were 5+ goats heading down the handicap ramp of the visitor center. It was funny that 80%+ of the people around the center were completely unaware that they were so close. After about 5 minutes the word got out and a throng of people were pointing and craning their necks to see... I'm surprised there wasn't an accident. The highlight of the pass were the goats & we wanted to just keep watching them.. they were so
Going to the Sun
Here's a shot from the Going to the Sun road (take while sitting in a 30 min construction delay) cute!
We got it! As I was coming back from the bathroom I saw the girl with the stick and Greg stalked after her with the car so we could get our snapshot of the stick. Success!
As we headed down from the pass there were numerous construction delays (the road washes out every year). During the drive we saw multiple 'jammers' which were old buses from the 1930s that were specially constructed for the various national parks. Only Glacier regularly uses them (although we would see one in Yellowstone later). Further down the road we stopped off at the eastermost rainforest in the U.S. and took an enjoyable stroll through the woods. We then left the park and drove to Polson, MT for the night. This town is at the southern end of Flathead lake - the largest natural lake in the western US.
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