Monday, September 6, 2010

Glacier NP – Hidden Lakes Overlook Hike

Thurs. Sept. 2nd - The sun was shining and the forecast was for warmer temps and beautiful weather, so we drove up the “Going to the Sun Road” to Logan Pass to do some hiking. The Going to the Sun Road was built in the 1930’s and bisects Glacier park. Because it is narrow, steep and winding, traffic is limited to vehicles (including trailers) that are under 21 feet long. Since our pop-up was camped at St. Mary’s campground, our Highlander had no problem with the road – and the views were awesome…..

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We were going to hike the Hidden Lakes hike in the morning, then do a portion of the Highline Trail in the afternoon – both trailheads were right at Logan Pass on the Continental Divide. The Hidden Lakes Trail was 3 miles round trip, starting on a nice board walk from the Visitor’s center. (The board walk was in place to protect the fragile vegetation along this trail).

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This trail crossed a beautiful alpine meadow. It called to mind the scene from “The Sound of Music” with Maria singing “The Hills are alive……:

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But it had snowed the night before in the mountains, so the higher up we went……..

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the more snow we found………

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Until, the path was totally covered in snow. It was really beautiful….but the footing was tricky. I remembered how we learned to walk ‘flat footed’ in the Iowa ice and snow.

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By the time we had gotten to the top of the overlook, the song that was going through my mind was “Walking in a Winter Wonderland”……….

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It even smelled like Christmas…..with spruce trees standing around like a Christmas tree lot.

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The view of the Hidden Lakes was awesome. The clouds drifted about, but the lakes remained visible. Breathtaking…….

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