Finally, I got a day that was doable to do Logan’s Pass, or so I thought. Like most of the days that I have experienced at Glacier Park so far, this day would be the same. It would start out sunny and clear and then hours later it would rain off and on. But on this day, mother nature decided to add just a little more. As the day went on, the raining sessions would intensify with high winds and heavier down pours. It was a day that every one would talk about the following day.
When I got to Logan Pass, I was greeted with mountain goats along with cold rainy weather. The mountain goats were everywhere and unaffected by the presents of thousands of automobiles filled with humans. The goats would literally walk right up and around humans as if the humans weren’t even there. This allowed me to take at least a half a dozen up close photos of the interesting-looking creatures.
When I got to the visitor center at Logan’s Pass, I got the crazy notion to do the one and half mile hike up to Hidden Lake. After talking to people, I got the foolish notion that hiking to Hidden Lake would be a piece of cake. It wasn’t. The only smart thing I did was that I bought a sweatshirt. Other than that, I wore tennis shoes with no socks and shorts. Half the trail was solid snow, along with cold, high winds, and hail. Thought it was very uncomfortable and unbearable, I was determined to keep on going up the mountain.
Like all of my previous hikes up mountain sides, the results were quite rewarding. The lake was beautiful. It was surrounded by beautiful mountains partly cover with snow. There was even a mountain goat resting on a cliff that allowed me to approach it reasonably close to take it picture. Unfortunately, the weather was extremely unbearable. The wind was howling through me like I was screen door. I was cold and wet and shriving beyond belief. I wanted to hike the addition 1.5 mile down to the lake, but the weather condition was just too unbearable.
Getting back to the car back at the visitor center was a blessing. It didn’t take me long to de-froze. I took the descending route down the high country to St. Mary instead of the way I came. In so doing, I was able to see my first real life glacier, Jackson Glacier. It was too far away from the road to St. Mary to see it clearly with a naked eye, but with field glasses, I was able to see the glacier clearly. It was truly a magnificent site to see.
Next, I stopped off and did the 2 mile hike down to St. Mary Falls. I figured after what I had just been through, it should be a piece of cake. And, this time it was. The falls was spectacular. The trail to falls went through a beautiful rain forest with wild flowers and wildlife everywhere.
I took the 70 miles around the east side of the park back home. It was a grueling drive. It was raining very hard and the winds were blowing like hurricane winds. When we finally got back to the place, we were beat. The whole day was truly a trying experience.
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