Hidden Lake, Glacier National Park Montana August 3, 2010

I left Calgary at 6:45am and arrived at the Logan Pass Visitor Centre at 10:45am.  I had the highway to myself, the Carway/Piegan Border Crossing to myself and construction delay at the Siyeh Bend was only 5 minutes.  I checked in with a Ranger at the Visitor Centre to get some questions answered first.  She told only a portion of the Highline Trail was open and that everything in the Many Glacier area was closed, all due to bears enjoying their territory.  Hidden Lake was opened, and I wanted to hike so off I went.   Before I headed out,  I heard a young girl say "it looks like pea soup here!"

This was the sign at the trailhead.  No worries for me, been there done that snow thing!

I could see silhouettes ahead so knew others were out there.  I knew there were mountains around too but couldn't see those. 

This was about as bad as it got!  No steep snowfields or hazardous snow, well, not for me but for those from places that never get snow and there were a few of those, I could tell this was an extreme adventure.

When it was important to be clear, it was!  Hidden Lake was visible and it looked beautiful.  The blues and greens were vibrant.  I was full of energy so headed down to the Lake even though I knew it would be a climb back up.  Things were looking up!  At least I could see the Lake.

There were no majestic mountains to see but there was majestic!  The Hidden Lake trail is famous for its mountain goats and marmots.

I spent a few minutes at the Lake and placed a stone.  I felt like I was exploring on this trip alone to Glacier National Park and I hoped to grow from it. 

The round trip distance for this hike was 8.5km.  It didn't feel like enough yet.  I went inside the Visitor Centre where a fire was roaring in the fireplace.  I warmed up for a few minutes before heading out the door again.  I just had to take a picture of getting warm by a fire place in early August!

While, I was in the area, I may as well do as much of The Highline Trail as is safe to do without coming across the bear play area.  Even though it is still just mid afternoon of my first day here, I am well into vacation mode feeling!