On Saturday Oct 18, Joyce, Sue Ann and I hiked in Glacier Park. Originally Joyce and I were only going to take Sue Ann out for her 70th birthday as we hadn't seen Sue Ann for a while; in my case not since Tammy moved to Montana. But Sue Ann wanted to go hiking with us instead.
Sue Ann chose to go to Logan Pass in Glacier Park - she even offered to drive. Sue Ann and Joyce settled on Saturday. I tried to get them to change to Friday or Sunday as Saturday was forecast for rain. A slight chance they said so let's go on Saturday. Umm... I tried to convince them that a slight chance usually means the mountains have a good chance of rain and to go on Sunday, but to no avail.
Joyce and I met Sue Ann at 10 am on an overcast day. Sue Ann had me drive her vehicle into the Park.
We stopped at the Loop on the Sun Road. Heaven's Peak and the top of the ridge with the lookout were in the clouds. Below the clouds for a little ways was snow.
At the Loop we theorized and guessed at where the woman pushed her new husband over the cliff to his death a few years ago.
http://missoulian.com/news/local/judge-sentences-bride-to-years-for-glacier-park-murder/article_90964aae-b5bd-11e3-9858-001a4bcf887a.html
We also walked the short distance from the Loop to the creek.
The Fall (yellow) colors were out. The overcast sky made the colors pop, even the earth tone rock color. I was disappointed as I don't think my camera captured the vibrant colors.
Not a whole lot of people were at Logan Pass. The mountains were all in clouds. Above the visitor center was snow. We hiked to Hidden Lake. The boardwalk part of the trail was snow covered and icy and was hazardous when walking back down later.
We saw a few groups of young (teens / 20s) people. Some were really enjoying the snow and were rolling around in it. Others were huddled as they walked as they weren't dressed for the cold temperatures and snow.
It started to rain lightly on our hike. Sue Ann put on rain gear. Joyce and I got wet.
No mountain goats on the Hidden Lake trail this time. Guess they moved on now that the tourists are gone and Winter is coming.
Hidden Lake lived up to its name. From the observation deck all we saw was white.
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| Yes, Hidden Lake is down there. |
Back at Sue Ann's vehicle I turned the heater on high to warm up and dry out. The car indicated it was 41 degrees outside. Eating granola bars and chocolate helped.
On the drive down from Logan Pass we passed the Trail of the Cedars and Avalanche Lake trails. Since it was no longer raining (only at Logan Pass) we decided to just hike the Trail of the Cedars. Then just go up above to look at the Avalanche Creek gorge. As I took photos Sue Ann convinced Joyce to hike to the lake. I was up for it.
I have been to Avalanche Lake many times but apparently not in the late Fall. The lake's water level was the lowest any of us had ever seen it. Of the seven main waterfalls, two were in force, two were light, and three were harder to pick out.
After our hikes we stopped at the Back Room restaurant in Colombia Falls to have supper. A 103 year old woman was having a birthday celebration. 48 people were in her party.
For more photos follow this link:
https://plus.google.com/photos/109566462412251958234/albums/6072848555740449745?authkey=CJTYqvqGu4u1YA
For a minute and a half video of Avalanche Creek:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxmYJ2TmXDk&feature=youtu.be
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