Donna's Musings: Last Days in Glacier National Park

On August 27, I went up to Logan Pass on the shuttle and hiked the Hidden Lake boardwalk/trail to the Hidden Lake overlook. It was extremely smoky and hard on the lungs. The boardwalk’s steps were very uncomfortable, since they were too high. Going up was bad enough. Coming back down was even worse!

Once I got to the overlook, there wasn’t a lot to see because of the smoke. There is actually a lake down there underneath the smoke.

There were a lot of little creeks and waterfalls towards the top of the trail before the overlook.

On September 3, I took the shuttle to Logan Pass to hike the Highline Trail (at least a small part of it), but it was raining at the top, so I rode the shuttle down to St. Mary’s past all the burned areas. Saw some Big Horns at Logan Pass.

When we got back to the top from St. Mary’s everyone had to wait to get the shuttle going down to Avalanche Creek. It was a sultry 39 degrees, and I was woefully underdressed in shorts and a light jacket. I took some pictures at Lake McDonald looking up toward the Garden Wall.

On September 9, I drove up to Logan Pass where some white stuff had accumulated alongside the road and on the Highline Trail. The shuttle had stopped running after Labor Day, so I had to drive.

On the way down the Going To The Sun road, a mother and baby mountain goat were alongside the road. There was a crowd of people, like papparazi taking pictures of every move they made. The baby looked like it might have an injury, and it didn’t seem particularly willing to join mom who was up higher. Eventually, they went back the way they came and disappeared.

Then, I went on a Ranger-led hike to John’s Lake, past the falls and back to the trailhead. It was an informative, easy hike on a relatively cool day. Saw an interesting tree shape on the hike.

Made what I thought was going to be my last trip to Glacier to take photos of Lake McDonald just before sunset. The trees were on fire. The sky was full of big fluffy clouds, so it was gorgeous.

On September 16, I drove to Thompson Falls State Park and ate lunch near the river. It was a quiet area, but a train runs nearby and managed to blow its horn for a long time. The trees in Thompson Falls (the town) were absolutely gorgeous.