Glacier National Park : Hidden Lake Overlook

Monday, July 20th ~ I was up early this morning and arrived at Logan Pass to a nearly empty parking lot! On the agenda was the 2.7 mile (round-trip) trail to the Hidden Lake Overlook, with an elevation gain of 450 feet.

Conditions on the trail this day were somewhat different from my visit five years ago! Now blanketed with wild flowers, back then this lower portion of the trail was covered with slippery snow!

Clements Mountain dominates the view along the lower portion of the trail. The first half mile or so consists of a boardwalk and stairsteps. Many stairsteps. I didn't take a lot of pictures along the way because of the cloudy conditions but there were a lot of small waterfalls and some little ponds.

First view of Hidden Lake.

The view from the overlook. I walked a little beyond the overlook and found a nice boulder to sit on for a few minutes and to eat a breakfast snack. I was immediately inundated with hordes of mosquitoes. I really didn't notice them on the way to the overlook but they sure made their appearance known once I sat down!

The hike back to the visitors center was more difficult on my knees and hips. Some of the steps in the lower portion were rather high and each one became a little more painful. After a few stops along the way, I made it to the visitors center where I sat and watched the cars go around in circles looking for a non-existant parking space! It was about 10:30 and a few minutes later they closed the parking area to incoming traffic. I drove on down to the valley on the Going to the Sun road and spent most of the day stopping at several pull-outs and taking short walks. Also ventured into the town of Columbia Falls (about 15 miles west of Glacier) and found their nice little library to post a status update to Facebook.

About 4 p.m. I started the 50 mile drive back along the Going to the Sun road to return to the campground.

Looking down into the valley about 3/4 of the way to Logan Pass.

Almost at Logan Pass. The lower "gash" in the mountain is the Going to the Sun road while the upper "gash" is the High Line Trail. In spite of the cloudy, overcast skies, it was another beautiful day in Glacier National Park!

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Becky Wiseman, "Glacier National Park : Hidden Lake Overlook," Kinexxions, posted July 29, 2015 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2015/07/glacier-national-park-hidden-lake.html : accessed [access date])