![]() Can't believe I didn't get any pictures of those large, amusing rodents. One the way back, we saw more ground squirrels, more weasels (video below). Also, the crowd continued to grow, so we made our departure. This Golden Mantled Ground Squirrel was quite bold.Įventually, the Grizzly in the distance disappeared and didn't come back. The goats weren't bothered by the crowd of people at all.Īnd the ground squirrels believe in "the more the merrier". Another Mountain Goat appeared out of nowhere. However, Bridget was startled by movement. Linda went to find a secluded bathroom spot, and then Bridget took the opportunity to go as well. We sat down on the rocks to have a snack and enjoy the view. With all the wildlife and the stunning view, it was easy to see why this was one of the most popular hikes in the park. In fact, the trail that continued down to the lake was closed due to bear activity. We were a mile or so away and could only see it with binoculars, but everyone agreed it was a really big bear. In the far right corner of the lake in a stream outlet, we could see a huge Grizzly fishing. I heard the folks already at the overlook say "It's back". Soon, we reached the overlook and the gorgeous view of Hidden Lake and the mountains beyond including Bearhat Mountain, the most prominent peak just on the other side of the lake. That one also made a turn and came toward us, kicking up snow and acting a little frisky on its way down. Looking back up the slope, this Mountain Goat was walking down the snow line against the blue sky. Moving on, there were a variety of ground squirrels including the Columbian Ground Squirrel which can be seen everywhere in the park. There were still five or six more up in the rocks and, upon closer inspection, we could see one of them was a baby. Linda took about a minute's worth of video of "Casper the Friendly Goat".Īnother one came down from the high slope, and they both crossed the trail to graze next to a pond. It grazed a little right next to the trail, and gave several of us a really good look. The Mountain Goats on this hike aren't shy, and one of them came down the hill right toward us. We watched through binoculars, but soon that wasn't necessary. Then we stopped to view Mountain Goats up on the side of the mountain. Not long after getting through the snow, the dark clouds were gone and the rest of the hike was wonderful. So we turned around and resumed the hike. However, after we walked about 50 yards, the short sprinkle ended, the clouds broke up, and we could see blue skies in the direction of Hidden Lake. She couldn't recall any other time I called off a hike for any reason. Actually, I decided that we should turn around, and we headed back toward the Visitors Center. Linda helped Bridget get the hang of her new hiking poles, but the slick snow made walking tougher on all of us.Īnd the weather didn't look good. I thought that there was going to be only a small patch of snow on this hike, but there was a whole snow field that we had to cross, and the clouds were getting darker.Īnother weasel popped its head up through a hole in the snow. This trail has about a 500 foot elevation gain and, as we climbed, we spotted two groups of Bighorn Sheep. Little did we know they would be common on this hike. That was the first time we had seen one of these voracious little critters up close. Not far onto the boardwalk, a Long-tailed Weasel casually trotted by holding a rodent at least half its size. The 8760 foot Clements Mountain is the focal point of the first part of the hike which starts out paved and then transitions into a boardwalk. We had some clouds moving in, but we headed out anyway. The plan was to do the very popular, three-mile-round-trip, Hidden Lake Overlook hike that starts behind the Visitors Center at Logan Pass where we met up. We drove the 18 miles in on the Going-To-The-Sun Road, and met our friends, John & Bridget, who drove in from the west side of the park. We were staying outside of Glacier National Park in the town of St. ![]()
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