The Ridge Hike...Finally

Beginning of the Ridge Trail

So much for dressing for desert hiking…oops.  We had planned on hiking at Siyeh Pass through the gorge area and on up to view one of the many Glaciers.  Plans change.  Once we reached the Park the sunny clear blue skies (not to mention empty parking spots at Logan’s Pass lot) called us to change to a ridge hike.  At least we packed our fleece so we were warm…too warm as it turned out.  The backside of the ridge was not windy…much warmer.  The day was warmer than a few days ago...the snow fields seemed to be smaller although they were still slick.  
 

Just follow the footsteps

 

Bear spray...ready for bear

We noticed that the bear signs were still posted for Hidden Lake Trail so we added our bear spray and for added safety the bear bells…just in case they had made it across.  Once again we had our Mountain Goat guide trailing along behind us.  It appeared that he had brought a few friends along as well.  We crossed a few snow fields.  Thankfully we could follow their boot prints and keep ourselves from sliding downhill  

Following footsteps on snow field

Once we reached the ridge we found a spot protected from the wind, pulled out our binoculars and started scanning the valley for bear.   None were spotted.  We did find numerous waterfalls, blue lakes and lots of flowers. 



Deer in the lower meadow

An occasional goat, hoary marmot and ground squirrel were the only critters spotted until our return trip back to the car.  After 3+ visits we have finally found a critter in the lush meadows on the backside of Logan.  The area is so green and full of flowers you would think there would be Rocky Mountain Sheep or Mountain Goats or Grizzlies…something other than squirrels.  Today we finally captured a…deer…‘exotic’ right? 



Goat shadowing us...he bought friends

We picked Cooper up at the Ranch and we headed to meet Sue and Michael…good bbq, good friends and great views.  As it turns out it may be our last evening in the Whitefish area.  Cooper has developed rather severe intestinal distress…we assume he’s not comfortable with the accommodations at the Ranch. 

The reports have been he’s ‘quiet and fine’, but he’s showing some signs that he’s stressed more than they are saying.  He hasn't been spending much time with people...they seem to be more oriented into keeping dogs in the kennel.  We don't think it is a good situation for Cooper so we may head out towards Bozeman before the weekend.  Another side benefit will be Bark City...Cooper loved the time he spent with his buds this past winter. 

Friends

 

 



Waterfalls




 

 

Mountain wildflowers