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| Mount Oberlin at Logan's Pass |
On our last full day in Glacier we decided to head back up to Logan's Pass. We had yet to take the trail up to the Hidden Lake Overlook. A great area to spot both Rocky Mountain sheep and mountain goats. Since the WI-FI has been mostly nonexistent I didn't waste time trying to get a pass the night before our hike. We got up super early & were out of camp before 5:00 AM.
Cooking breakfast in Logan's parking lot worked so well on our last hike we decided to do it again...despite what looked to be a bit iffy on weather. As we headed up the clouds over the mountains were not moving off as we'd hoped...not a good sign.
We reached Logan's Pass at 6:00 AM with a surprising number of cars already parked. A few souls were napping and others who had dressed in shorts were wrapped in blankets trying to keep warm. The unpredictability of Glacier's weather in full display...wind, rain & chill one minute to be followed by either sun or hail. Weather we've seen many times at the Pass. An attempt was made to start breakfast, but the drizzle would start every time the stove got hooked up. Finally, after our 3rd try we managed to get the eggs, bacon & coffee all done without the wind & rain interference.
With the weather we decided to wait a bit longer before heading up the trail. Neither of us wanted to get soaked & hoped the clouds would start to move off. Thankfully, it looked like we'd have a window to head up the hill. Off we went...knees a bit tired, but the trail isn't too long or difficult. Of course the decision to leave our hiking poles behind came back to bite us. We should have brought them to traverse across the snow fields...yep, still had several spots on the trail covered by snow. Those areas get quite slick with the sun's warmth & the large number of people walking uphill.
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Rocky Mountain sheep
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A small herd of Rocky Mountain sheep were off the trail grazing. Still looking shaggy one decided to cross the boardwalk and head off in front of us. The rest grazed & none of them seemed to notice the people.
The two larger rams started practicing their head butting technique. I got a headache watching the two rams knock each other silly.
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| Rocky Mountain rams head butting |
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| Mountain goat on the rock cliffs of Clements |
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Mountain goat heading down from Clements
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Keeping a lookout for the mountain goats I found a few lounging at the base of Clements Mountain. Then I noticed several up much higher on the rocky ledges. Wish I could run down steep slopes so easily.
Three goats made their way downhill and towards the trail. All three ignored the people...a few times the people came pretty close to getting run over by the goats. A number of people didn't even notice the goats because their backs were turned exactly as the goats ran across the trail. My motto when there's a possibility of a critter encounter...head on a swivel!
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| Mountain goat ewe |
Most of the mountain goats were still looking pretty unkept. Their wool is taking its sweet time coming off this year. The three goats that stayed pretty close to the Hidden Lake Overlook Trail looked to be a ewe still hanging with her twin kids from last year.
The ewe had quite a mess of wool, but the two younger goats were looking much cleaner. She seldom raised her head and kept on grazing. Ignoring everyone & everything, but the grass & flowers.
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| Yearling goat with beautiful clean coat |
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| Sassy yearling sticks out its tongue |
Bill ran into a couple from Virginia while waiting on me to catch up to him. The wife was taken photos and he struck up a conversation with the husband. Bill found out they lived in our old neighborhood in Midlothian and knew a few couples that we knew too. They were on a 2 month adventure visiting the West...hope they are enjoying their journey.
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| Bearhat Mountain with grazing mountain goats |
After taking a thousand(give or take) pictures of sheep & goats we headed back down to the truck. We're heading back out to Polebridge Mercantile.
On the bikes we couldn't bring back anything without it getting crushed in the packs. Must get a few claws to take home and a fresh loaf of fruit fritter bread.
Mouth is watering at the thought!
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| Oberlin Falls |
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| Deep-throated shooting stars |
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Mountain goat ewe on a bad hair day
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| American globeflower |
*click photo to enlarge
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