Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks -- July 2022

Going-to-the-Sun Road -- July 24, 2022

We hoped to get to Logan Pass by 6am to get a parking spot, so tried to get up at 5:30 am. We were a little late, not too bad, and had no trouble getting a spot. There was parking lot circling and asking if people were leaving later. They had the lot full sign up when we first arrived; I guess they don't take it down. The drive to Logan Pass was also very pretty, but we were planning to focus on it more later.

We grabbed everything that we wanted (went back for jackets) to take on the first hike: Hidden Lakes Trail and stopped by the restroom. Then we found this guy from the parking lot.

And then more of his friends. Owen wanted his picture taken with the bighorn sheep.

Starting the trail, which starts as a boardwalk.

Then it turned into snow hiking. This was challenging but cool and fun too. There were some areas that you had to be careful not to head down because there was no stopping. This was an out and back hike that was 1.3 miles each way.

We arrived at the Hidden Lake lookout where the trail was closed to the Lake for bear activity.

We found this guy. He had scared another group of hikers by trying to block them from part of the trail.

Pika (?) busy working.

There were guys snowboarding down the hills. Ours found a snow melt.

Owen's footprint in the snow hiking; we slid to the side.

Then we found this area with bighorn sheep and marmots. Owen wanted to go out to catch his pet, but they scared them away pretty quickly.

After the hike, the Visitor Center was open for me to get a National Park Passport stamp. There were two people there with non-US real passports that they were stamping, hum does not sound good. The Ranger was explaining that she guessed they could stamp it, but that the gift shop sold the NP Passport book. I can't talk -- my real passport has a sticker of the Postmaster General of the end of the world post office from Ushuaia; I have not been rejected from a foreign country yet.

The Visitor Center had a model marmot; they do have big, scary front two teeth. We had to break it to others that we were not vacating a parking spot yet. Photo stop for the Logan Pass sign.

Then we started down the popular Highline Trail just to see the very beginning. It is 11.8 miles one way from Logan Pass to The Loop (the only switchback on the Going-to-the-Sun Road). The park operates shuttles between The Loop and Logan Pass, so some people plan to park at one, hike to the other, and ride the shuttle back to the car. Or, 24 miles round trip. Owen would not let us do anything near this, so we just looked at the beginning.

From the trail, there is a great view of a waterfall that is above, under, and below the Going-to-the-Sun Road.

After the very small hike and back at the parking lot, we were followed by a pickup who was happy to hear that we were leaving and happily followed us to our spot.

Back on the Going-to-the-Sun Road heading West.

A tunnel and a window out of a tunnel.

Next, we planned the Avalanche Lake trail (2.3 miles one way) via the Trail of the Cedars (0.9 mile loop). We lucked into someone leaving and got a parking spot, which was just straight pull in spots in a straight line along the road. Along the Trail of the Cedars, there was a nice restroom. An artistic creek picture, and then Joel, Owen, and Travis found a big boulder to climb.

We arrived at Avalanche Lake; it was very pretty with greens, blues, and turquoises with waterfalls coming down behind it.

Back on the Trail of Cedars, a cool view up. Also, many ferns growing in the underbrush below the boardwalk.

We passed by Lake McDonald, in the area with the construction where the road is rough and noted as closed at night.

We stopped at Apgar Visitor Center and used some wi-fi available. Then, we exited to check out the more commercialized side of the park. In West Glacier, we tried the Huckleberry ice cream that the area was known for. Travis and Joel liked it; Owen and I shared a chocolate. When leaving the park, the line to get in was pretty crazy, so we were starting to regret the decision to leave. Though when we went back, it was not too bad and moved fast. So, we headed back East; this time stopping more after Logan Pass.

Jackson Glacier. Since we would not be able to hike to Grinnell Glacier, I wanted to see this one. It was very pretty. Unfortunately, the display showed how much the glacier has receded over the years.