It’s time, our first hike in the USA is beginning. We are at Logan Pass, between two amazing valleys, in the perfect frame of Glacier National Park, but what is going to be shortly is even better.
Our destination is the Hidden Lake, but it does not seem so hidden judging by the number of tourits arriving from the path.
We begin to walk on the perfect boardwalk which with big steps climb the hill right behind the Visitor Center, and once we get to the top of it, the sight is already beyond our best hopes.
Let our first made in USA trekking begins!
Once we get over the woods, we walk into a wide flat, with the Bearhat Mountain towering down at the end of the view and lots of other peaks on our right side. It is really crowded up here, we hope a lot of the tourists will stop before the next climb.
We stop so many times, once because a marmot laying belly upside, sunbathing, attracts our attention, another time is a mama grizzly with her cubs the reason of the stop, down in the valley.
The Bearhat Mountain towering over the valley
We walk more, alternating flat parts of the trail with steep other ones. The trail is always pretty easy, wide and with big and easy-to-walk boardwalks which helps the climb with big steps and railings.
Then the boardwalk ends and the path begins to go up and down along the crest on the left side of the Hidden Lake, the one of which we begin to glimspe the corner, way down in the valley.
First sight of the Hidden Lake, postcard sceneries
Eventually, we get to the end of the ridge and in front of us some steep switchbacks appear, going down to the lake quite too quickly. Here it is the heightdrop signed on our maps so, it is supposed to be on the way back!
We begin to go down, the major part of the tourists already forgotten, and in a short while we are down at the lake, ready to lunch.
Feet in the water and reflections, that’s what you need after a good walk
The cristal clear water, the Bearhat peak in front of us, the smoke over our heads and the silence. This are the peculiarities of this lake, which is not really hidden, but still, has a particular lure.
We eat our usual lunch, bagel and hummus, and shortly after we are ready to go, this is not the only one adventure of the day.
Hidden Lake, its colours and its mountain peak
We walk up the few, but so steep, switchbacks and out of breath but so happy, we are quickly up on the ridge, enjoying again the view.
On the way back, knots of tourists stop here and there, trying to glimpse mama bear and her cubs, without success it seems.
On the other hand, lots of squirrels and marmots are everywhere, spying on us.
Marmots in love
We stop a good ten minutes to watch two little marmots in love, kissing and hugging, laying in the sun on a warm rock.
Then, it is finally time to go for good, our last stop is at a ranger table just before the Visitor Center, where one of the ranger has a talk about all the wildlife and shows furs and antlers to the tourists.
The last glimpse of the Bearhat and the Hidden Lake, then, once we overcome the ridge, everything will stay in our memories
Overcame the ridge, we are again on the boardwalk and the postcard landscape disappears, only the memories stay and the images, still vivid in our eyes.
The only sorrow will be the smoke covering the sky, which has not let us see it in its better colours, but still we can comfort ourselves with an amazing drive back.
See you next hiking!
AP
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