Glacier Park Transit

Glacier Park has two defining one dimensional structures. The first is the continental divide, which goes through the highest peaks, separating the park into east and west halves, with the east side drier than the west, with correspondingly different flora. The second is the Going-To-The-Sun road, which hugs the mountainsides as it climbs up to Logan Pass, a low point in the continental divide. We are staying on the west side, next to Lake McDonald, a fjord like lake whose bottom was carved by glaciers many years ago.

Glacier park has a system of free transit buses, of all things, which ferry tourists along the Going-To-The-Sun road. Remembering from twenty years ago that the road was a terrifying mix of hairpin turns, sheer dropoffs, and few guardrails, we opted to take the bus to Logan Pass for a safe ride to the top.

The view was stunning, with perfect weather, majestic peaks, and waterfalls over, under, and on the road.

We had in our minds to take the "highline trail" to explore, but it was closed due to continuing mountains of snow, so we took the trail to Hidden Lake, up a mountain covered in snow. Trudging up the mountain was not quite grueling, but it certainly made us happy we didn't take the highline trail.

We stopped for a while along a meadow/stream and ate at a rock while we dried our shoes a bit. The Columbian Ground Squirrels were aggressive in trying to get our food, but were quite adorable with their chirping noises.

The highlight of the day was the close (and I mean close) encounter with the family of mountain goats at the end of the trail. The kid of the goat family was adorable, and the adults paid us no mind, walking within two feet of Isabella.

The trip back down the snowy hill was much more entertaining, with slipping, sliding, and falling. We made it back down to the transit station and caught the last bus down the hill back o our campsite.