A snowy hike in Glacier

We got to the Rising Sun Campground early the next day and had our pick of spots before the campground filled at 10am.  We had this amazing spot between the tall trees and right next to the mountain side.   This campsite was the perfect spot since it was peaceful (as the west side of Glacier is much more touristic).  We also could take the free shuttle right from the campground, which means that we didn’t have to take our car at all to get to the hikes and we could both enjoy the scenery along the way.  We took the shuttle up the Going-to-the-Sun road, first stopping to do a hike to St. Mary’s falls. 

 This hike was a really nice hike that led down to spectacular falls into the turquoise waters.  We had lunch here and headed back up to the shuttle stop where we met this guy from Hawaii.  He was really nice and told about his open ended adventure with his little RV that he is afraid is going to topple over at every turn.  He was traveling as long as his money would permit, next headed into South America.  Next we headed up to the famous Logan’s Pass where there is the visitor center.  We took a look inside and asked about the local hikes around the area that we could do with Elisabeth.  They told us that the hike right behind the center is very beautiful but is still covered in snow to go to Hidden Lake.  Well we decided to give it a try since we figured Elisabeth would like playing in the snow anyhow.  The hike was very slippery but a lot of fun, throwing snowballs as we headed up the mountain. It took us about an hour and a half to make it to Hidden Lake and it was definitely worth the hike.  The view was spectacular, and there were mountain goats everywhere.  There was even a mother goat with her baby.  We had a snack overlooking the lakes and headed back down.  Well I really would have liked to have a sled for the way down (we saw one guy on skis!).  It was slippery coming back down and Elisabeth and I had cold told with our sandals digging into the snow.  I found the best strategy to not slid coming down was just to run down the hill side.   There were some kids that were ‘skiing’ on their shoes down the hill, eventually falling and rolling the rest of the way down.  It was pretty funny.  From here we took the shuttle back to the campsite to relax a bit before making dinner.