Leslie and David's Wanderings: 14 July 2019 Best Laid Plans

We had several people tell us that Avalanche Lake trail was a must do trail in the park. We also knew that it was a popular hike. So we planned on getting up and moving this morning so we could be at the trailhead parking lot earlyish. But we did not set an alarm, counting on waking up at our usual 8 am. So, we actually woke up around 10 am (We know, rough life huh?). So we did not get to the parking lot off the Going-to-the-Sun Road until almost noon. We hoped we would catch someone pulling out after completing their hike. And sure enough, there were people doing just that, but the car in front of us always got the spot! After two trips around the various parking cubbyholes at the trailhead (There is not a large parking lot parsee), we gave up. Our timing was not right to get a spot. So coming up with a plan B, we decided to continue heading up the Going-to-the-Sun Road to the trailhead for Hidden Lake. Guiding the Behemoth over the narrow roadway (the Behemoth takes up more than its fair share of a lane), with rock guard rails or solid rock cliff walls on one side, and oncoming traffic squeezing against the center line because they were afraid of the rock on their side, was an experience. David managed to not clip rock or hit any oncoming vehicles, although it seemed we came within an inch more than once! Most of the pull offs were full of cars as we drove up but were able to stop at three or four for pictures.

What we did not know was that the trailhead was located at the Logan Pass Visitor Center, which had a large parking lot, but it was packed. Not willing to give up, we drove around the parking lot until we finally caught someone pulling out and finally pulled in. But we got a shock when we climbed out of the truck, the wind was blowing hard and the temperature was ten degrees cooler than lower down (the pass is at 6969 Feet). The wind chill was down in the low 50s. Of course, we had not brought coats and were dressed to hike in 80 degrees. We went into the visitor center to explore the exhibits. While there we heard a lady that had just come in from the Hidden Lake hike tell the ranger that she had heard thunder as she was hiking back. So that pretty much ruled out Plan B. So that left us with Plan C. Except we did not have a Plan C! At Logan Pass, we were more than halfway over the Going-to-the-Sun Road, so we decided we might as well drive the rest of the road to St. Mary. The eastern half of the Going-to-the-Sun Road was not as scenic as the western half, but it was still beautiful. When we arrived at St. Mary Visitor Center we stopped and went in to see what exhibits they had. We watched the Park Movie and explored the exhibits before getting back into the Behemoth and driving the Going-to-the-Sun Road back to the western half of the park (50 miles each way). The drive is one of the most scenic drives we have ever taken! The Rockies are so much more vertical up north than down in Colorado. Breathtaking! We once again returned home later than planned to an unhappy dog because her dinner was late.