Day 6 - Friday 7/29/2016 - Sight See Going-To-The-Sun Road / Hike Hidden Lake / Star Party
We woke up about 7:00am and had breakfast at the Hampton Inn. We were on the road by about 8:00 and got gas on the way to West Glacier. Whitefish was a little far from the park but it afforded us to find a room fairly reasonably with also offering places to eat.
Today we were going to drive and sight see the breath taking Going-to-the-Sun Road. We hit a few of the pulls off as we drove up to Logan Pass, taking in the sights but couldn’t find parking up at the pass. It fills up early! So we continued down the east side. Parking was also full at St. Mary’s Falls as well as Bering Falls so we continued to St. Mary’s visitor center (doing pulls outs on the way) with intentions to take the shuttle back up to the falls to solve the parking issue. We decided that the 45 minute schedule for the shuttles were too long so we drove back up Going-to-the-Sun Road, with a goal of finding parking at either St. Mary's or Bering Falls.
Today we were going to drive and sight see the breath taking Going-to-the-Sun Road. We hit a few of the pulls off as we drove up to Logan Pass, taking in the sights but couldn’t find parking up at the pass. It fills up early! So we continued down the east side. Parking was also full at St. Mary’s Falls as well as Bering Falls so we continued to St. Mary’s visitor center (doing pulls outs on the way) with intentions to take the shuttle back up to the falls to solve the parking issue. We decided that the 45 minute schedule for the shuttles were too long so we drove back up Going-to-the-Sun Road, with a goal of finding parking at either St. Mary's or Bering Falls.
It took a few passes but finally found parking at Bering Falls. The three falls were all close to the west end of St. Mary Lake and allowed us to hit all three of them on a loop of a hike. We walked the road to the St. Mary’s Falls trail head and took it down to St. Mary’s Falls and then continued to Virginia Falls. Both falls were spectacular and we cooled our feet in the river at St. Mary's falls since it was a fairly hot day. We were fortunate enough to see a big buck on the way to Virginia Falls! We then hiked almost all the way back to the road before taking a trail along the bank of St. Mary's Lake over to Bering Falls. We rested there a while and took in the sight before heading back up to our car.
We had every intention to head back to the hotel in Whitefish to rest for the Star Party that evening but decided to see if we could get a spot in the Logan Pass parking lot on the way. Two girls were walking to their car and motioned for us to follow them so we lucked into a spot! We checked out Logan Pass’s gift shot and decided to hike to Hidden Lake, it wasn’t far… right? The hike to Hidden Lake took us on almost entire a board walk over the alpine area of the pass with big sweeping vistas. The boardwalk had almost constant steps and we were tired. Emily stopped about a half mile in and I kept going. I eventually got off of the board walk and walked around a few snow fields that were favorite spots of mountain goats to an overlook of the spectacular Hidden Lake. It ended up being 3 miles round trip with decent elevation change. I still have no idea why we thought it was a short hike…
By the time I got back to the visitor center, it was too late to Whitefish to rest and back for the Star Party. Therefore, we headed to West Glacier and shopped in Apgar Village for a bit. We ate dinner at West Glacier Restaurant in West Glacier just outside of the park. Then we went to Lake McDonald Lodge to explore the historic hotel and chill for about an hour in their beautiful lobby before heading up to Logan Pass for the Star Party!
So the Star Party is an event where the Big Sky Astronomy club comes to the Logan Pass parking lot, sets up telescopes and gives tours of the night sky. Logan Pass is one of the darkest places in the United States and very little light pollution, absolutely perfect for star gazing! Needless to say, we were excited for this since first hearing about this at the beginning of the trip!
We got to the top of Logan Pass about 9:15pm since we stopped to view the sunset at a few pulls outs along the way up from Lake McDonald Lodge. We also videoed a good portion of the drive up on Emily’s Canon camera! Once we got parked, they gave us red foil to put over the flash lights we brought and had us wait around until it got darker. They then divided us into four groups by colored glow bands and those groups got tours of the night sky as it got darker buy astronomers from the Big Sky Astronomy Club. They had a dozen or so telescopes set up for us to look through but the lines were unorganized. We still got to see Saturn, a double star, and a star cluster. As our eyes got more and more adjusted to the night sky, we got to see the Milky Way as well! The first time I actually noticed the Milky Way! As the telescopes started to get torn down, they left the parking a lot roped off for us to continue to star gaze. So I set up the tripod and managed to get some decent pictures of the Milky Way as well! This started my love affair with astrophotography and my attempts to try to find areas dark enough to do it!
So the Star Party is an event where the Big Sky Astronomy club comes to the Logan Pass parking lot, sets up telescopes and gives tours of the night sky. Logan Pass is one of the darkest places in the United States and very little light pollution, absolutely perfect for star gazing! Needless to say, we were excited for this since first hearing about this at the beginning of the trip!
We got to the top of Logan Pass about 9:15pm since we stopped to view the sunset at a few pulls outs along the way up from Lake McDonald Lodge. We also videoed a good portion of the drive up on Emily’s Canon camera! Once we got parked, they gave us red foil to put over the flash lights we brought and had us wait around until it got darker. They then divided us into four groups by colored glow bands and those groups got tours of the night sky as it got darker buy astronomers from the Big Sky Astronomy Club. They had a dozen or so telescopes set up for us to look through but the lines were unorganized. We still got to see Saturn, a double star, and a star cluster. As our eyes got more and more adjusted to the night sky, we got to see the Milky Way as well! The first time I actually noticed the Milky Way! As the telescopes started to get torn down, they left the parking a lot roped off for us to continue to star gaze. So I set up the tripod and managed to get some decent pictures of the Milky Way as well! This started my love affair with astrophotography and my attempts to try to find areas dark enough to do it!
We left Logan Pass about 12:30am or a little after and got back to the hotel about 2:00am. What a great but long day!
Virginia & St. Marys Falls and Bering Falls - 4.6 Miles round trip; 565 ft elevation gain
Hidden Lake Overlook - 2.7 Miles round trip; 540 ft elevation gain
Safe Travels,
B&E
Virginia & St. Marys Falls and Bering Falls - 4.6 Miles round trip; 565 ft elevation gain
Hidden Lake Overlook - 2.7 Miles round trip; 540 ft elevation gain
Safe Travels,
B&E