Hidden Lake Trail - two takes

Date Hiked: July 5th 2024

After exploring The Going to the Sun Road with my in-laws, we made it to Logan Pass by mid morning and parking was a CHALLENGE. After circling around for a while, Caleb finally found a spot and we started off on the Hidden Lake Overlook Trail. We were told that this early in the season we wouldn't be able to go past the Overlook due to bear activity.

We started off on the boardwalk path and chatted for a bit with a ranger. He told us that the Hidden Lake trail was home to Alpine Meadow that is extremely protected. Anyone that stepped off trail would catch an ear full about "trampling the alpine meadow." Apparently Alpine Meadow is pretty rare and there are certain species of plants that only grow in an Alpine Meadow. All that to say that at this time of year, most of the Alpine Meadow was still covered in snow. We were NOT prepared for snow but we struggled our way up the trail in trail shoes. We saw a few mountain goats and several chipmunks hoping to get a taste of our snacks. This is a GREAT hike for beginners IF done after the snow melts. The snow made it much more difficult. Link to more trail information

COMPLETE Hidden Lake Trail

Date Hiked: August 10th 2024

Just a month later and the trail looked completely different! Caleb and I returned later in the afternoon and didn't have any trouble parking. We learned that you can check the parking lot on live webcams linked here.

We made our way quickly up the boardwalk and to the overlook to see a completely different landscape than prior.

We passed the overlook and immediately saw goats on the trail. We gave them some space but didn't want to trample the Alpine Meadow of course.

The goat still had some of his winter coat which made him look like he just touched an electrical socket...

You can see in this photo that the skies were fairly clear so we had no idea that we were about to get caught in a huge thunderstorm just an hour later.

We made it down to the lake and Caleb went for a polar plunge. It wasn't buggy, just warm enough for a polar plunge to seem like a good idea. After a quick snack and polar plunge we started our way back uphill - there are switchbacks that take you down to the lake that we knew would suck on the way up. OOF. These kicked our butts. Right as we got to the top of the switchbacks, we heard our first rumbling of thunder. Thankfully, my dad buys me random survival items for Christmas and I happened to have an emergency poncho in my bag. The rain started pouring down, lightening picking up, and we started to jog our way back to the overlook and then to the car. Lesson- the weather can change in an instant and you need to be ready!

More trail information here.