Montana's Glacier National Park

Filed in archive Hiking on October 12, 2006

You can look at all the photographs you can find to try figure out why they call Montana "Big Sky Country," but you'll never get it from pictures. Or video. I think to really see the "big" sky you have to also taste it - just my little quirk - but there really is something there. The sky is not just above you. It's around you like a big blue blanket and inside you like a very cold drink of water.

Naturally, the best way to taste the sky is to get away from the towns and into wild. Susan Hegger of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch recently underwent a driving/hiking tour of Montana's Glacier National Park and shares it beautifully with readers.

As we left the valley floor and gained elevation, the views became even more dramatic - and the driving more hair-raising. Believe me, the white-knuckle quotient in Glacier - the combination of tight curves and sheer drops - rivals, if not surpasses Big Sur.

Fortunately, the National Parks Service provides many pullouts for drivers to stop and admire the scenery as well as to relax for a moment or two ...

Logan Pass is a walker's paradise. The three-mile round trip Hidden Lake Overlook trail starts from the Visitors Center. It's a moderately easy walk - with some steep parts - through a field of wildflowers.

Each step brought a cascade of oohs and aahs, thanks to the rugged mountain peaks, the delicate wildflowers, a frisky mountain goat and her kid, a hidden waterfall, even a crusty sheet of ice shimmering in a midsummer's afternoon light.

Susan's article touches on more hikes than most people can find in an entire state - and it sounds like all the trailheads begin right off the roadways. The article is full of stats and links and is definitely worth the read. It has my mind churning with ideas for next summer.