9/4/16 A quick tour of Hungry Horse Dam, then rowing on a stormy Lake McDonald, ending with a hike to Hidden Lake in freezing temps.
1 The morning starts with a visit to Hungry Horse Dam, one of the biggest in the country. Not as tall as Hoover Dam, but actually much wider.
2 Nice views of the resorvoir behind the dam.
3 Looking down the face of the dam.
4 The huge crane on top of the dam.
5 OK, so big dams aren't the most exciting thing for Kyle.
6 Next stop is Lake Five, where my Dad spent a couple weeks every summer growing up.
7 It's a beautiful, private resort with log cabins you can rent and plenty of activities to do in and around the lake.
8 Inside the lodge at Lake Five. The guy at the counter is the grandson of the couple that owned the place when my Dad came here 70 years ago!
9 Then we headed out to Apgar Village on Lake McDonald for some rowing. Lake McDonald is normally very calm, but a storm was starting to come in, and the water was looking choppy.
10 Heading out for what would become an epic adventure.
11 Fantastic views from the lake and increasingly choppy water.
12 Dad started out rowing.
13 Kyle on the bow with the binoculars.
14 It doesn't get much better than this.
15 If you watch the video all the way through to the end, you'll get an idea of the size of the swells. The big ones were probably 2-3' with whitecaps. Not the place to be if you're prone to sea sickness!
16 I nearly capsized us on the way back in, but we made it after a fun hour on the lake. The guys working at the rental shed must have got a kick out of watching us try to get back into shore in the rough conditions. We were the last ones off the lake, then they closed down for the day, and for the season.
17 Next, we headed back up Going to the Sun and took a short hike on the Loop Trail towads Granite Peak Chalet. This area was hit hard by a big fire in 2003.
18 Then we headed back up to Logan Pass for a hike out to Hidden Lake. The storm felt imminent now, and the temp dropped into the low 30s, and probably much lower with the wind chill.
19 A really cold, but fun, hike.
20 Be careful not to slip into the foggy abyss here.
21 The only picture of all three of us from the trip. Here at a pond near Hidden Lake in the frigid conditions. Kyle got to put his new jacket to good use!
22 Very hard to see here because of their excellent camoflauge, but there are six Ptarnigans here. They're a relatively rare bird that makes their home in this area.
23 We made it to the amazing view of Hidden Lake and Bearhat Mountain. But where's the view??
24 This is what it would look like on a clear day! We'll have to come back on another trip to see if this is really out there.
25 Brrr. Can we go back yet?
26 As the temperatures continued to drop, I had to give an extra layer to Kyle.