Glacier National Park
Highline Trail from Logan Pass
After completing the six mile trip to Hidden Lake and back, I retreated
to my car for peanut butter sandwiches, bottled water, and a quick
recharge on my camera battery (and my feet). The sun was already
starting to hang low in the sky, and when you're surrounded by towering
peaks like the ones looming above Logan Pass, the sun sets early.
In fact, the sun sets directly behind Clements Mountain.
At any rate, I knew I only had about an hour or so to hike, so I set out
down the other trail that begins at the Logan Pass visitor's
center: the Highline Trail.
The Highline isn't really meant for short hikes. The first
destination listed on the sign at the trailhead is Granite Park Chalet,
7 1/2 miles away. Even though it's mostly level the entire way,
that's a long walk--far too long a walk for me, especially at this time
of day. So, I decided I'd start down the trail, hike for about 45
minutes, and see where I ended up.
The trail is steep for just a few hundred feet, then levels out, taking
you through a flat meadow and a few trees.
Before long, you learn where the Highline Trail gets its name. The
path is only a couple feet wide, and winds along the edge of the Garden
Wall arête. Here, you're just below the Continental Divide, and
only a couple hundred feet directly above Going To The Sun Road. I
imagine most drivers have no idea there are hikers just above them, so
close that a kicked stone could land on the road below.
On the most narrow parts of the trail, there's a cable bolted into the
rock wall, just in case you need to grab onto something quickly.
The ride down from Logan Pass might be fun, but I can't imagine the bike
ride up to it.
After walking for a while, and enjoying a great view down the valley, I
turned around and headed back to Logan Pass.
I knew I was going to drive the eastern half of Going To The Sun Road on
Day 5, so I didn't worry with driving much further. But I did
drive east from Logan Pass about another mile, looking for a good place
to watch the late day sun shine against the mountains.
There are a couple of places just east of Logan Pass where water flows
down the side of the mountain, nearly showering the road. It's not
especially safe to walk along Going To The Sun Road, but by this time of
day, traffic had died down, so I walked over to one of those waterfalls,
looking for a rainbow. As you can see, I found it.
After that, I headed west once again, back over Logan Pass.
At a parking area just below Logan Pass I stopped for this shot of the
Garden Wall. With the sun nearly set, the arête lit up
brilliantly.
I made just one more stop on my way back downhill, heading to Kalispell.
There was barely enough room to turn off at the side of the road, but
the orange light shining on the mountains directly above me was too
great to miss.
The view to the west was also incredible, as the sun
sank below the mountains.
After this, an hour of dark driving awaited.
Unfortunately, I had seen my last sunlight for a couple of days.
|
 |
|
Logan from Phoenix writes: "Me
and my buddy are 19 and planning on coming up to Glacier at
the end of July. We would like to backpack and camp in the
deep country. We have seven days to spend, so any advice
would be thanked very much. If anyone has any advice
on what is the best to see and not, please e-mail me.
Thank You." From Daniel: I'm not
an expert on the backcountry. If anyone can help Logan
with some advice, email me. I'll post it here and
email it to him.
|
|
|
|
