Day 2: Hiking the Highline Trail (August 16, 2009)

We awoke at our hotel in West Glacier to an overcast sky. Undaunted by the weather, we packed our rain gear in the car and headed into the park. We drove up the Going-to-the-Sun Road as far as The Loop, then caught the park shuttle (photo on right) to Logan Pass. We were planning to hike the Highline Trail from Logan Pass to the Granite Park Chalet, then down to The Loop. The hike is 11.6 miles.

When we arrived at Logan Pass around 10:30am, we were in a blanket of fog. There was a chance of thunderstorms in the forecast, so we stopped at the visitor center to ask a ranger is we should be concerned. The ranger said that we should be fine, though he did recommend we carry pepper spray in the event we encounter a hostile bear. We purchased a canister, donned our rain shells and hit the trail.

The Highline Trail starts just across the road from the Logan Pass information sign. It proceeds below the face of the Garden Wall (photo on right). We we still in the fog, but it wasn’t raining at that time. One short section of the trail has a steep drop-off, so they have installed a cable along the wall to hold on to for extra security. In the fog, we couldn’t even tell there was much of a drop.

One nice thing about the weather is that there was running water everywhere. Most of this took the form of cascading falls (photo on left). There were also many different wildflowers in the various pockets of vegetation. We encountered a lot of wildlife along the trail as well, including bighorn sheep (on right), marmot, pikas, deer, mountain goats and even a wolverine. We weren’t sure about the wolverine until we discussed it with a ranger the following day.

It was still foggy when we encountered the mountain goat pictured on the left. It was with a really cute goat kid. The kid seemed to have so much energy, hopping and running around. It’s amazing how easily they navigate the rocky cliffs. It was fun to watch.

It started to rain while we as we were nearing the chalet. Even with the fog and the rain, we had some beautiful views (Lake McDonald on the right). The rain was coming down pretty good by the time we reached the chalet, so we decided to stop for lunch and wait it out. We ate our sandwiches on the porch of the chalet (it was actually too hot inside). We chatted with some other hikers while we waited. Eventually, the rain subsided and we even saw a bit of sun.

We only had about 4 more miles down to the Loop. Most of this section of the trail was forested. There were berried everywhere. We sampled some of the berries. The thimbleberries are quite tasty. They look like a flatter, bowl-shaped raspberry. They taste similar too, sort of a more intense raspberry. We also tried what we thought were huckleberries, but turned out to be service berries (or Saskatoons). They are ok, but a little bland.

It turns out we were not the only ones enjoying the berries. We ran across a grizzly eating berries on the trail (photo on right). Fortunately we were had run across a few hikers a short time before, so we were not alone. We made some noise so the bear would be aware of us, but it was fairly indifferent. Eventually it had picked-clean the bush near the trail and ambled off down the slope. We made it to the Loop and our car a short time later. It turns out none of the groups that finished the hike shortly after us even saw the bear.

It was after 6pm by the time we were heading back down the Going-to-the-Sun Road. We stopped for a quick stroll around the Trail of the Cedars (photo on left). This trail is less than a mile, mainly on a boardwalk.The trees and the ferns are quite nice. After our stroll we headed to the Lake McDonald Lodge, where we encountered another bear (photo on right).

We had dinner with Maggie at Jammer Joe’s Grill at the lodge. Molly had to work the front desk until 11pm. Fortunately, the girls would have the next three days off. Mary and I headed back to our hotel to sleep. We would be back in the morning to pick up the girls and head to the Many Glaciers area in the Swiftcurrent Valley.

More pictures from Day 2.