Highline Trail

Friday was out last day in the park. Going to the Sun Road had opened to Logan Pass and the Highline Trail was now open, so we were excited to be able to do this epic hike before our trip was over. We arrived at the Loop shortly after 7, planning to take the shuttle to Logan Pass and hike back to the cars. Unfortunately, most of the shuttles were full or had limited seating. The recent reopening of Logan Pass had greatly increased the crowds. We finally got four people on a shuttle, then drove the rest of us in the van to Logan Pass. After getting our stuff together, we set off on our hike. The Highline Trail is certainly one of the most spectacular trails in the park, running roughly parallel to and high above Going to the Sun Road right below the continental divide. The views over the mountains, bathed in early morning light, were fantastic.

This is a popular trail, however, so there were a lot of other people on the trail. At one point, the trail narrowly circumnavigated a steep cliff wall, with just a garden hose attached to the cliff for a hand rail.

In about 2 miles, we stopped at a rocky open area for a snack. We were soon greeted by several Columbian ground squirrels, who came out of the rocks, looking for a bite to eat.

Continuing on, we could see Lake McDonald, Heaven’s Peak, and several other features of the park.

Heaven’s Peak was visible for nearly the entire hike.

Along the Garden Wall, wildflowers were blooming all along the trail in a rainbow of colors.

Just off the trail, we saw a spruce grouse pecking around in the brush along the trail.

As we continued along the Garden Wall, we came to a split in the trail and turned right on Garden Wall Trail to head up to the Grinnell Glacier Overlook.

Gaining over 1000 vertical feet in less than a mile, this is the steepest trail in the park. But so worth it. Going slow and steady, the climb wasn’t too bad, and soon we reached the top where we had an amazing view of Grinnell Glacier and Upper Grinnell Lake from far above.

We stopped to have lunch here and then spent some time taking pictures from this phenomenal overlook. From here, we could see the four lakes that we had passed on our Grinnell Glacier Hike – Upper Grinnell, Grinnell, Josephine, and Sherburne.

Looking down far below, we could see where we had hiked up to the edge of the glacier and lake. On the other side of the mountain, we could see the smoke from the Reynolds Creek Fire, which had unfortunately picked up a bit in the last day or two.

As we were getting ready to head back down, we spotted a mountain goat far below on Salamander Glacier.

Then, we started making our way back down to the Highline Trail. There were more beautiful wildflowers blooming along this last stretch before Granite Park Chalet.

Shortly after getting back on Highline Trail, we spotted a large bear up above. He was digging at an old log, presumably eating ants or termites.

We initially thought he was a grizzly, but after looking at the pictures closely, I think he was a brown black bear.

After getting some pictures from a safe distance, we continued on to Granite Park Chalet.

This chalet does not have running water nor lemonade, but we were able to purchase some cold bottled water. From here, we just had to hike back down to the Loop. Since we had to pick up the other car back at Logan Pass, Sandy, Dan and I hiked very quickly back to the parking lot while the others could take their time.

We made the four-mile hike in just over an hour and drove up to Logan Pass Visitor Center. We had hoped to get some cold drinks at the gift shop, but it was already closed, so I filled up some water bottles from the drinking fountain.

We had passed the roadside Oberlin Falls just before Logan Pass and I wanted to stop quickly for a picture. As we were driving to it, we had to stop as several mountain goats were in the road.

As the goats got off the road, we drove past slowly to get some great pictures of these beautiful creatures.

It was two adults and three kids, grazing along the side of the road and hopping back and forth across the stream below the waterfall. I was so excited we got to see some mountain goats up close.

Watching their climbing skills is always so amazing. After some pictures, we drove back to the Loop just as the others were finishing up the hike. We got everyone back in the car and then headed to Apgar for dinner at Eddie’s again. After dinner, we headed back to the house and got our stuff packed to head home after a wonderful time in beautiful Glacier National Park.