Flathead County

Sat 24th Sept. The Park Ranger did us a favor by making us leave our overnight parking spot by 7am. Firstly we got to see the morning sun break onto the peaks as we drove up Going-to-the-Sun road. Secondly, when we got to Logan's Pass the carpark was filling up really fast, we would not have got a carpark if we got there at our normal get going time of 9.30. And thirdly and most importantly, we were on the trail at the right time that about 2/3s of our way in we had an excellent viewing of a grizzly munching on Huckleberries. The Highline trail is one of the most popular tracks in the park, as it starts high 2025m, so gives people a taste of alpine hiking without the big ascents. It intially takes you along a rock ledge path above the Sun road, then through Meadows below a long Glacier-sharpened Ridge called the Garden Wall. It was somewhere along here we came up around a corner and there was about 20 or so people milling around, it wasn't a popular meeting spot but a grizzly happily enjoying his berry picking about 25 m on the hillside above the track - you need to keep about 100m between you and a bear, so we just had to wait until he decided he had enough and moved on, which was about 25 minutes after we got there. About 6.8 miles there is an intersection one way is a steep 1 km climb up to the Glacier Lookout, and the other way is a more easier 1.2 km rise up to the Granite Park Chalet (closed for the season) one of two backcountry lodges remaining from a network built by the Great Northern Railway over a century ago. We did both. Firstly going up to the Glacier Lookout - and what a view - certainly made the climb up worth it. Stayed up there for lunch enjoying the view and sheltered from the bitter wind, and it was probably after sitting there for about 15 mins when I saw people at the bottom of the lake, when I realized it was Grinnell Glacier, the one we walked to on Tuesday from Many Glaciers - it looked so much bigger and more impressive looking down on it. We then went to the lodge, which was also just a bit further along the Swiftcurrent track that we did on Wednesday (we only saw the roof of it on Wed). The old stone buildings of the chalets were really rustic and would be great to one day stay in. In the season you can then take the 4.2 mile track down to The Loop on the Sun Road and catch a shuttle back to the Logan Pass carpark, however with the shuttle not working we just turned around and walked back. About half way back, there was a Bighorn Sheep not far of the track, so great to get some photos of him quite an awesome looking beast. Hike Stats: 27.26km, active time 6hr 07, elevation gain 1075 m, highest altitude 2321 m. Once back at Logan's Pass, we had time for a quick hike out to Hidden Lake. This is probably the most hiked trail in the park, due to not being to long and its location at the Pass, so it was nearly boardwalk all the way there. Hike stats: 5.17 km, active time 1 hr 09, elevation gain 183 m. It was now about 6 pm, time to continue on down the Sun road to West Glacier to try and find somewhere to stay. Not surprising the park campground was full, so thought maybe the trainstation carpark. We stopped there cooked dinner, and with the no overnight parking sign right in front of the van thought we would head down the highway a bit see if there was anywhere. A couple of minutes from the village there was a side road, which turned into a gravel road, over the train tracks, not sure where the road lead too, but decided it was out of the way enough to stay at, only trouble is which we found out through the night is trains come pass about every hour and because it had a crossing, gives 3 long blasts on the horn - needless to say not the best nights sleep. Steps D 45119 / V49468.Read more