Thursday, July 19, 2018

My Hiking Journal: Entry 14

Clements Mountain with Highline Trail on left-hand-side of photo, with
Going to the Sun Road in the middle of the photo
Our boots could tell you some tales, we have hiked so much.  And yet, some trails stand out in our memories, the colors still as vivid as on the day itself.  Such is our recollection of the Highline Trail in Glacier National Park, which we hiked on Tuesday, July 11, 2017, along with 100 of our closest friends (read: it's a popular trail).

Beargrass and snow on the Garden Wall
Although the trail is 11.6 miles one way, you have the option to start at Logan Pass and finish at the Loop, with very little elevation gain.  The trail follows the Continental Divide below the sawtoothed Garden Wall, and since it is above treeline for most of its length, it offers dramatic views of the power of glaciers to sculpt the land.  

The day started when we left the house at 6.45 am in order to ensure arrival at the Loop around 8 am.  This in turn was meant to ensure that we could catch one of the first (if not the first) shuttle going to Logan Pass.  At the Loop, we found 8 people already in line in front of us.  (While we waited for the shuttle, we enjoyed breakfast tortillas prepared by Man with Hat before we left.)  After 2 shuttles, only 4 people had been able to get on, and I decided it was time to start appealing to the better part of human nature - I stuck my thumb out!

Upper left: Death Camas; Upper middle: Purple Monkeyflower;
Upper right: Saxifrage; Bottom: Yellow Columbine
According to Man with Hat, I was quite entertaining for the crowd that was also waiting for shuttles.  After 15 minutes of hitching, a lovely couple called Sam and June from Memphis, TN, stopped to give us a lift.  We heard later from others in line that this simple gesture started the ball rolling for others to do the same.  As Sam drove up to Logan Pass, we gave them some tips on Glacier since this was their first visit.  By 9.30 am, we were at the Trailhead.  Initially, it was very crowded, but over time groups spread out and we could almost pretend we had the trail to ourselves.

We had strategically chosen this day since it was forecast for cooler temperatures, and the weatherman delivered.  I hiked most of the day in pants and long sleeves.  Glorious!  A bumper crop of beargrass (remember from a previous post that beargrass does not bloom every year)!

Mountain views at every turn. 
Alpine meadows teeming with flowers.  
Bountiful waterfalls, big and small.
No trip to Glacier would be complete without some wildlife of the four-legged variety, and this day did not disappoint.  Hoary marmots are rodents that inhabit alpine areas, surviving on grasses and forbs in rocky areas.


This mountain goat was determined to hike with a group of us.

While at the Granite Park Chalet (arrived there at 2 pm), the sky spit out a little bit of rain as we enjoyed our lunch of rice, beans and corn with salsa, seated at one of the picnic tables outside.  You could see the rain coming down over Lake MacDonald, and the clouds moving in our direction.  

So we did not  linger and were back on the trail by 2.25.  We saw more clouds to the north, accompanied by some thunder and lightning, but we avoided any rain while collecting more visual treasure along the way.
Top: Penstemon; Middle left: Paintbrush; Middle center: Sweet Vetch; Middle right: Pink Mountain Heather
Bottom: Hollyhock
Playing peek-a-boo among the beargrass

We were back at the Loop by 4.15, which seemed long for the alleged 4 miles from the Chalet to the Loop.
Upper left: Hollyhock; Upper middle: Phacelia; Upper right: Unidentified
Lower: Shrubby cinquefoil and Alberta Penstemon

Once again, a long line of people waited for the Logan Pass shuttle. While we could not help them, we did give Wyatt from Michigan, summer boat captain at Two Medicine, a lift down to Avalanche.  He said he planned to go back to the Loop and give people lifts up to Logan Pass 'because I have nothing better to do with my day'.  Must be something about the Earth's beauty that brings out the best in all of us.

Linking to:

All Seasons


Floral Friday Fotos
Copy this image and its link to place on your blog

Mosaic Monday


Nature Notes




36 comments:

  1. I enjoyed the fantastic scenery and felt I was on the hike with you.

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  2. Looks like a wonderful trail to hike and I would have enjoyed being with you. Maybe I would have become your hundred and first closest friend!

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  3. ...wow, make that a BIG WOW! With scenery like this I'd never get very far. Thanks for taking me along. 😀

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  4. Hello, the flowers and views are just beautiful. Gorgeous scenes and photos. I love the critters too. Glacier is a beautiful park.
    Happy Friday, enjoy your weekend!

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  5. I have treasured memories of our hikes and walks in Glacier, too. The photos bring me back to this beautiful National Park! Thank you!

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  6. Dear Angie - On opening this blog, I felt fresh, cool air of the trail. My part of the world has been attacked by the persistent deadly heat wave. Today’s highest was 38 degrees C (100.4F). The alpine flowers are lovely, bear grass is new to me, the scenery is simply wonderful. Thanks for takins us around with you.

    Yoko

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  7. Sounds like an adventure just to get to the trail in the first place, but obviously was worth it. Thank you for sharing the wonderful views and the wildflowers. Lovely. Happy travels and thank you for stopping by my blog this week.

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  8. Angie, You are an inspiration! All that hiking and being creative to come up a way to travel. Good for you! Sylvia D.

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  9. Hiking through that beauty must have been amazing. What a fantastic hike, thank you for taking us along.

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  10. What a scenic hike. Love all the wildflowers.

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  11. Wow what an amazing place for a hike.

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  12. Isn't that the best hike!? We hiked to the Granite Park chalet in 1979 with my late parents. We stayed the night and hiked out the next day. We saw our first Grizzly bear on that trip. Lucky for us we were down wind from him. :) Kit

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  13. Beautiful flowers and thrilling view of the mountains!
    Love the marmots!

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  14. it was one thing to see the pictures...and another whole thing to watch the goat video, wow, so beautiful!! the flowers too!!

    what a beautiful place to hike, you are very lucky to be able to do that!!!

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  15. Hi Angie! One photo is more awesome than the next. And the videos! I've never heard of a hoary marmots but I can see how they would keep the vegetation down! Thanks for sharing all this goodness with us. Happy Friday! ~smile~ Roseanne

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  16. What an incredible spot, and I love the Mountain Goat video! I'm surprised and a bit disappointed it was crowded. I've always heard Glacier is one of the least visited of our national parks, and figured if I ever visited, I would have the place to myself. Oh well, I certainly can't blame people for wanting to visit!

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  17. Great and interesting photo series!

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  18. A gorgeous hike! So cute that the marmot let you get so close. My Colorado boy was hiking Gray's Peak the other day and sent me video of the mountain goats he saw.

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  19. Hello, back again to say thank you for linking up your post. The Marmot is cute and I like the mountain goat. Wonderful sightings. Thank you so much for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend! PS, thanks also for your comment on my blog.

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  20. What a beautiful series and trip. I really enjoyed it. The marmot, so cute.

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  21. Prolific beargrass and wildlife too. Nice!

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  22. It looks amazing. This is definitely on my must-visit list.

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  23. Stunning mountain views and such beautiful wildflowers! The marmots are so cute, as well as that hiking mountain goat! :-) Breath-taking place! I really enjoyed seeing your photos!

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  24. Incredible photos. The Rockies are so gorgeous. I've never seen a Hoary marmot before. They're cute.

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  25. really enjoyed reading your blog.having been to glazier park recently .loved all the beautiful scenery .

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  26. Wow, what an outing, love the views, adored the story of hitching a ride.

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  27. I'm glad your boots and you decided to share this story with us. I loved it. I imagined myself out there with you, traipsing with the goat, breathing in the air, admiring the rain in the distance, oohing over all the flowers that met my eye. Thanks, Angie, you hitchhiker gal, you!

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  28. So pretty there! The mountain goat encounter was fun! We visited Glacier NP a couple Augusts ago and it was impossible to park at Logan's Pass unless one was there at 7am! There were so many visitors! We did manage to park and hike to the Hidden Lake area. I'm glad to see lots of snow there. When we visited the glaciers were shrinking terribly.

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  29. Hiking through that amazing landscape on a hot Monday morning in Normandy cooled my fevered brow and calmed me down, what a wonderful place you took us to today. Loved the stories of the people you met, the reciprocal car sharing and the wildlife captures, such a lovely post for MM this week.

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  30. I believe the earth's beauty does bring out the best in people. Loved this post. What a wonderful trip and memory. Beautiful.

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  31. We all feel like saying WOW when we see your photos! I remember seeing the Marmots but could never remember what they are called. Yesterday I went to a hiking trailhead and a Great Egret flew over and landed in front of me. We live in 2 different worlds don't we? And what fun to share them in our blogs! I still would love to travel to your part of the country again. It's been years! Hugs!

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  32. Oh my gosh Angie, that hike was beyond stunning...how absolutely beautiful it all is up there! And such interesting people stories too... the last picture especially is a work of art! The beargrass frames the distant peak so perfectly. I’m in awe of the whole adventure.

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  33. What a great hike, Angie. So many beautiful flowers and wider views. People love getting out into nature, don't they? I think we need it.

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  34. I think I want to go here!! WOW - what views and it is so majestic!!! Thanks for sharing!

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  35. This is a lovely post Angie with the photos and video of that cute marmot. I think my husband would love to hike here as a change to his 10 miles walk by the river every day....Michelle

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  36. Chiming in with my own WOW! Your photos always impress. I feel as if I've been on that wonderful hike myself. Thank you!

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