First I have to say that this hike ranks right up there with the top hikes of my life. For Jennie it also has to be the scariest. You will see why.
I bought a book called “Easy Day Hikes in Glacier” for wusses like us that don’t consider a 10+ mile hike to be a day hike. It recommended we do a portion of the Highline Trail so off we up to the highest point in the “Going to the Sun Road” (more on than in another post) to Logan pass on top of the continental divide. West of here water flows to the Pacific, to the east water flows to the north, south or east.
The Highline trail starts here and follows the western face of the continental divide for 12 miles and eventually connects back to the road down the valley. We did a section up to a viewpoint such that our total hike was about 6.8 miles.
The great things about this hike is that it is almost level with very little elevation change and the mountains are always in view. The bad thing for Jennie’s vertigo is that it is literally cut into the side of the continental divide.
This was the view at the start. It physically makes Jennie feel ill to look over the side but she knew the views would be worth it. We made it through the tougher sections by me walking in front and tightly holding hands. Lesser people would not have even tried. Wow.
They even had a cable bolted to the wall for you to hang on to. This was actually one of the wider sections where I could stop and take a picture.
Looking back.
The trail then widened out a bit but the slope was still quite steep. Looking back at where we had been you can see the cut in the rock face above the road.
The view down and across the valley were spectacular.
Another steep narrow section.
The middle section opened up into an alpine meadow, with tiny people off in the distance.
The wild flowers in in full bloom.
Then it darkened and we could see rain approaching from across the valley.
So on with our Niagara Falls Maid of the Mist ponchos. It rained 3 times for about 5 minutes each time so the ponchos were on and off but it was much nicer to be dry. We even heard a bunch of loud claps of thunder but never saw any lightning. That had everyone worried. Eventually it was back to sunshine.
Our destination was a small pass that we climbed up to next to Haystack Butte.
Up in the pass.
This was the view on the other side.
The trail continues on for another level 5 miles before turning steeply down to the road.
Time for us to turn around and head back.
Our path from Haystack Butte back to Logan Pass.
A good spot for a rest.
A bit greyer on the way back but we still love those views.
Back through Jennie’s favourite sections.
A look back at our destination.
Our path to Haystack Butte.
Almost back and the really fun section with the road directly below us.
And done.
The parking lot is pretty full now.
Even when level, this distance is about our current maximum. Add in the fear factor and we were done in so back to the RV.
It is so frustrating to try and capture these huge views with a camera. It just doesn’t work. If you ever get a chance, do try to come here.
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