Western Montana Getaway: Garden Wall, Glacier National Park
The Highline Trail is busy in the summer: but if you time it right and get far enough away from the trailheads, you might find some solitude.
PIERRE LaBOSSIERE/Missoulian
By PIERRE LABOSSIERE of the Missoulian
If you want to see a little bit of the wild side of the Northern Rockies - without getting too wild - take a sojourn along Glacier National Park's Highline Trail.
The Highline Trail follows along the base of the spectacular Garden Wall, part of the Continental Divide, for several miles north of Logan Pass.
I hiked the Highline Trial on a weekday a couple of weeks after Labor Day last year, and saw only one other person the entire day. It was just me and the spectacle of the high Rockies, and a handful of mountain goats for 12 hours.
It was amazing.
However, between the Fourth of July and Labor Day, I guarantee you're not going to find that kind of solitude. This is a very popular and heavily hiked trail. Try avoiding the weekends and try hitting the trail early in the morning to miss the big crowds.
The trail begins at 6,696-foot Logan Pass at the crest of Going-to-the-Sun Road. The road was seriously damaged last fall, but park officials are expecting to have the west side of the road open for summer, though there will be a lot of construction on the road this season. The east side isn't quite as certain, but they expressed confidence earlier this year it would be open as well. Check with the park office once you get to the park on the road's status.
Bring lots of clothing layers because you will be above 6,500 feet the entire time and the weather can change incredibly fast. The day I hiked the Highline, it started out about 30 degrees in the morning, warmed up to the mid-60s, then immediately plunged back into the 40s by mid-afternoon when a storm rolled in from the north.
Be aware that for much of the hike you are above treeline, so listen for thunder. Pay attention to those clouds in the distance to see if they start turning into anvil heads. A lot more people get into trouble from lightning in the backcountry than from grizzlies.
Speaking of grizzlies, this area is notorious for bear activity, so bear spray and noisemakers you can attach to your backpack are also a good idea - though some backcountry people really hate those little bells on the backpacks and believe only a wilderness dweeb would sully their packs with such a thing.
The trail follows right above Going-to-the-Sun road for about two miles. The road gets farther and farther below you as you hike along a relatively flat trail. You may have to go through and/or around a few little waterfalls, but there usually isn't anything too treacherous to negotiate.
Last year, though, we got a big laugh in the newspaper office when a reporter from an East Coast newspaper wrote a travel piece on the Highline Trail, specifically mentioning how the trail was terrifying and precarious. What a wimp!
After this flat stretch, you come to a little pass at Haystack Butte. This small climb up to about 7,200 feet is great because a lot of day hikers turn back at this point, and you can get a little more solitude north of the pass.
Haystack Butte splits Going-to-the-Sun Road from the Highline Trail, and after this point you really get the feeling of being in wilderness. It was along this stretch of the Highline that I came upon a little family of mountain goats grazing about 50 feet above the trail. Mountain goats can be very tame and friendly, but this family had a baby with them, so they kept their distance (And kept their gazes locked solidly on me the whole time.).
After about five more miles of amazing scenery (Heaven's Peak is especially prominent to the west), you'll catch a glimpse of the Granite Park Chalet. This is a neat hiker's hut that sleeps about 20 people, but you have to make reservations well in advance. You can't just show up and bunk down.
This is another turnaround point for a lot of people. You can hike up a spur trail to a viewpoint at the top of the Garden Wall above Grinnell Glacier. This is an extremely steep trail ... it's no fun coming downhill when it's wet. Or, if you're in really good shape, you can continue on to Swiftcurrent Pass and the Swiftcurrent Mountain lookout at 8,400 feet (about another two miles), or you can stop at the chalet for lunch. A lot of hikers take a downhill trail from the chalet back to "The Loop," a hairpin turn on Going-to-the-Sun Road, and have someone pick them up.
You have many, many options for a full day of hiking. They involve a total hiking distance of anywhere between 11 to 18 miles on the day, so you should be in good shape if you go for the chalet from Logan Pass.
Pierre LaBossiere is a Missoulian copy editor. He can be reached at 523-5258 or at plabossiere@missoulian.com.
