High Line Trail – Glacier NP… Still

OK… so this will be the last of the Glacier posts. Glacier was incredible, so it definitely needed all the posts that we’ve given it. The topic of this post… High Line Trail Hike. The National Parks Guide book describes this hike by saying “starts high, stays high”. 100% correct. (Editor’s note: The pictures will not really show just how steep this hike was… It looks like there’s a gradual slope down on the path, but that was not the case… it was steep. Steep like even if you stepped off intentionally, you would just start to slide and really not be able to stop yourself… so… just keep that in mind)

Tara and I woke up early… you know, the crack of 8am.. -ish… got our stuff together and drove to the loop. (the loop is a spot on the road to the sun which Tara has already covered) From there we took the shuttle to Logan Pass and the High Line Trail head. Again, Fred and Judy Babb recommended this hike and Fred’s description was “this is a great hike, but make sure you hold onto the wire, because mountain goats and big horn sheep will knock you right off the cliff”… Hey Fred, sounded like you said “cliff”. We’re trying to hike here, not be on tonight’s news.

Anyways… we took the recommendation and set out for the hike. Just a quick overview, the hike is from Logan’s Pass to the Granite Chalet (7.6 miles… 7 of which are along a cliff or mountain ledge) and then down the Loop Trail (4 miles), back to our car. in total, we’re looking at about 12 miles. Awesome. (I know what you’re thinking… but Derek, 7.8 and 4 is only 11.8, why are you saying 12… obviously because we took a wrong turn somewhere and added at least .2 miles… trust me)

We got out of the shuttle and there was no mistake that this was going to be a lot different than our other hikes so far. It was cold, windy, and overcast… shorts and a t-shirt were not going to cut it. Thankfully Tara had made me bring my rain coat as a windbreaker. It did not take long to find out that the pace, and general comfort level of this hike was… not going to be our usual. The hike starts with the cliff and wire that Fred spoke of so enthusiastically. Tara, was not as enthusiastic. Apparently she has a fear of heights that came to light… right away. I was able to talk her through the cliff, but we maintained a slow pace and let a lot of hikers pass by. (we totally caught up to them later and passed them while we burned through this hike) I was surprised by Tara’s timidness on this trail. I mentioned Tara’s fear of heights to one passer-by-hiker who said “that explains it, thought I saw a trail hugger.” But I have to admit… the height was terrifying, and the only reason I wasn’t scared is because one of has to be the positive one in each situation. Here’s a quick clip of the start to the trail.

As the trail moved along I could tell Tara was starting to become more confident and comfortable with the hike but there were still parts of the hike where she was quiet and concentrating.

I loved it… it was steep, sure, but it wasn’t thickly wooded, and there was no imminent threat of bears or mountain lions. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this in a previous post, but the only thing that can make you forget how scary “Bear Country” sounds… is “Mountain Lion Country”. Quick education, mountain lions are cats, so they’re super quiet, they attack from behind, they attack the smallest of the group and they go for the back of the neck. Facts. Just watch the NatGeo channel. We did however see some big horn sheep and a lone mountain goat. The mountain goat got close… super close, like he wanted to check us out.

Anyways, we reached the Granite Chalet… the Holy Grail of this hike, and it was really awesome… the views were incredible and knowing that this where the old school visitors stayed when the park first existed (pre-automible) was really something that set in on a “my dad would really appreciate this” level.

We checked out the chalet, ate our lunch, and then were on to the 4 mile loop trail down to our car. Also discussed by Tara in a previous post was the huge forest fire of 2003 in Glacier NP. Well, this trail ran right through the heart of that fire area. It was really strange to see the trees… burnt and grey… with tons of small undergrowth making the mountainside green again.

Did you know… In 1960 the National Park Service decided that they would no longer actively try to put out natural forest fires, and found that they are an integral part of the park’s ecological system.