Glacier National Park – Riveted

Highline Panorama (Glacier N.P.)

Laura Domela — Sat, 21 Sep 2013 14:28:55 +0000

Kevin took this gorgeous panorama while we were hiking the Highline trail in Glacier National Park:

Highline Trail at Glacier National Park

Laura Domela — Mon, 09 Sep 2013 22:03:32 +0000

Today was the day it was supposed to be clear up at Logan Pass. A little bit of fog in the morning, then sunny by mid day. Perfect. We worked until about noon and then set out to give the Highline Trail a second shot today.

Not looking so clear and sunny, is it?

The proper way to do this hike is to park your car down at the Loop, then take the shuttle up to Logan Pass and start there. It's 12 miles back to the Loop and though long, it's mainly not much elevation gain (overall it's downhill, actually). Unfortunately for us, the shuttle stopped running about a week ago, just after Labor Day. We opted to park at Logan Pass and just do an out and back.

Within the first half mile the trail cuts alongside a giant craggy rock wall and you get a cable to hold onto if you feel the need. It was super foggy and kinda eerie (and after our return trip with the sun out, we can say that it's much scarier in the fog).

It's a fairly far (and steep) drop off the edge, and if you fell it would be seriously bad, but somehow not being able to see just how far down it is makes it MUCH further.

The hike out in the fog and clouds was actually quite nice, even though we couldn't see any of the "breathtaking views, expansive vistas, and glacial glaciers" in the distance as promised:

But we did see a friendly little hoary marmot:

The extreme slope of the landscape, plus the trail in the fog made it a little disorienting at times:

We stopped for lunch and enjoyed the view as the fog and clouds started to burn off.

Hey look! Expansive vistas!

That's the Going to the Sun Road way down there:

Blue sky!

And see….this is the part I showed you first, with the fog:

This is a spectacular hike. It's impossible to capture in photographs the vastness of the landscape you're hiking through. There are enormous mountains surrounding you, and on one side huge rock cliffs, and on the other side steep green slopes. We saw mountain goats and big horn sheep (and chipmunks and squirrels and a couple marmots).

Next time we'll get here before Labor Day and do the whole 12 miles down to the Loop. We did about 8.5 miles today.

I think we're going to go back to the Belton Chalet for dinner tonight after we finish up some more work — because we're mostly out of groceries and because we're tired and don't feel like cooking (and because it was so good the last time).

Going to the Sun (and Rain) Road, Glacier NP

Laura Domela — Sun, 08 Sep 2013 21:52:50 +0000

We arrived at Glacier National Park yesterday afternoon. The drive from Lake Louise was a bit cloudy and a little rainy, but still gorgeous. We got settled in our campsite and then headed out for a little exploring.

First stop: Glacier Distilling (because it was 5:30pm and we thought they closed at 6pm). We passed it on the way to our campground and decided we should check out the local whiskey.

We tasted a few things and bought a few things, and then decided to dip into the park for a bit before grabbing dinner. We ended up driving the Going to the Sun Road up just past The Loop before turning around. The light was nice and we weren't quite ready for dinner yet…perfect way to kill some time:

Heavens Peak, 8987ft:

After our evening drive we went to have dinner at the Belton Chalet in West Glacier (recommendation of our park host). It was fantastic. We got on the waiting list for the dining room with about a 25 minute wait, so we headed into the tap room to have a beer while we waited. Our waitress there was fantastic (Hi Andrea!), and we ended up staying in the Tap Room side for dinner instead. We sat out on the balcony/porch and had a delicious meal.

Today we'd planned to do the Highline Loop Hike, but the weather was crap. We drove the Going to the Sun Rain Road up to Logan Pass (where we'd start the hike) to see if the weather was different up there. It was not. Rainy, but beautiful, and sometimes SUPER foggy. We drove the whole road to the east entrance in St. Mary, and then back. Photos from the drive:

Look at those tiny tiny cars across the valley:

So foggy!

We stopped at the Sunrift Gorge and did a short hike to St. Mary falls and out to St. Mary Lake (still lightly raining).

Sunrift Gorge:

St. Mary Lake:

We stopped at Red Rock something-or-other and did a quick walk out to the viewpoint (still raining):

Further west we stopped and walked around Apgar Village and the south end of Lake McDonald (gift shops, etc.) and I took a quick shot of the lake before we headed back to our campsite (still raining):

We decided to come back to the Airstream and work for the rest of the day, then do the Highline Loop hike tomorrow (when the weather is supposed to improve) and stay another night before meeting up with Kyle on Tuesday (before heading back to Portland).

We're thinking we'll roast some sausages on the fire tonight and make a big salad, but we'll see how the weather is. I think the fact that we bought some firewood means that it's going to keep raining. Oh well. It's gorgeous and green and our Airstream is cozy and warm.

Marion Lake, Glacier, BC

Laura Domela — Thu, 29 Aug 2013 13:13:01 +0000

One more shot from near Marion Lake on our steep steep hike yesterday:

And today: heading to Banff!

Glacier: Hike to Marion Lake

Laura Domela — Wed, 28 Aug 2013 18:43:21 +0000

The rain seems to have stopped for the moment (maybe even for the whole day, according to the reports) so we left our campsite this morning and headed over to meet up with Tiffani and Deke for a nice hike.

We started the trail from the trailhead here at the Illecillewaet Campground) and hiked up to Marion Lake. It's, well, uphill all the way…some pretty steep uphill (just rated "moderate" as hikes go, however).

Pretty amazing to look down (part way to the lake) and see the road you just came from:

The lake at the top and the views were spectacular and totally worth the climb.

(That's 5,700 feet!)

On our way back down we met a German couple with great skin and cute striped shirts (probably in their 50s) on their way up. We told them about how much further it was to the lake and that it was beautiful and well worth the climb, and their first question was whether we'd seen any bears? We said, "Nope, no bears" and they were quite disappointed…said they really wanted to see a bear. It's funny…we really DIDN'T want to see a bear, which is why we were nice and loud the whole way. I've heard far too many stories of people I know or their friends coming WAY too close to bears (the kind of close that requires hospital stays and multiple surgeries) to want to see one while I'm out hiking, totally vulnerable, wandering around the bear's home.

I heard there was a grizzly preserve somewhere not that far up the road though. I think they'd be better to go see the bears there.