GLACIER NATIONAL PARK, MONTANA
This day turned out to be PERFECT!
First, let me tell you a little about the trail before we get into specifics of why the day was so awesome. :)
The scenic Highline Trail is the highlight of Glacier National Park. It spans 12 miles, following the Continental Divide, plus a must-do spur that overlooks Many Glacier valley, bringing the total mileage to 14.
The Highline Trail is a point-to-point hike, meaning you start at Point A (Logan Pass) and end at Point B (The Loop), so you need to plan transportation at either the beginning or end of the hike. During the summer months, the park runs a free shuttle service. However, when I did the hike, that shuttle had just ended for the season, so my choices are to a) hike all the way out and back, making this an exceptionally long hike or b) hitchhike.
Obviously, I decided to try hitchhiking.
Hitchhiking
My day started out super early. I ate a big breakfast, loaded the car, and checked out of my Airbnb at 5:30 am. I arrived at The Loop at 6:30 am. It was pitch black outside.
Time to try my hand, ahem, thumb at hitchhiking! I grabbed my backpack and stood by the side of the road. I saw the lights of the first car coming slowly around the hairpin curve where I was parked. I stuck my thumb out. They pulled over!
They rolled down the passenger window and I could just barely make out a woman sitting in the passenger seat and it was so dark I could only tell the driver was another woman by her voice. I also would have been fine catching a ride with a guy(s), because something tells me bad guys aren't out hiking before dawn. Even so, I was glad it was two women just so my parents wouldn't scold their middle aged daughter for getting in a car with a male stranger. Turns out they still scolded me for hitchhiking, regardless of who picked me up.
The women confirmed they could drop me off at Logan Pass, no problem. Awesome! I caught a ride on my very first try.
I opened the back door and as the women shifted things around in the back seat to make room for me, the driver jokingly asked:
"Oh, I should ask, you're not a serial killer are you?"
Me: "I am, but Saturdays are my day off."
Fortunately, they still gave me a ride. The women, both in their 40's like me, introduced themselves. The passenger was Alissa, a dental hygienist who had lived in Kalispell for five years. The driver was Paige, a data scientist from the east coast who, with her husband, had moved to Marion, MT just a year ago. They had never been to Montana before and decided to make the plunge after getting permanent remote work approved. COVID silver lining!
I told them I had never hitchhiked before (although I tried once in Chile, but that's another story) and it was serendipitous that the first car that passed also pulled over and just happened to be women. Both said they had never picked up a hitchhiker before and did so only because I was a woman. Paige said she probably wouldn't have pulled over if I was a man because her husband would have grilled her on what the heck she was thinking!?!
Paige invited me to join their run club (she walks) that Wednesday night, despite my serial killer status. That's where she and Alissa met. They run/walk, then go to a pub to play Bingo (ha!) and have a beer. Apparently they also use the club to recruit out-of-towners to move there. They told the story of an older couple who would check out the run club every time they visited until they finally moved to MT. Unfortunately, I was leaving town that afternoon after my hike or I would have totally checked it out!
As we neared my drop-off point, we rounded one final curve around a mountain and at that exact moment, the sky turned pink. We all caught our breath at the same time as we witnessed the incredible start of the sunrise! Here's a pic I snapped moments later:
They pulled over to let me out at the side of the road next to the trailhead. I fumbled for the door handle and the door was locked and then two women each fumbled to figure out how to unlock the doors and just before I was finally able to get the door open, Paige quipped:
"Actually, WE are the serial killers!"
They drove off and I started my hike laughing, with a gorgeous sunrise to my right and a magnificent view of mountains before me. It was exactly 7:00 am and it was already an awesome day.
The Highline Trail Hike
The Highline Trail follows the west side of the Continental Divide. In case you, like me, don't know what that is: the Continental Divide is the hydrological divide of the Americas, meaning it is the line that separates watersheds that drain into the Pacific from those that drain into the Atlantic. Thank you, Wikipedia.
The trail starts out following a narrow ridge along the side of a mountain, overlooking the winding road below. If you're scared of heights, you may not be a fan, even with the hand cable that is installed along parts of the trail. I've been on higher, steeper, and rail-less trails, so it didn't phase me.
This video gives you an idea of what the first part of the trail is like:
The trail from Logan Pass to The Loop is generally downhill, so it's not difficult, yet the first mile took forever because I kept stopping to take pictures as the sky changed colors above me and as the sun would light up one mountain peak and then another. It was wonderful watching day break across the valley before me. Here are a couple shots:
The first couple miles of the trail are absolutely incredible, especially as the light kept changing along the way. Here's a lookout where I saw a couple taking pics. I offered to take a photo of them together and they repaid the favor by taking a picture for me.
I love this photo below. You can see the Going To The Sun Road snaking through the valley, up, up, up and around that mountain and to the left. Just behind that mountain is the Logan Pass Visitor Center and the trailhead for the Highline Trail.
The Garden Wall
At exactly 7 miles in, you come to an intersection for the Garden Wall, a one-mile spur that climbs 872' in 0.86 miles. And yes, it is a lung-burner of a climb, but the reward as you crest the Continental Divide is magnificent. Just on the other side of the ridge is the Many Glacier valley, with Upper Grinnell Lake and Grinnell Glacier before you. It is incredible.
Check out that incredible turquoise colored water. The turquoise color is the result of "glacial milk," a suspension of fine particles of limestone from the glacier above. It sounds disgusting. Looks incredible.
It was FREEZING on that ridge. It was cold to begin with, just 49 degrees at the start of the hike, some 2,400' lower, plus I was sweaty from climbing that hill, and the wind on that ridge was ruthless. Some guy in shorts and a t-shirt (he admitted he had not planned well) took the pic for me.
In the pic above, notice my bear spray in the holster on my hip. Apparently segments of the Highline Trail have been shut down in the past by park rangers if they spot a bear on the trail. Fortunately, the trail was open start to finish AND I had zero encounters with dangerous wildlife.
Back to the Car
From there, it was back to the main trail which winds past the Granite Park Chalet, which is closed for the season and covered with scaffolding by a roofing crew.
So the highlight during the final five miles was the magnificent fall foliage. I can't get over how pretty it is! Pops of vibrant yellow and deep red against the dark evergreen trees covered the mountainsides everywhere I looked.
The view in the pic below is (of course) far more stunning in real life. What you can barely see here is how that hill in the middle is covered in reds, oranges, and yellows. It was the absolute best time of the year to be there.
As I got closer to the end of the trail, I started meeting more people on the trail. Several stopped me to ask how far in I had hiked. "How far in? I started at the other end! I'm almost at the end of 14 miles!"
I finished the hike in just under 5.5 hours, well ahead of schedule. From there, I hopped in my car and drove the six hours to my next adventure in Yellowstone National Park. See you there!
Total miles = 13.98
Total elevation gain = 2,461'
Peak elevation = 7,631'