Going-to-the-Sun Road and Logan Pass
Even with the tops of the peaks disappearing into the clouds, the scenery along the main road through the park, Going-to-the-Sun Road, is stunning.
We drove through to Rising Sun on St. Mary Lake, stopping to hike up inviting-looking creeks and snap photos at pull-outs along the way. On the way back we came through Logan Pass in the late afternoon, when the parking lot had opened up. We poked around the trails behind the visitor center (thronged with ground squirrels) and on a whim (but with bearspray in hand) headed up the boardwalk stairs to Hidden Lake. We had the trail mostly to ourselves, including the lake viewpoint, but by the time we started heading back the sun had come out and the path up was a steady stream of people. That trail was closed the next day due to bear activity, and remained so for the rest of our time at Glacier.
Many Glacier
We set off early the next day to drive back across Going-to-the-Sun Road and up the east side of the park to the Many Glacier area. The sun rose in front of us as we approached St. Mary Lake, causing the trees and tops of nearby peaks to glow.
Once at Many Glacier, we hiked along the Swiftcurrent valley, passing Fishercap Lake, Redrock Lake, Redrock Falls (aptly named), and Bullhead Lake before petering out in a glacial cirque – continuing would have brought us up over the Continental Divide to Granite Park, above the Going-to-the-Sun Road. We instead returned to the Many Glacier area to check out the historic hotel; if you who enjoy chalet-style architecture and giant porches with stunning views, Many Glacier Hotel is probably your cup of tea.
Highline Trail
The Highline Trail is touted as one of the most beautiful trails in the park, and with good reason. It follows along under the Garden Wall, a sharp-edged, craggy glacial arête carving into the sky above Going-to-the-Sun Road (and forming the Continental Divide in that area). In the summer, the trail is surrounded by wildflowers, and some still persisted into early September. The trail starts across from the Logan Pass parking area, and almost any time of day the early portion of the hike is very, very busy. We pulled into a parking area just below Logan Pass early on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend and watched a steady line of bobbing headlamps heading out as we ate breakfast and watched the sun start to rise.
The early portion of the trail easily visible from the road is a narrow path carved into the cliff face. For those afraid of heights, it does have cables that you can grab running along the inside. The crowds thin out considerably as you work your way past this section, but the views over the valley and to distant peaks only get better. We hiked along the trail almost to Granite Park, then up the (rather steep) Grinnell Glacier Overlook side trail to the top of the Garden Wall itself and ate lunch perched on rocks above the glaciers on the other side of the wall. Along the way there and back we encountered several bighorn sheep, some ptarmigans, a playful ermine, and a mother mountain goat with its kid.
