Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Glacier NP – Highline Trail

Thurs Sept. 2nd – After resting a bit from the Hidden Lakes Trail, we decided to hike a couple of miles out, then back on the Highline Trail. This trail follows the continental divide and goes 7.5 miles to the Granite Park Chalet (one of the original buildings used to house guests as they made their way by horseback through the park) I had read about this trail in the guide books, and it was recommended because of the panorama views and the “garden wall” area of wild flowers that it crossed. So, even though we would not walk all the way to the chalet, we wanted to sample this trail. It was AMAZING !

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The trail started out with breathtaking views down the mountain.

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Then I saw THIS section of trail. The cable was strung to give people like me a bit more security.

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You can’t really see the ‘ever so slightly terrified’ look on my face.

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This trail (you can see it in the left hand section of this picture) really challenged my fear of heights, but I just kept focused on the path and Fred’s feet ahead of me, and before long, we were on a wider section of trail.

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Yes……this is actually a bit wider. : )

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This is a view of the valley with the Going to the Sun Road on the left and a stream running down the valley in the center.

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The side of the mountain was lush with vegetation and many little waterfalls along the way.

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And beautiful wildflowers….the “garden wall” was well named.

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We stopped for lunch along the trail……..

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And had an uninvited guest begging for a handout……

We hiked a little over 2 miles out on the Highline trail, then it was time to head back. THIS is the kind of trail that we could spend a whole day on – the views were spectacular! This is what Glacier Park is all about………

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