Everybody nowadays seems to have their "Best of" hiking lists, and The Highline Swiftcurrent Pass Hike ranks high on most of them. In fact, the "Best Hikes" website ranks the 65 mile Great North Circuit of Glacier as Number 6 in the world and the best in the Rockies. On this hike, along with the Iceberg Lake hike, we covered almost 32 miles of the Great North Circuit.
After a night when we both dreamed of being ants along the first steep portion of the hike (seriously), called the Garden Wall, we started out at 7:30am on Saturday morning at the Swiftcurrent Village parking lot, where we left our rental car and caught a shuttle to St. Mary Visitor's Center. From there, we waited for a second shuttle, which took us to Logan's Pass and The Highline Trailhead. Star likes to make fun of my OCD like planning of these trips, but leaving the car at Swiftcurrent basically ends the hike at our car 3+ days later.
Obligatory trail sign photo
We are off and running on our 76 hour backcountry hike! The crowds were surprisingly light despite the easy trailhead access to the Going to the Sun Road. Within a short distance, the people started thinning out, and we were suddenly moving along a sheer rock face that continued for a quite some time.
So, Star, you say you're scared of heights?
Looking back at Logan's Pass and where we started, you can see the Going to the Sun Road. Within the next mile or so, it drops out of sight below us. The area is incredibly lush with trees, meadows, and waterfalls all around.
As we leave the Garden Wall behind, we are headed for the snowfields below the continental divide with Swiftcurrent Pass in the distance.
Star crossing a huge snow field sporting her Spittono fashion shirt.
Looking ahead to Granite Park Chalet in the distance
In the right corner of the photo is the beginning of the rise up to Swiftcurrent Pass and the Swiftcurrent Glacier, which we will be taking in two days.
We passed this grizzly bear shortly before Granite Park. There were about 8 hikers with huge cameras along the trail taking pictures. I told Star we could easily outrun them all because of the equipment they carried. Thankfully, this was the only Grizzly we actually experienced, but it did make me think of the two young women who lost their lives very near this spot in 1967.
From Star: I was actually glad to get down this low, which gave me the opportunity to look around some. While we were teetering on the cliffs, I concentrated on Ben's hiking boots, which seemed a much better view than the drop only inches from my left side. Afterwards, I discovered that crossing the occasional suspension or log bridge presented no difficulty.
Here we are on our arrival at Granite Park Chalet, our wilderness accomodation for two nights. The Chalet can accomodate up to 40 guests in about 12 rooms. Ours was set up with 3 sets of bunk beds, arranged carefully so that there was no way to put two mattresses together. Our next door neighbors shared some homemade wine they had packed in, and we all attended the nightly staff presentation. This one included an original poem by Zack followed by some interesting facts about birds in Glacier National Park. At dark, the staff distributed earplugs and flashlights before we left for a restful eight hours of listening to some phenomenol snoring from all corners and levels of the chalet. Nightly emergencies were an adventure that involved finding the bear spray and flashlight and making our way downstairs and across 100 rocky yards to the privy.
Most of the guests departed after breakfast, but we stayed the next day. We discovered that the Chalet is a favorite drop-in for hikers, who can purchase important staples like granola bars, water, candy, and hot cokes. Four Clemson students even showed up late in the afternoon.
We will try to post the last segment tomorrow, including our harrowing hike from Granite Park down the 2,400 ft. Swiftcurrent Glacier Head Wall.
No comments:
Post a Comment