What an awesome day. We took off at 08:00 to get to our destination – Glacier National Park.

Last time we were both here was over 30 years ago. I remember seeing glaciers then but sadly there are almost none left. At least you can see their handiwork with the blocky mountains left behind. It is believed that the park will have no more glaciers by 2030. That’s right…3 ½ years from now.

If you have not been to Glacier it is a beautiful place and worth a day or even a few more depending on the things you like to do. There are lots of grizzly bears so keep that front & center in your mind if going hiking or even camping. You MUST have a can of bear spray and it is best to hike in a group if possible. We were hiking together and both of us had a can in easy reach on our packs for fast access. Luckily we did not need them but it is better to be prepared. Those bears are huge, deadly, and you must be ready to defend yourself best you can.

When entering the park from West Glacier I believe it was about 30 miles to the top of Going-to-the-Sun Road, which is the road that traverses the park and goes over to Browning, MT. The road construction started in 1921 and continued un til it was dedicated in 1932. Keeping this in mind, it is really narrow in many spots and there are vehicle size restrictions. There is no need to white-knuckle it, but just drive carefully.

When you enter the park you go through some businesses and then on north along the east shore of Lake McDonald. After you run out of lake you are then following McDonald Creek.

We continued on up the road and started the drive up toward the summit. As you can see, it is stunning scenery.

We finally arrived at the top of the pass.

We pulled in to park and Meghan picked out a trail. It was called the Highline Trail and it lived up to it’s name. It was not too difficult, but it stayed around the same elevation on the part we hiked.

We got out our packs & bear spray and made a quick pitstop before buckling up & heading out. The beginning of the trail was looking good, but we were still in some trees.

It did not take too long to see a drastic change of scenery.

Here is a photo gallery from the trail.

We ended up doing 4 miles roundtrip. I did pretty good with my heart stuff, but had to stop several times on the way back after climbing a few hills got my heart rate up pretty good. I am working on getting my cardio fitness back up and this was a pretty good workout. We stayed at an altitude of over 6400 feet most of the hike so it was a good test for me. I felt pretty good overall given the altitude and the pace was very good.

It was a great day to be out hiking.

See you again soon.

Shawn