The large rock-cut section is cut especially wide - probably 6-10 feet wide in most places, and is well-graded and sloped either flat or inwards. Neither Chris nor Gillian bothered to even hold onto the railing. Let's put it this way: if you really needed to hold on to the railing to avoid falling, it probably meant you had some sort of extreme restless leg syndrome - for nothing other than legs that actively attempted to hurl you off would result in you going over the edge.
Beginning rock cut section
The airy rock cut section provided a nice little ending flourish to the hike. Immediately beyond, the slideslope ended and we entered a wide, flat area of meadows and stunted trees. We had arrived at Logan Pass.
Highline Trail south trailhead
Highline Trail south trailhead
A bit more walking was required to cross a bit of the meadows to the actual trailhead. A few feet beyond this, we reached the Going-to-the-sun road itself. Jenn was waiting on a bench on the opposite side of the road. Cassándra, as expected, had already left for her drive back north to Alberta.
On the opposite side of the road, we stopped to take a celebratory picture of Chris, Gillian and Evie at the Logan Pass / Continental Divide sign, then headed off to the large parking lot to locate Chris' silver Ford Focus.
Highline Trail south trailhead
In the end, the entire distance from "The Loop" to Logan Pass had taken about 8 and a half hours, and we'd covered nearly 19km of distance. Despite a few logistical challenges, this hike had gone quite well. I'd like to congratulate Gillian and Evie especially for doing so well and being good sports. Thanks, Gillian, for doing the hike in the uphill direction. Hopefully the experience was rewarding and fun.
Interactive trackmap with photo points - Loop trailhead to Highline Trailhead S - click map to view
The Loop to Logan Pass via the Highline Trail - Hike Data
Start Time:
9:22a.m.
End Time:
5:48p.m.
Duration:
8h26m
Distance:
18.73 km
(11.64 mi)
Average Speed:
2.2 km/hr
(1.4 mph)
Start Elevation:
4356ft
(1328m)
*
Max Elevation:
7293ft
(2223m)
*
Min Elevation:
4295ft
(1309m)
*
End Elevation:
6648ft
(2026m)
*
* : +/- 75 feet
Total Elevation Gain:
3356ft
(1023m)
*
Total Elevation Loss:
1064ft
(324m)
*
* : +/- 75 feet
Elevation Graph
Without Cassándra, we now numbered five. Small enough to squeeze into Chris' Escort for the ferry ride down the Going-to-the-sun road to the pullout at The Loop. After saying our goodbyes and parting ways with them, they continued west down the highway, where they would rejoin with other family members at a campground and then continue their cross-country journey to the west coast.
Our objective was the reverse: head back east, back up and over Logan Pass, to the eastern side of the mountains. We planned to do one more outing in Glacier National Park, before returning back to Canada.
Garden Wall View
The plan was to find a free campground in one of Glacier NP's many large first-come, first-serve campsites. I figured that a Monday would afford a decent chance of this, but it was now fairly late, and by the time we checked the Rising Sun, St Mary's and Many Glacier campgrounds, all were full. We started looking at lodging just outside the park boundary to the east, and eventually came across a fairly nondescript sign - a sign for the "Leaning Tree campground".
The campground was located a minute or two in on Duck Lake Road just off highway 89 at the north end of Lower St Mary Lake (just east of the park). At first we thought it might be closed, because the Leaning Tree cafe next to the campground seemed deserted. However, there was no barrier to entry to the single loop of campsites, and there were campers set-up in some of the sites. Several sites were free.
Leaning Tree Campground
There was no obvious fee board or entrance kiosk. A Volkswagen New Beetle with aftermarket wheels was parked next to a somewhat rough-looking mobile home, and that looked like it might be where the owners of the campground lived. We rolled down the car window and asked one of the campers how the payment system worked. With a shrug, the camper said that there wasn't really any place to pay. Someone had already gone up and knocked at the mobile home, but there had been no answer. The suggestion was - just like everyone else had done - to set up your stuff and start camping!
So, we did just that. The mobile home remained silent; no one came out to collect fees. Jenn overheard from a fellow camper that this campground had been like this when he'd camped here ten years before. Most Strange.
Despite the lack of fees, the campground did seem to have functioning facilities. A port-a-potty in the center of the sites provided the bathroom; a water spigot near the closed cafe provided water (which seemed potable; there was no sign to the contrary); furthermore, the sites all had electrical hookups, and they were powered! (I know, because I recharged my batteries successfully using them).
It was all a bit odd. But, as the saying goes, don't look a gift horse in the mouth. And so, we enjoyed this quirky but perfectly adequate little campground.
