On this same trip my fellow compatriots and myself hiked the Highline Trail out from the Logan Pass Visitor Center (Glacier National Park) towards the Granite Park chalet. The trip is a pretty easy one since there is little up and down, although the first part of it is pretty spectacular since the trail is carved out of the side of a cliff. Actually the trail is about 5 feet wide in most places, but the sheer wall on the left going up in places several hundred feet and falling away, just a few feet away, a couple of thousand feet in places makes you appreciate the enduring qualities of rock...
After spending a night at the backcountry campground and another night at the Chalet, we continued our journey by crossing the divide and dropping down into the Many Glacier drainage. The trail here was narrower than on the other end of the Highline Trail, although just as breathtaking.
At one point, after we had just got done discussing the rather spectacular nature of the trail, we turned the corner and it got even more spectacular. At one point one had to skirt across a hole in the trail through which one could see a very long way down.
This has got to be one of the most spine-tingling hikes I've ever been on, but it was in superlative country; big mountains, cold breezes, snow-capped peaks. This is a hike not for the faint of heart, but if heights don't bother you and you enjoy rugged backcountry, this is a hike not to miss.
By the way, my understanding is that the backcountry chalet at Granite Park has reopened after being shut down for several years. Our experience there was grand. Primitive conditions, no electricity, but lights were by kerosene lantern and the walk from the cook shack and dining hall to the sleeping quarters with a candle lantern supplied by the chalet was made even more interesting by the fact that the Great Northern Railroad had originally built this chalet in Glacier's backcountry to lure rich Eastern sportsmen to this area to hunt the concentrations grizzlies that prowled this mountain's forests and meadows. Indeed, we watched two grizzlies foraging among the cowparsnip in the meadows directly below and to the west of the chalet for about four hours that previous afternoon.
It's a place I'd like to go back to again sometime...
... our paths have crossed. On my '99 backpacking trip, we did the "Great North Loop" or whatever they call it. Starting in Many Glacier, up into the Belly River valley, over the Stony Indian Pass, along the highline trail to Granite Park and then back to Many Glacier following that same narrow, twisted, spectacular trail you described. That was my 2nd trip to this fantastic place. I hope to have more.
We stayed at the Granite Park campground and indeed, the chalet was open. I was too tired the night we spent there to go up to the chalet to watch the grizzlies but we were told they were there. Not far from where we were camping I guess. But, we didn't have any trouble with them.
Your original post on this trip prodded me to get my pictures out and start scanning this last weekend. With everything else I had going on though, I didn't get far and definitely did not get anything transferred to the web. One of these days.
I think it's been about 15 years or so since I took this trip, but it's one of the most vivid sets of memories I have.
You mentioned something Larry, about crossing paths, that I often think about when I'm hiking or canoeing in wilderness areas. And that is the connections we have to others through our sense of place. For instance, when I'm canoeing the BW and Quetico, I'm concious that I'm crossing paths with the likes of Thompson and Mackenzie, explorers and fur traders. When I'm hiking outwest that I'm crossing paths with Pike and Lewis and Clark among others.
Somehow that gives me a sense of place.
Speaking of place... there is another chalet in Glacier NP at Sperry Glacier. Ever been there? This lodge was built, like the one at Granite Park, by the Great Northern Railroad. While the Granite Park Chalet was built in prime grizzly country for hunting those shaggy beasts, the Sperry Glacier Chalet was built in mountain goat habitat. And there were goats everywhere up there (along with deer that would eat the chalet's sheets right off the clothesline -- needed to be guarded when things were drying) when I visited there in the early 1980s.
We were told that the goats hung around the Sperry Glacier Chalet because the goats had discovered, by trial and error apparently, that the closer they stayed to the buildings the safer they were from grizzly attack. The night that I stayed at this backcountry chalet, rangers emptied two backcountry campgrounds of hikers because of a couple of grizzlies that were getting increasingly aggressive with people in the area. That night, a bunch of scared campers ended up sleeping in the chalet's halls. The goats ended up sleeping on the verandas outside our door.
The place had a siege mentality that night and the next morning. The goats really didn't want to get off the veranda. I had to bump one, gently, with the screen door twice to get him to move far enough away that I could get out.
... I did have a run in with those clothes eating deer!
We were camped on Stony Indian Lake. 2 campsites there and there was a young couple in the other site. We all had supper at the same time (as you know, the common "dining" area is separated from the tent areas). As we were finishing supper, I had to go back to the tent site to grab some TP. The young couple had left some socks and stuff out to dry and when I passed by their site, there was a spike buck with a sock hanging out of its mouth -- chomping away quite contentedly.
After taking a couple of pictures (I'll post one of them, not that they came out all that well) I chased it away by throwing rocks and yelling at it -- not that it moved away very willingly. After I was sure the deer was adequately taken care of, I went on to do the business I'd picked up the TP for... came across the deer again on the way to the latrine but didn't think much about it.
When I'd completed my paper work, I returned to the kitchen area and informed the couple that they'd been raided by a deer. We all returned to the campsites then and found the deer again... this time though, he was in OUR campsite. He'd managed to pull a fleece jacket OUT OF MY PACK!!!! He had it on the ground, with his front feet on it, licking away! We chased him away and I retrieved the jacket but it was a mess! Deer slobber all over it. I dunked it in the lake and rinsed it out pretty well though. It still has marks on the back though from where that deer licked it.
The guide book we had cautioned us that deer might be a problem in the 50 Mountain area. Guess there's a shortage of natural salt in the Glacier area so the deer have learned to go after sweaty clothing instead. We should have, but didn't, expect a problem at the Stony Mth. site. BTW, we never even saw any sign at all of deer in the 50 Mtn. area.
You are right, the deer and the mountain goats are very friendly out there!
What a great story. It reminds me of an incident on Isle Royale. At the Windigo campground, one had to guard stuff because the local red foxes would steal stuff. One evening, a fox ran through my campsite with what looked like four or five pairs of hiking socks in its mouth...with two women desparately trying to catch up to it. Apparently the women had rinsed their socks out and hung them up to dry. The fox, according their narrative, came tearing right through their camp and without hardly breaking stride went right down their clothesline stripping all the socks off the line. I'm sure some kits had the warmest, snuggliest den in the entire north country that spring.
stole from me once. My 1st. time there. We flew from Ely on a twin Beech that Pat Magee use to have based at Sandy Point on Shagawa Lake. I can't remember for sure, but I think we landed at Windego and set up camp at the campgrounds there. After camp was established, I thought I would take a little walk about and check out the woods before supper. I had placed a few items from the chow pack out in anticapation of supper. While out walking, I heard a russle in the brush and made my stalk to see what was there. I finally crept up on a fox that was eating something. Carefull footsteps brought my close enough to figure out it was tearing into a loaf of bread. Disapointed, I returned to camp, only to find my loaf of bread was missing. I made fast tracks back to where the massacre was taking place...but to late. The rest of the trip was fun, hiked to Desore lake and spent a few days camping and bushwacked to Sisquit Bay. Took the ferry boat back to G.Portage. End of trip. Got a couple of photos I like, but was with a pocket instamatic..but I like them.
Both your pictures and your words are making me regret canceling my trip to Glacier NP a few years ago. I'll have to get back into the planning stages for another.
Thanks again for the great story and incredible photos.
It's a jewel. Every time that I've been there, I've come away with powerful new memories. My brother-in-law once said to take a good photo in Glacier, you just need to press the shutter button. While that is a bit of an overstatement, it's a beautiful spot.
It is, I believe, a more intimate setting than the Canadian Rockies, although they are gorgeous too. There is more wildlife in Yellowstone, but if one knows where to look in Glacier, the wildlife is more accessible and not as wary. While Yellowstone is a really interesting place, it's still not in the same league with Glacier in my estimation. And the scenery is much better.
... Gordon said about Glacier. If you haven't gone to either Yellowstone or Glacier, go to Yellowstone first. It's a wonderful place but Glacier will spoil you!
For a slide show from my '98 (first) trip to Glacier, go to http://www.lhrimages.com/pictures/np/gnp/ . Just note, all the pictures in that slide show were taken with disposable cameras (35mm and panoramic) so the quality is a little lacking. I have better pics from my '99 trip (using an Olympus Stylus 140 -- advanced point and shoot) that are better but alas, I don't have them scanned and uploaded yet.
Have to go again with my SLRs so I can get even better pictures
(I'll post one of them, not that they came out all that well) I chased it away by throwing rocks and yelling at it -- not that it moved away very willingly. After I was sure the deer was adequately taken care of, I went on to do the business I'd picked up the TP for... came across the deer again on the way to the latrine but didn't think much about it.