so the whitefish koa was only about 20 minutes from glacier. made putting up with fritz and his fiance a little more worth it.we got in there- glacier is effing incredible- and headed straight to a ranger station to see about our hike-
some river along the way
a little background on the hike.... we somehow managed to get a room up at granite park chalet- it was the last room available in july and just so happened to be the night we were there. *serendipity* the chalet is one of two remaining in the park (of 5 i think?) and you have to hike in. i guess back in the day people would ride horses from chalet to chalet as they made their way through. welp, the hike in is 8 miles with an 800 foot elevation gain- easy peasy- except that its scary cliff face and i had been freaking out about it all week.
we asked the sweet old man ranger where we should park for the hike, as we were planning on taking the "loop" hike out (4 miles, 2200 foot elevation change- out is all downhill). he tells us the loop is the only hike open. the highline still had snow (thats right. mid july, still closed due to snow). hello relief! but i also realized it was 4 miles uphill. and BOY was it the longest 4 miles of my life. (im pretty sure i nearly died of exhaustion. the beer and wine he packed in were almost worth it).
view on the way up
so, 4 miles uphill and we FINALLY make it. and the guy that runs the place at the tops goes "so did you come across the highline trail? it opened yesterday"
asshole old man ranger.
at the top
but holy incredible. amazing views. good camaraderie. just stunning. not to ruin the rest for you but this was both our all time favorite part of the whole road trip....
my road trip hat and glasses and a cup of wine
my toes and heavens peak
snow. mid july.
my partner in climb (see what i did there)
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