Day 21 Snow Day at Granite Park Chalet

Still in Glacier National Park-

The plan today was to drive to Logan Pass and hike the Highline trail to Haystack Butte, but the road to the pass was closed at “The Loop” due the winter storm yesterday that dumped over 12” of snow on the pass.  From “The Loop” we decided to hike to Granite Park Chalet today.  The hike was 8.4 miles roundtrip, with an elevation gain of 2450 feet. Whew!! The road up to the loop was clear of snow and so we started our hike.  When we reached about the 5000’ elevation, there was snow on the ground.  By the time we reached he chalet (closed for the winter as of September 2), the snow was a foot deep (elevation 6670’) ,  We were the first to travel the trail so there were no foot prints in front of us. It was exciting to be the first people that day to make it to the chalet and the hike on the way up was one of the most beautiful vistas we have seen.  It included Mount Heaven, Mount Canon, Mount Grinnell, Swiftwater Mountain and Mount Wilbur.  Rene’s bear bells chimed all the way up and all the way down the mountain, as well as, both of us having our canisters of bear spray readily available on our belts.  No sightings this trip.

After our hike, we saw that the road was open further up the mountain to “Big Bend” so we drove up the mountain.  On the way  we passed beautiful vistas including Bird Woman Falls Overlook which is a waterfall across the valley falling 492 feet from the slopes of Mt. Oberlin,   As its name suggests, the big bend in the road provides enough room to park and take in the views of Mt. Canon, Mt, Oberlin, Heaven’s Peak and the Weeping Wall.  Did I forget to mention that this road is very, very narrow and has sharp drop-offs on one side and protruding granite cliffs on the other side.  Scary road to drive!!

the Weeping Wall, and finally the road was closed at Big Bend which is one of the most spectacular views from Going-To-The-Sun Road.

On the way back to our condo we stopped at a Brewery called Desert Mountain Brewery where we not only had a Irish Red (Rene) and a Brown (Steve) beers, but also bought a ceramic mug for future use.  When we got back to our condo Rene’ made a fantastic dinner as usual that was enjoyed by the very tired couple.