My friend Brian and his brother Neal came from Minnesota to visit me for a few days. On August 11, the first full day when they were here, Neal stayed at my house to rest up from the trip and Brian and I headed into Glacier Park to do some hiking. We planned on hiking the Highline trail from Logan Pass down to the Loop via Granite Park chalet. 11.2 miles of mostly level with a little elevation gain before a big elevation loss to the Loop.
We got a late start and there was a lot of traffic in the Park. It took forever to get through the park entrance. Then the Loop's parking area was almost full. We got one of the last parking spots. From the Loop we took the park shuttle to Logan Pass to begin our hike.
It was 69 F degrees at Logan Pass and sunny. We started our hike at noon. The trail is mostly level (other than a short decline near the beginning) until one reaches Haystack Pass about four miles in.
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| Haystack Butte in the center of the photo. |
Then there is a little climb on one switchback to the pass.
There was a small snowfield across the trail at the start of the climb. A woman ahead of Brian took off her cap and put some snow in it before putting her hat back on her head. Brian did the same as he was feeling hot.
Halfway up the switchback Brain took off his hat and got rid of the snow. He was feeling lightheaded.
There is no shade at the saddle next to Haystack Butte so Brian sat in the shade of a large boulder while he rested and ate a banana. We didn't stay long as Brian wanted to continue on. We continued to climb gradually. It wasn't too long before Brian began to overheat again. His face was flushed and his hands were swollen. He sat down in the shade of some bushes next to the trail near a small stream that went across the trail. I soaked his hat in the cool water several times to help him cool down.
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| Stream where I soaked Brian's hat |
Brian was worried he would have to be helicoptered out of there but I felt he just needed to rest in the shade. After a while he recovered.
We could see the short distance left to the highest point, then it was downhill from there. Brain tried to make it to the highest point but halfway there he began to overheat again. So reluctantly he turned around and we headed back to Logan Pass.
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| Heading back |
We stopped at most of the streams that crossed the trail to initially soak his hat. That gave way to soaking his shirt in the cool water several times.
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| A soaked shirt |
I think the sun, heat, elevation and lack of water drinking did him in. He lives at an elevation of 600-700 ft and Logan Pass is 6647 ft. The sun is also more intense at higher elevations. The summer in Minnesota has not been hot and mostly the 70s and sometimes 80s compared to the string of 90s here in Kalispell. Brian didn't have a camelback for drinking and relied on water bottles. One doesn't drink as much when it can be a hassle to reach for a water bottle.
He still accomplished about 8.5 miles of hiking so that is nothing to downplay.
On the cliffy area before getting back to Logan Pass we came upon a mountain goat. We slowly trailed him until he finally left the trail.
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| Licking salt from human hands off of the cable |
Here is a 1:37 video of the goat:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m39BM_PkxF4&feature=youtu.be
I have about a dozen and a half more photos at this link:
https://plus.google.com/photos/109566462412251958234/albums/6049145165115947073?authkey=CM7I57Xx4f3o3wE
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