Day 3: A Night at the Chalet: I had hiked the Highline to the Granite Park Chalet before, but I had never spent the night there. I hoped to use it as a base camp to reach farther into the park and tick off a couple more bucket list hikes. We had a reservation for 3 nights. I looked forward to meeting another chatter, Tibber, and her friend Wendy, who would also be staying there.
We left a car at the Swiftcurrent trailhead (our exit) the night before, and got up early to snag a parking spot at Logan before 8 am. Mission accomplished. The next part of my plan was not so brilliant, however: Having a tailgate breakfast in the parking lot before hitting the trail. Turns out, parking isn’t the only problem with a 9 am start.
Everything was fine at first, but after a couple of miles, we began to encounter hikers who had set out early and were returning to Logan. Waves of them. Our progress was slowed dramatically as we had to step aside repeatedly for hikers coming the other way.
Our backpacks were slowing us down, too, as we were carrying supplies for 3 days of adventuring, including helmets, microspikes, and wine. Eventually, day hikers from Logan Pass began to catch up to us from behind, and we had to keep leapfrogging with them, as well.
The hours passed, the hot weather got hotter, and there was no water in which to dunk one’s head. The parched trail ahead had none of the flowing streams, lush flowers, and solitude that the Highline had charmed us with the last time we hiked it. After a sweltering climb to “Haystack Pass,” I found a large sitting rock that was vacant, wedged myself down into the sliver of shade behind it, and cooled off as I munched lunch. I seemed to be more bothered by the heat than my companions were.
Off to a good start.
All the Garden Wall could muster.
♫ I love a parade...
"Don't Feed the Animals" FAIL
We were getting ready to move on when I overheard a man and a woman wondering how much farther it was to the Loop, and hoping that there wasn’t much downhill, because the woman had a bum knee. These hikers didn’t have a topo map - and thus had NO IDEA that the trail from the Chalet to the Loop was ALL DOWNHILL. I gave them a proper map and pointed out the awful truth. The woman decided they would just catch the shuttle at the Chalet, instead. Ahem. I had to break it to them that there WAS NO SHUTTLE at the Chalet. As I left, they were thinking of heading back to Logan.
The rest of the walk offered no relief from the heat. I stopped behind a small cliff to cool off in its shade with a bunch of other hikers. Tibber was there with Wendy, and somehow figured out who I was, though we had never met (Sherlock Roams?). She mentioned the cooling wet-bandana-on-the-neck trick, but I needed to conserve my dwindling water supply for drinking. In the days ahead, however, I dunked the bandana at every opportunity. Hat tip to Tibber!
Looking back (south), l to r: Hikers rest in shade of cliff, Reynolds Mountain?, Haystack Butte.
Looking west: "Heaven's Peak, your face is shiny."
At the Chalet, we were ushered to a room with a glorious balcony. We shared the balcony with Tibber and Wendy, who, by coincidence, had the room next door. Moment of sheer joy: Relaxing on the balcony with some wine as Wendy serenaded us with her uke. Rock Me, Mama.
Music video:
Check "Stay at the Chalet" off the bucket list!
Inner peas.