Got up early trying to forget the long hellacious drive from last night and headed out to get a first-come site at Rising Sun Campground. We ended up getting a site for two nights with no problem, but they did fill up quick.
We decided to do some day hikes in Glacier and the main hike we wanted to do was the Highline Trail. Its a popular trail that hugs some VERY steep cliff sides above the Going to the Sun Road. Its not for the faint of heart, but compared to the Static Peak stuff it was pretty mild. Trying to find a parking place was pretty stressful because everyone wants to be around this area of the park at the same time. After one unsuccessful pass through, we stopped and got our heads straight. The road around this area is EXTREMELY narrow and crowded. Its also on the side of a cliff (of course). Luckily, on our second pass we caught a couple heading out to their car and stalked them for their parking spot.
The trail did not disappoint. We weren't even a mile in when we were told to watch for a mountain goat just up the trail. Sure enough, there he was. A big ole goat with big ole horns right there in the middle of a 4 ft wide trail with a steep drop-off on one side. We had read about these goats beforehand and it is recommended that you squeeze against the cliff on the inside of the trail and let them pass you. As they pass, you aren't supposed to make any loud noises or look them in the eyes. The have very sharp horns and they have no problem jamming one in your stomach if they feel threatened. This particular goat was missing one of his horns. He passed us veeeeeeery slowly..... no more than a foot away and as he did so he cocked his head to one side, gave us the "I ain't the one" look, then went on about his business.
The trail itself was absolutely beautiful and the views of the mountains were amazing.
We did not go up to the top of the trail, but were able to enjoy the view at a pass about halfway through. Look for the tiny people in the second pic for a sense of how big these mountains are.
We made it back to the car and headed to camp but not before seeing some more mountain goats. This one a little baby.
When we arrived back at camp, we fixed up one heck of a dinner and enjoyed some local beer!!
Our camping neighbors, Ann and Dan dropped by with their awesome dog Miso (great name) who we shared some of our chicken dinner with. Ann had to pretty much drag Miso away. She really really loved that chicken lol. Later Dan generously invited us to hang out by their fire that night and we found out that they are RV'ing indefinitely at this point. Both had very interesting stories and we truly enjoyed hanging out with them and with Miso.