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Our day started off extremely early at around 4:30 AM. We had about an hour an a half drive ahead of us to get to the Logan Pass parking area where we'd start our journey. To our dismay, the parking lot was already full by 6:45 AM. Luckily, we found parking less than a half mile down the road.
The walk up to the starting point was brisk, but we could already tell it was warming up. It was also a great preview as to what our view would be for the initial leg of the hike.
Once we made it to the Logan Pass parking area (the starting point of our hike), we hung around preparing physically and mentally for the day ahead. While others were using the restroom, I walked towards the end of the parking lot to watch the beautiful sunrise unfold over the valley below.
After liberally applying bug spray and scarfing down some energy bars, we could procrastinate no longer; it was time to start the hike. It started off extremely peaceful & easy. We all had high energy and fresh legs. There was little to no incline or decline, and the weather was absolutely perfect. The temperature read 64 degrees with partly cloudy skies.
As we made it further into the first mile, our nerves increased. At this point, we would now be walking along a narrow path with a sheer drop off to our left and a rope to hold onto to our right.
Earlier when I said that our nerves increased, I really meant mine. My friends were happy to walk without holding on and were stopping for pictures at any chance they had.
Eventually, we made it past this stressful part of the hike where we were welcomed with more breathtaking views.
A tip I will share with fellow landscape / nature / hiking photographers: look back every few hundred feet. You never know how something looks from a different perspective, even if you've already seen it from the "front".
At this point, we started make a turn, and the view opened up considerably. Unfortunately, the light had gotten pretty harsh. I also switched lenses to an old Pentax 645 35mm (~28mm equiv) that I adapt to my GFX 50R. Previously I was shooting with the GF50mmF3.5 (~40mm equiv).
Sharing this photo ^ to give a sense to the distance we've covered by this point when compared to previous photos of this similar view.
It was here, at this bend, where we took our first "lunch" break (yes, there will be multiple). To the right of this picture was a very steep stretch of switch-backs that none of us were too excited for. After downing some peanut butter and banana sandwiches, we pushed on.
Time for another small break. We ate some more energy snacks, and re-applied our bug spray. I also switched back to the 50mm lens.
At this point we were pretty gassed; we had been hiking since the early morning. We took fewer photos & the smiles were fading. Luckily, we were approaching the Granite Park Chalet (a little lodge and store). More on this in a few...
Once we got to the Chalet, we basically collapsed at the first point of shade. All of us were starving and exhausted. We ate the rest of our peanut butter & banana sandwiches and drank tons of water. I also purchased us some $10 bottles of water, which were well worth it.
After resting for about 15-20 minutes, we mapped out our final descent where we'd catch a shuttle ride back to the Logan Pass parking area. At this point we had hiked about 7.5 miles over 1100 feet of elevation. The remaining amount was roughly 4 miles with 2000 feet of decline. We were all excited for this final stretch, but quickly realized how rough this was going to be on our knees and feet.
After about 12.5 miles, we had made it to the end - taking just over 8 hours to complete (paused the Apple Watch when we were breaking).
But wait, there's more! The shuttle ride back ended up being extremely beautiful as I lucked out on a front-row passenger seat with the window down. Even though I was exhausted, I couldn't pass up the beginnings of golden hour in this park.
And that is where our day concludes. We got dropped off back at the parking area where we then walked about a half mile down the road to our car. Our legs felt like jello, and we were covered in dust, but we felt extremely accomplished with what we had just done.
