Siyeh Pass

Last Updated on September 12, 2023 by

This may be one of my favorite trails in any national park so far. It was long for us, but again, it had all of the elements of a great day. You are already at 5800 feet before you begin and you are right in the heart of the glacial range. The guidebook says this trail is an excellent alternative for those who don’t want to brave the Highline trail.

We started off the day early (as usual) and were rewarded with broody landscape as the clouds moved through the mountains on the climb up to Logan Pass. Pretty striking show. When we finally arrived at the parking pull off for the trail and got out of the car, the cold hit me right in the face. To say it was brisk is an understatement. People may look at us a little crazy with the size of pack we carry, but layers are a necessity out here. Definitely a good wakeup call after being in the car for an hour and a half.

Much like Yellowstone, you have a bit of a drive to get anywhere in the park. Coolest thing we saw so far this morning – The view winding up the mountain to Logan Pass. By coming up the mountain in the dark, you get the full view of the headlights from the cars below as they also come up the mountain. Up until now, I didn’t really have any perspective on how far up we had climbed and how amazing the Army Corp of Engineers was in the building of the Going to the Sun Road. It took 20 years. Amazing!

You start out this hike with a pretty steady climb through forest with some fantastic views of Piegan Glacier. From there you eventually end up in a meadow with commanding views of Going-to-the-Sun Mountain and Matahpi Peak. Then the hard works begins with a steep ascent along the ridgeline of Matahpi to get to Siyeh Pass.

Amazing views of the glaciers. They looked like you could reach right out and touch them. Though I had been thinking there were way more glaciers out here than advertised, I finally read a placard that glaciers have to be a certain size to be considered a glacier. ”While there is no global standard for what size a body of ice must be to be considered a glacier, USGS scientists in Glacier National Park use the commonly accepted guideline of 0.1 square kilometers (about 25 acres) as the minimum size of a glacier’. That being said, I had to remind myself to stop and look around to take it all in. If you don’t look backward, you miss 50% of the show. Pine forest, glaciers, meadows, streams, ponds and lakes – what more could you want?

The only ‘complaint’ I have about this trail is that it is point to point – like so many others in the park. It makes your turnaround point somewhat arbitrary, but in the end, you simply decide ‘Is this spectacular view spectacular enough?’ That is when you turn around.

If you are confused as to why I am talking about turning around on a point to point trail, it is because the shuttles were not available to us on this hike. So, we could either hike the 14.9 mile trail from Point A to Point B and then figure out how to get back to the car, or execute the aforementioned arbitrary turnaround. For us, it was more happy coincidence than anything else.

Once you reach the first saddle of the pass, you have absolutely incredible views of the valley in one direction, and the rest of mountain range in the other. There is one switchback that has some rocks placed in front of what is obviously another path that we walked past before continuing upwards on the sharp ascent for a couple hundred yards. Once we had decided there was little to be gained by continuing on, we came back to the ‘blocked’ path and walked towards a nice big flat rock that looked perfect to have lunch on. Lo and behold, as soon as we passed over a little tiny rise on path, we came upon a huge portion of the glacier right in front of us that we would never have even noticed had we not ventured onto this path. Like I said, happy coincidence.

Let’s just admit that the turn around point is never really arbitrary. It usually goes something like this, “I can’t go another step or I’m going to die. This spot looks good.” That’s pretty much what happened after I started to climb the shale laden path rising straight up the mountain side with no scenery whatsoever looking up. When I slid on the shale the first time, I was like, “You can dooo it!” With the second slide of shale on that goat path (two steps later), I decided, “Nope, that’s it. Time for tea and treat. That big flat rock down there is perfect.” Once we got back down to it, you get a view of a glacier that you really could reach out and touch.

Though Shawn saw the look in my eyes and said, “No”, quite definitively. My reply? “Are you kidding me? I’m this close to that glacier and you think I’m not going to touch it?” It’s like he doesn’t know me at all. Most interesting thing to notice – glaciers up here are dirty. Not like those pretty blue sheets of ice you see in the media. (It must be true, it’s on the internet.) We also got to watch the clouds move through the pass in the Lewis Mountain Range over Cracker Lake. (Again with the names. Gotta love the NPS). God is good.

Always Remember the Seven Principles of Leave No Trace

Plan Ahead and Prepare, Stay on Designated Trails, Dispose of Waste Properly, Don’t Take Anything You Didn’t Bring with You, Minimize Campfire Impacts, Respect Wildlife, Be Considerate of Other Visitors

Courtesy: Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics