The first time I visited Montana’s Glacier National Park was in an old red VW Bug. I was headed home from a summer job in Yellowstone National Park before going off to college.
With the Mamas and the Papas and Peter, Paul &Mary on the eight-track tape player, I was more impressed with the cute guy driving the bug than the Going-to-the-Sun Road.
Nearly 40 years later, I finally saw what I missed.
This time, I was in a Red Bus, one of the park’s most beloved symbols. Known as “jammers” because of the way the drivers jammed the gears, they were originally introduced In the 1930s and hauled folks through the park on scenic tours.
But seven years ago, the iconic buses were pulled off the road. They were in dire need of rehab. The buses were put back in place in 2002, and today they feature propane- and gas-burning engines along with new safety features.
I was snuggled under a blanket early one morning with the canvas top rolled back on our jammer. Heading out from Lake McDonald Lodge, our destination was the 52-mile Going-to-the-Sun Highway. Running east and west, it’s the only road through the park and is a national historic landmark.
Glacier National Park is more than 1 million acres, about double the size of Olympic National Park. But there is no iconic image like Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park. Glacier is the sum of its parts and one of the most glorious places in North America.
Called “The Crown Jewel of the Continent,” the park features elevations ranging from about 3,500 feet at West Glacier to more than 10,000 feet along the Continental Divide.
The park, with more than 2 million visitors a year, feels like an old-style American experience. It’s the place where our grandparents went.
Get on the bus
We drove east, climbing from the valley past The Garden Wall, the backbone of the Continental Divide, with Mount Oberlin to our right and the Weeping Walls on the left. Late in the season, there’s just a trickle of water coming down the wall.
At Logan Pass it truly feels that you’re at the top of the world. At 3,000 feet up from Lake McDonald, the views are spectacular in all directions.
Our group hiked the 1.5-mile boardwalk trail from the visitor center to the Hidden Lake Overlook. Pete Metzmaker of Glacier Guides, a science teacher in Whitefish during the school year, guided us through the meadows and rock ledges. At the overlook, Hidden Lake is exposed below, with Bearhat Peak rising above it.
We saw no bears, but we did run into a group of frolicking mountain goats that seemed more than happy to pose for all the wildlife paparazzi.
Plenty of hikes
After a picnic lunch prepared by our guide, we hiked two miles round-trip to St. Mary Falls. Although only 50 feet high, the falls are strong, falling in two tiers down to St. Mary River below. It’s a pleasant walk to the waterfall.
Glacier Park Boat Co. at Many Glacier offers a unique hike that includes traversing two lakes. We boarded the Chief Two Guns in front of the Many Glacier Hotel one chilly morning and cruised across Swiftcurrent Lake. After a short 400-yard walk to Lake Josephine, we continued across the second lake aboard the Morning Eagle, where ranger Ginny West took us on a two-mile round trip walk to Grinnell Lake.
Avalanche Lake is one of the most popular hikes in the park, so be prepared to share the path. It begins on the Trail of the Cedars, where a boardwalk winds through a forest of Western red cedar, Western yew and black cottonwoods to Avalanche Gorge. After 1.5 miles, you’ll reach Avalanche Lake, surrounded by mountains in all directions with water cascading down from the Sperry Glacier.
So what about glaciers at Glacier National Park? There are still more than 24 active glaciers in the park, but they’re shrinking. According to the Sierra Club, park scientists predict there may not be a single glacier left in Glacier National Park by the year 2030.
Park ranger Doug Follett, who has worked with the National Park Service for 46 years, agreed.
“I’ve seen half of the glaciers melt away,” said the spry 79-year-old. “I’ve walked on Sperry Glacier over the years as it recedes.”
Follett works out of the Apgar Visitor Center near West Glacier. A published poet (“Come with me to Sperry Chalet, where the grizzlies roam and the white goats play”), he was a teacher for 35 years in nearby Columbia City. The parks gig has always been a summer job.
I spotted Follett earlier while I was having lunch at Eddie’s, across from the visitor center. Wearing the familiar Smoky Bear hat, he was picking up a huckleberry muffin and a cup of coffee.
“These are sacred land trusts,” Follett said. “People can come here and have the same experience they had 100 years ago – except the bathrooms are better.”
Glacier National Park is truly a national treasure.
Sue Frause is a Whidbey Island freelance writer and photographer. She may be contacted through her Web site at www.suefrause.com.
If you go …
* Glacier National Park, www.nps.gov/glac
* Glacier Country, glacier.visitmt.com
* Red Bus Tours, www.glacierparkinc.com
* Glacier Guides, www.glacierguides.com, 406-387-5555
* Glacier Park Boat Co., www.glacierparkboats.com
* Lake McDonald Lodge and Many Glacier Hotel, www.glacierparkinc.com
* The Resort at Glacier, St. Mary, Montana, www.stmarylodgeandresort.com
* The Belton Chalet, West Glacier, Montana, www.beltonchalet.com
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