Music • Photography • Writing
National Parks Of The American Rockies
Glacier
Page
1
Page
2
Page
3
Page
4
Page
5
Page
6
Sperry Chalet is a classic of stone architecture, built by Italian artisans for the Great Northern Railway on the trail to Gunsight Pass. The railway built lodgings like this about a day's horseback ride apart throughout the park. The chalet still offers hikers and riders a dry bed and a hot meal, or even just a place to sit by the wood stove in the dining hall on a rainy afternoon, sipping cocoa and writing in a journal.
The Lake McDonald Lodge is another of the classic accommodations built by the railroad. Both interiors and exteriors were built in a rustic style to try to blend with the surrounding scenery. They succeeded so well that it's hard to imagine the sites without the structures. The Swiftcurrent Lodge has suffered some damage from the extreme environment, but the Lake McDonald Lodge, on the more protected west side of the park, is still going strong. Shown here is the interior of the two-story atrium in the lobby. Note the rough wood of the railings and the Native American designs in the chandelier.
Going To The Sun Road, which crosses the top of Glacier at Logan Pass, is the only through road in the park. But it's without a doubt one of the most beautiful drives in the nation. It's open to private cars but the classic red touring cars are a great way to go. They've been reequipped with clean propane engines but you still get the running commentary of the colorful gear jammers.
Glacier has many large lakes, some of which can be crossed in a boat like the Sinopah at left. This beautiful wooden craft is named for the mountain that stands above its destination. It runs across Two Medicine Lake several times a day during the summer, saving hikers nearly two miles of walking alongside the lake. It's also a great way to avoid bears and bridges.
"I can see why you'd want to avoid bears," you're thinking. "But bridges?" The first time I visited Glacier was in June of 1988, when snowdrifts still covered the trails in spots. I had to play in Chinook, Montana, that night, but I thought I could walk around Two Medicine Lake easily enough. But when I was more than halfway around I came to this wooden bridge--but the park service rolls up the wood in the off season to prevent snow damage. The creek was at peak runoff, twice as full as it is in this shot. I had to inch my way across on the heavier cable that supports the wood planks, trying to steady myself with the very shaky top cable. Never again.
Penstemons ("five stamens," which the blossoms have, along with five fused petals, two on the top, three on the bottom) are common flowers, but they really come into their own in Glacier. I found at least half a dozen different species, and in places they covered entire mountainsides. The one at left is called Lyall's Beardtongue. The "beardtongue" refers to one of the stamens, which is sterile and hairy and lays along the bottom lip of the corolla, a distinctive characteristic of the family. Most flowering plants have both male and female sex organs in their flowers, the stamens being male and the stigma female. See the glacier lily below.