Wander through Glacier National Park during May and you will find blue, yellow, and white wildflowers spread like a carpet across grassy meadows and covering rough craggy surfaces beside trails that wind through spectacular mountain scenery. For thousands of years, the vibrant colours have been something to celebrate — a sure sign that warmer weather is on the way, but this year there is more to celebrate than just spring flowers.
May 11, 2010 marked the 100th anniversary of Glacier as a US National Park and that makes 2010 the ideal time for a visit.
Situated along the Continental Divide, the ice-carved terrain of mountains, valleys, glaciers, waterfalls and trees that make up this part of the state of Montana is so stunning, it was once marketed as the Switzerland of North America.
Hitting the highlights
In 1910 when the park was established, Glacier was referred to as a “public pleasuring ground” that needed to be preserved. While such language was definitely appropriate in more innocent times, visiting this vast and rugged public park is still a pleasure today.
With more than a million acres of protected land and hundreds of kilometers of hiking trails, most visitors need to come up with a plan to hit the highlights during their stay.
Many Glacier: Consider a stay at the Many Glacier Lodge or the Swift Current Motel or one of the campsites in the Many Glacier area. While in the area, consider hiking to Grinnell Glacier and Grinnell Lake. You can combine the hikes with a scenic boat cruise. Ranger-led hikes are also available in conjunction with the boat tour.
Going-to-the-Sun Road: The Going-to-the-Sun Road typically doesn’t open until mid-June, but for summer visitors this architectural marvel is a spectacular introduction to the park — twisting and turning around mountains and hugging cliffs as it crosses the Continental Divide. Completed in 1932, the Going-to-the-Sun Road is a National Historic Landmark and an Historic Civil Engineering Landmark that is absolutely spectacular and should not be missed. If you feel uncomfortable driving this road, consider taking one of the red jammer busses that run regularly between the historic lodges in the park. You don’t have to stay in one of the lodges to use the buses. Be sure to stop at Logan Pass and take the short hike to Hidden Lake Overlook.
Lake McDonald: Consider a stay at Lake McDonald Lodge or the Village Inn at Apgar or one of the campsites in the area around Lake McDonald. While in the area, enjoy a scenic lake cruise or one of the day hikes in the area. The hike to Avalanche Lake is a great day hike near Lake McDonald.
Waterton Lakes National Park: Located in the south-western corner of Alberta, Waterton Lakes National Park has had a long connection with Montana’s Glacier National Park. The two parks are linked geographically via the Continental Divide and in 1932 they became officially linked as the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park — the world’s first International Peace Park.
Together the two parks form a UNESCO World Heritage site, so a visit to Glacier National Park in Montana isn’t complete without a visit to Waterton Lakes National Park. While in Waterton, consider taking in the cruise from Canada to the United States. If you’re looking for a good family hike, consider the short hike to Bear’s Hump. Very experienced hikers will appreciate the spectacular and challenging hike to Crypt Lake.
Centennial celebrations
For its centennial anniversary, Glacier National Park has launched a centennial program that includes activities and commemorative events, new educational programs, centennial licensed gear and legacy projects. Centennial planning took more than a year and involved the help of 70 volunteers and numerous park staff. Information on centennial activities is available on www.glaciercentennial.org.
Here are a few of the highlights of what’s planned for this spring and summer.
• Jun 1- Aug 31: Land of Many Stories is a travelling exhibition on Montana’s cultural and natural wonders that was created by the Montana Historical Society and Glacier National Park Service.
• Jun – Aug: Special Glacier Institute Courses on topics like bears, wildlife, plant life, photography, history and other aspects of the park will be offered throughout the peak season.
• Jul 22-25: Heritage Days is an annual event in Columbia Falls and includes a parade, road race and a street dance.
• Aug 2-3: Centennial Hootenanny will feature folk singing performances by ten groups of musicians.
• Aug 13-15: Glacier Centennial Huckleberry Festival brings artists and food vendors together to celebrate Montana’s favourite wild berry.
• Aug 18-23: Glacier Grand Heritage Tours will attempt to recreate Glacier in the 1900’s.
Global warming and Glacier National Park
Glaciers are melting at an unprecedented rate in Glacier National Park and you can already see the effects of global warming. In 1968, there were 38 glaciers in the park, but today scientists of the US Geological Survey count only 26 ice bodies that still qualify as glaciers. If glaciers continue to melt at this alarming pace, some scientists fear that in 20 years there will be no glaciers left in the park.
Glacial runoff gives the lakes of Glacier National Park their characteristic milky blue turquoise colour. Glaciers are also an important part of a fragile ecosystem that supports many different types of plants and wildlife. Snow and glacier melt from the massive peaks of the Continental Divide also yield the headwaters of rivers that flow west to the Pacific Ocean, north to the Arctic Ocean, and southeast to the Atlantic Ocean via the Gulf of Mexico. Thus connecting the park with other important ecosystems.
Note: Debbie Olsen wrote the Glacier National Park section of Fodor’s The Complete Guide to the National Parks of the West — First and Second Editions.
Debbie Olsen is a Lacombe-based freelance writer. If you have a travel story you would like to share or know someone with an interesting travel story that we might interview, please email: DOGO@telusplanet.net or write to: Debbie Olsen, c/o Red Deer Advocate, 2950 Bremner Ave., Red Deer, Alta., T4R 1M9.