Glacier National Park 2020

[BlackBart]

Back up the hill heading west. It's much much drier on this side.

No place to go! There are a couple of tunnels along the cliffs.

Some guy drove his Ferrari to the top off the mountain.

[BlackBart]

Then we hung out down along McDonald Creek on the west side, where there are a bunch of pull-outs above rapids and pools. October water is very low. This is called Red Rock, because, well....

You can just see a stone arch bridge under the highway.

And then we drove home and I climbed in bed with a bad cold. At least I got to see all that! Thanks for coming along!

[kallekula]

Great pictures! Looks like a lot of fun

[BlackBart]

I discovered my wife has several pics on her (better) phone. If she emails me those, I can see if some are worth adding.

And I almost forgot this one - it's more about people and health. It was on the wall next to the entry door at Belton Chalet.

The Blackfeet Reservation abuts Glacier National Park on the east. Much of the park is considered sacred land by the tribe. As the Covid pandemic became worse, it affected First Nations peoples at a much much higher statistical rate than most. The tribe made the difficult decision to shut down the reservation to outsiders traveling through, in order to protect themselves.

Most of the east side of the Park is accessed via a single north-south highway which is not inside the park - it's on Blackfeet land. That meant that most of the eastern part of the park was inaccessible - Two Medicine, Many Glacier - some of the biggest lodges and spectacular hikes. It was all shut down - they didn't even open the hotels this year.

At one of our stops, I somehow managed to engage with a guy my age, and out of the blue he started talking about the closure, because he's a wealthy farmer from beyond the reservation. He declared to a total stranger "They don't even own that road, they don't pay one dime for that road!" I said that's pretty irrelevant, it's about outsiders carrying a virus into their population. He said "Noo, they only shut down their borders because they can!"

That made no sense to me. What would be the motivation for that? He obviously had it all figured out and decided in his head, so I changed the subject and quickly moved on. I wanted to say, "From the viewpoint of Covid, picture the reservation as a vast tract filled only with elderly grandmas with asthma, and a barely-there healthcare system - it's killing people. That's why they need to shut it down temporarily." What a bizarre thing to get in an argument in a National Park, surrounded by all that! I'll go see that portion again someday.

[abscate]

I hate people who don’t realize it’s all about me.

Now for your 0450 interlude.

It’s a common install mistake to exactly install your computers plumb, when in fact, it’s good practice to tip your server.

I’ll be here all week!

Try the veal!

[BlackBart]

I hate veal but I like the joke!

[matthew1]

Great photos BB. Thanks for posting!

[BlackBart]

If there's interest in some more pics I didn't take, and a brief history lesson of the Glacier National Park Chalets, I'll add them here.

If not, the moderators can scrub this thread from the record, I can be expelled from MVS, and never spoken of again!

[volvolugnut]

If there's interest in some more pics I didn't take, and a brief history lesson of the Glacier National Park Chalets, I'll add them here.

If not, the moderators can scrub this thread from the record, I can be expelled from MVS, and never spoken of again!

Please post all of the photos you did not take. We look backward to not seeing them.


volvolugnuty

[BlackBart]

And off we go!.......

A description of the backcountry chalet system history -

The president of the Great Northern Railway, Louis W. Hill, began building a number of hotels and chalets throughout the park in the 1910s as a way of promoting tourism. These buildings were modeled on Swiss architecture - as part of Hill's plan to portray Glacier as the "American Alps" or "America's Switzerland". Included in this project was a network of 9 European-style chalet complexes. Thus, leaving from one of Hill's luxury lodges, guests could hike or ride to one the rustic chalets in less than a day.

Generally, tourists were coming from the east coast on Hill's trains, arriving at the East Glacier Lodge, or just "Glacier Park Lodge." It's actually just outside the park boundary at....East Glacier, MT. The northern prairie abruptly turns into the Rocky Mountain Front, with these peaks just rising out of nowhere. Stunning contrast in landscape. The Native Americans knew it was magical.

It's a huge hotel with several wings, and a massive-scaled lobby with tall trees for columns. Bark still on them. Funny to note that trees this big never grew in Montana....they are huge Pacific NW trees brought in on the train. Hotels like these have gone through several remodels, including dreary 70s redo's with tacky furniture. But the guts and bones were still there, and they've been brought back to life looking mostly original now. This and other grand hotels in the park had hanging Asian lanterns in the lobby, as at the turn of the century. this meant "Western" to Americans, as a style and image of the far west. It's done now in a mostly Arts & Crafts style of lighting and furniture.

Check out the log "Doric" column capitals there. All very classical.

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