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Posted by Hockey Ref (157.254.98.204) on 12:46:20 11/11/05
Found this online, from the Lebanon Daily News in Pennsylvania.
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Unspoiled majesty in Montana
By DOUGLAS STUMP
Imagine sitting on the side of a mountain, looking at patches of snow on nearby mountains and at the blue lake surrounded by a forest in the valley below. The only sound is that of a waterfall you passed on your hike up the mountain trail. Everything is still, except for a pair of hoary marmots moving slowly on a flat rock.
This is one of the many unique moments a visitor to Glacier National Park may experience. This park in the Rocky Mountain region of northwestern Montana was called "the crown of the continent" by George Grinnell, a co-founder of the Audubon Society and the editor of Forest and Stream magazine in the late 1800s.
As a result of Grinnell's lobbying efforts this area of mountains, lakes and glacier valleys was designated a national park by President William Taft in 1910. The park is 52 miles long, north to south, and about 40 miles wide. Four of the many mountain peaks in the park are higher than 10,000 feet.
The highlight of a visit to Glacier National Park is a drive on the Going-to-the-Sun Road, which traverses its width. There are entrances to this road in the town of St. Mary on the east side of the Rockies and at West Glacier on the western side.
Discussions on a "transmountain road" began soon after the park opened in 1910, and after years of surveys and debates Congress appropriated funds for its construction in 1921. The $2 million 51-mile scenic road was officially opened on July 15, 1933, with the Blackfeet Tribal Band playing "The Star-Spangled Banner." It was not completely topped with asphalt until 1952.
The gradual climb to the peak offers grand views of lakes, green glacier-formed valleys, waterfalls, solid rock mountains, a river and perhaps a mountain goat or two. Logan Pass is the road's highest point at 6,646 feet above sea level. Some hikers stop by the visitor center located there and then climb to a higher point by walking the Hidden Lake Overlook Trail, which ends 1.5 miles from the visitor center. The trail crosses the continental divide twice.
(continued in next post)
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