A colleague asked me about our vacations to Glacier National Park because she is planning a trip there this summer. I happily looked through our photos and read through our vacation journals. Glacier National Park left a lasting impression on me and although we have been there only twice it is my favorite national park. It is so majestic and amazingly beautiful. I remember driving away from it after our first visit and felt like I was leaving a part of myself behind.
Our first visit to the park was in 1989. We drove to the park from Minnesota with our two boys and tent camped in the park for a week. Our young sons, ages 7 and 5 at the time, were troopers…they hiked over 20 miles with us on the beautiful trails.
In 2013 my husband and I went back to Glacier and the highlight from that trip was our experience going up to Sperry Chalet, on horseback, then walking back down the mountain two days later. Here’s what I wrote in our vacation journal.
Giddy up and up and up….Clip-clop goes the steady sound of our horses hoofs climbing 3300’ in 6.7 miles to Sperry Chalet. It promises to be another gorgeous day in Glacier National Park. This is our fourth day in the park. This morning we’ve packed our saddlebags and said our prayers for our two nights stay on the mountain.
The horses are sure footed and they know the trail well – going back and forth up the mountain to the chalet many times a week. We form a line of ten horses with rider’s. My horse, Wyatt, sometimes gets a little too close to Bobbie, the much bigger horse in front of him, so occasionally Bobbie gives Wyatt a kick with his back foot. Although Wyatt deserves it, it can be a little terrifying for the rider on it’s back! That would be me. Gary is on Chester, who behaves nicely.
The scenery is great, the pace is steady and we finally make it up to the hitching rail at the chalet after three and a half hours without a rest stop. We have help getting off our horses and stagger a little to get our hiking legs back, but we’re not sore and we are delighted to be at our destination.
It’s awesome! The smells are divine…mostly pine. The sun is shining on us and the air is fresh. We find our way to the outhouses first, the nicest outhouses we’ve been in, but still outhouses. Next we find the dining room and there are welcoming college-age students ready to take our lunch order which includes fresh, just out-of- the-oven, peach pie.
The chalet was built in 1913 by the railroad (JJ Hill affiliation) to attract visitors to Glacier National Park. The railroad used Italian stonemasons to build the foundation and outside walls, made from the rubble stone at hand. It opened for business in 1914. There are four small buildings: the dining hall, the chalet (building w/ 24 rooms) the old laundry building and the new (10+ years old) outhouses. There is no electricity up here and just two sinks by the outhouses for guests to use for washing up and brushing teeth. No showers. No hot water. Just bedding (1914 era), food, fresh air and mountain goats!
We find our room and take off our backpacks and head outdoors to explore God’s beautiful creation. The chalet overlooks MacDonald Lodge, to the west and down 6.7 miles. I try imaging women in long dresses riding here on horseback, hiking around the grounds, and up to Sperry Glacier, named after Dr. Lyman Sperry, a professor of geology and zoology at Carleton College -in Northfield, our hometown! He was the first to reach the glacier in 1896. Tomorrow we will hike, with a naturalist, to see what’s left of the Sperry Glacier. The hike is 4+ miles up 1500’, to the glacier, crossing over five ice fields and five rock fields (and of course, 4+ miles back down). It’s a little farther to the glacier than it used to be since the glacier is melting.
After a relaxing afternoon sitting on the rocks taking in all the beauty we head back to the dining hall for dinner. Much to our surprise we have a full meal deal: turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, cranberries, homemade bread, pumpkin dessert. It tastes so good. The staff assigned our seats so we would meet fellow companions on this adventurous journey. We sit around visiting, then get our packs ready for our hike tomorrow, and enjoy a nightcap of delicious cinnamon hot chocolate.
As we crawl into bed we are careful to layout our pants, jackets and shoes so when we get up in the middle of the night we can easily find our clothes. We wake up around 3 a.m. and quietly turn on our headlamps, get dressed and head down the stairs and out the door to a star-studded evening sky! We see a falling star and we stand in awe. We are greeted by a mountain goat that watches us walk to the outhouse. We are grateful for this interruption of our sleep to experience this stunning sight on a mountain!
Glory to God in the Highest!