©Bert Gildart: In 1903 writer, editor, and naturalist George Bird Grinnell expressed his thoughts in Century Magazine about this land he had come to love, calling the area the “Crown of the Continent.” From the mountain goats who linger by the visitor’s center on Logan Pass to the crystal-clear glacier-fed lakes, from the magnificent views from the Many Glacier Hotel to the old-growth forest landscape, visitors will find much to ponder and enjoy within the pages of Glacier Icons: 50 Classic Views of the Crown of the Continent.

Bird Woman Falls, Glacier National Park

His image of and descriptive story about the magnificent glacier-carved landscape in the far reaches of Montana brought about the creation of Glacier National Park in 1910.  Grinnell’s description is apt, but it is just one of the collective descriptions that evokes iconic images of Glacier, also called the “Land of Shining Mountains: and known by millions of visitors for their own personal stories and connections to its magnificent vistas and small wonders.

Glacier Icons: 50 Classic Views of the Crown of the Continent contains fifty essays in a book measuring 7×7. It contains 102 pages all filled with thousands of facts and almost 100 color photographs of iconic people, places, events, foods, animals, traditions, and more from all part of this great national park.

SAMPLE ICON:Hard, wind blown snow comes early to the park’s high peaks. It drives the elk down into the low country, it covers the boulder-strewn home of the mouse like pika, and it sends the powerful grizzly bear scurrying to its den for a long winter’s nap. In fact, the rugged alpine country forces just about every type of creature to leave or hide. But there always remains a beautiful little one-pound animal, a bird called the ptarmigan.

I met this strange bird while cross-country skiing with a ranger friend in Glacier National Park. At the time it was five below zero, and the wind was howling through the trees. Both of us were bundled in heavy down coats, warm leather mittens, and thick woolly long johns. Around us, the snowy world through which we plodded seemed a mighty deserted place. But suddenly, not more than a half dozen paces away, sat six balls of puffed-up feathers. They were pure white, as white as the snow over which we traveled, and it seemed strange that they had not taken wing. Confident in their ability to blend with the landscape, apparently fear was not part of their nature…

WHAT READERS ARE NOW STARTING TO SAY:

*We were privileged to get an advance copy of this book (because Emma is in one of the photos), and I have to say it’s really beautiful. Anyone who is a fan of Bert’s photography in Airstream Life will love this book. It certainly has inspired us to start thinking about a trip to Montana, to see the incredible beauty of Glacier again. In the meantime, Bert’s book is a wonderful peek “inside” this great national park. Rich Luhr, Editor, Airstream Life

*What a wonderful addition “Glacier Icons” is to the vast inventory of great books written about that world renowned park.  The way you put it together makes for easy reading.  I like it.  Bob Haraden, Superintendent Glacier National Park 1980 to 1986

*As a book author I’m envious; as a photographer I’m downright jealous… Hundreds of facts not many of us know about Glacier National Park, what really is the best of the Last Best Places in Big Sky Country. Trust me folks…Ol’ Bert knows. And he knows how to show it and tell it big time…If you have any idea of ever visiting or just wanting to tour Glacier seat of pants style…YOU NEED THIS BOOK…over and out…Chuck

You can buy Glacier Icons: 50 Classic Views of the Crown of the Continent right here, from the authors. We’ll send it to you by USPS, and we’ll even autograph it for you with your choice of inscription. We use PayPal to allow us to take credit card orders. You don’t need to have a PayPal account, you can use any credit card, and the merchant (Bert and Janie) never sees your card number. And PayPal is very secure.

• 102 pages ~ 100 photographs ~ 50 iconic locations
• Get an autographed copy of Glacier Icons
• $16.95 plus $2.50 shipping

©Bert Gildart: This past Friday Matt Rigg, one of my best hiking buddies, and I hiked to Siyeh Pass along a trail that is essentially a 10-mile loop.  The trail is a challenging one and ascends several thousand feet; but as it courses it winds through one of the park’s most incredible alpine areas.  In June glacier lilies carpet the landscape and they in turn attract grizzly bears, who bulldoze their way to the species’ delicious bulbs.

Sexton Glacier

In August, the landscape is still lush with wildflowers, and as we hiked we saw the crimson-colored monkey flower, the lavishly fringed silky phacelia – and the trumpet-shaped gentian with its deep shades of blue.

ONE OF THE LAST

Beautiful as the immediate landscape was for me the hike was climaxed by the sprawl of one of the park’s last remaining sheets of ice, Sexton Glacier.

Matt Rigg dramatizing a successful climb; cairn at summit of climb; blue gentian

The glacier is a beautiful one, but it has vastly diminished in size since I first saw it back in the ‘60s. And it’s not alone!  In the past 100-plus years Glacier Park has chronicled not just the recession of many of its glaciers, but their actual disappearance.  In 1910 the embryonic park hosted 150 glaciers.  But since that time world temperatures have risen dramatically, and, today, glaciers in this park number but 26.

EIGHT YEARS REMAINING

Park scientists say glaciers are much like a canary in a mine and their disappearance portend much changes. They serve as water reservoirs, and tell us as well that we should expect to see major changes in the makeup of the park’s flora and fauna.  Park climatologist Dr. Dan Fagre believes all glaciers in the park will disappear in just eight more years, and over the years I’ve reported on some of the expectation for a variety of publications.

Though the massive ice sheets that once graced Glacier are retreating, Matt and I agreed that because so many of the park’s major features were created by the power of moving ice (moraines, arêtes, hanging gardens, etc.) that there should never be a park name-change.  In other words, it will always be appropriate to call the million-plus acres comprising this area: Glacier National Park.

Hikers beginning descent from Siyeh Pass

And so we hiked on, complacent in the knowledge that decisions that will affect the world lie with the next generation. About all we could do is enjoy the here and the now and the overwhelming beauty of the few glaciers that still exist in the year 2012.

Vast fields of flowers and Sexton Glacier made it easy to do just that.

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Airstream Travels Last Summer

*Floating Montana’s Wild & Scenic Missouri River

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(You can order our new books (shown below ) from Amazon or you can order them directly from the Gildarts.  Bert will knock a dollar off the list price of $16.95, but he must add the cost of book-rate mailing and the mailer, which are $2.25.  The grand total then is $18.20. Please send checks to Bert Gildart at 1676 Riverside Road, Bigfork, MT  59911.)

©Bert Gildart:  The view from the Hidden Lake Overlook is one of Glacier National Park’s most spectacular, but goats and the chance to show family the spectacles all combined to add another dimension.

One of the many goats which make the Hidden Lake Overlook area its summer home.

That said we almost didn’t make it.  We had planned to drive from the park’s West Entrance to Logan Pass, but when we arrived at the entrance station rangers informed us that a mudslide had closed the west side of Going-to-the-Sun-Road.  (A link here to a video of the mudslide.)

Logan Pass, however, was still open, but to visit this high point along the Going-to-the-Sun Road we would have to drive an additional 2-½ hours to the park’s east side, and access the pass from St. Mary.  Of course I said I was unsure (which means no mendacity) about the extra driving time, believing that no one should leave Montana without a visit to the famed pass, so my motives were pure.

We started the 1.5 mile hike from the pass at about 2 p.m. and reached the overlook an hour or so later.  Our group consisted of Janie’s daughter Karen, husband Alun, and the three grandchildren, Cassie, Griff, and Piper.  And, of course, it included Janie and me.

L to R: Karen, Griff, Cassie, Piper and Alun, searching for goats, grizzly bears, Columbian ground squirrels, ptarmigan and hoary marmots, and having some luck. (CLICK ANY IMAGE TO SEE IT ENLARGED.)

The upper portion of the trail was covered with snow which added to the challenge of the hike, but that’s where we saw goats.  Alun and Piper (the youngest) may have seen the first goat, which approached them from a nearby boulder field.  Moments later we saw a nanny and a kid, then an entire group of about seven.

Karen encountered one just as she departed from a grove of trees, and I’m not sure which of the two was the most startled. Except for the small kid, all the other goats were in the process of shedding their fur, and much had accumulated on branches in nearby trees.  At this time of year, adult goats appear to have the mange, but all fur grows back by early fall as the animals  prepare for the onslaught of winter’s snow and cold.

L to R:  Billy goat overlooking Hidden Lake, Nanny with kid, protective nanny.

Without a question, our most spectacular sighting was that of a lone billy (male) sanding on a rock prominence overlooking Hidden Lake.  Surrounding us were mountains with names such as Heavy Runner, Bear Hat, Clements and Reynolds.  And in the middle, tucked into a glacial cirque, glimmered turquois-colored Hidden Lake, much of which was still covered with winter ice.  Flanking the lake were also thousands of glacial lilies, a flower associated with early spring, and that is precisely what it was in this park of grand and lofty mountains.

Goat approaching Hidden Lake Overlook, GNP

More than anything Cassie had wanted to see a hoary marmot and on the way back down, she got her wish. Griff had wanted to see a grizzly bear (in the distance!), and often that happens, just not on our trip.  Though there was a bit of wind, the day really seemed perfect, and I’ll be anxious to see just how this group feels about this long day’s trip, say a month or so down the line.

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AIRSTREAM TRAVELS ONE YEAR AGO:

Montana Sleazy Saloon Tour

GILDART BOOKS FOR SALE: 

(You can order our new books (shown below ) from Amazon or you can order them directly from the Gildarts.  Bert will knock a dollar off the list price of $16.95, but he must add the cost of book-rate mailing and the mailer, which are $2.25.  The grand total then is $18.20. Please send checks to Bert Gildart at 1676 Riverside Road, Bigfork, MT  59911.)

© Glacier Icons: In an effort to promote my new Glacier book, now in bookstores, I been providing newspapers with a “news release.”  The release has promoted several interviews, which will hopefully translate into sales.  Because I have absolutely no shame, I’m including it here with the thought that anyone planning a trip to Glacier will benefit from a purchase, which can also be made from us, as noted below.

Bird Woman Falls

HERE’S THE RELEASE: For over 50 years Bert Gildart has been active as an outdoor journalist logging in time with newspapers and magazines.  As well Bert has published 17 books (several with his wife Janie) and this year Globe Pequot (Falcon Press is an imprint) is releasing three in that tally.  (The synchronicity of publications results from the Gildarts’ staggered workload.)

One of the books concerns Shenandoah National Park and was coauthored with his wife, and there will be more about that one later. The other two concern Glacier, out now, and Montana, to be released in September.

Glacier Icons consists of 50 essays and 50 large images complemented with smaller images embedded in the text.  To some extent the work is a distillation of hundreds of magazines stories free-lanced over the years to various periodicals such as Field & Stream, Smithsonian, Airstream Life,  and Montana Magazine.  Materials for essays were also derived from his many years of newspaper work and cover everything from the park’s disappearing glaciers and its management of grizzly bears to the beauty of a ptarmigan hunkered down in the snow.

Glacier Icons contains over 100 images, some of which have appeared in major magazine and book publications. L to R: Ptarmigan, hoary marmot, grizzly along slopes of Many Glacier just prior to hibernation, bull elk bugling. Other images are equally as dramatic.

Gildart’s interest in outdoor journalism initially resulted from summer work in Glacier National Park.  In the 1960s Bert was a floundering college student (on the Dean’s List for both social and academic probation) with absolutely no goals.  Following a whim, he boarded a Greyhound bus in Washington D.C. and headed west for a summer job in Glacier.  Subsequently he enrolled at Montana State College and, there, he buckled down, again (as he tells his children) making the Dean’s List.

The years mounted and what started as a single summer in Glacier snowballed to 13, subsequently as a ranger with much (and it’s no exaggeration to say “nationally acclaimed”) involvement with grizzly bears.  The northwestern Montana park continues to work its magic and Gildart believes Glacier Icons is infused with some of the grandeur that helped to alter a floundering way of life. The book is often anecdotal and contains the information visitors need to understand this northwestern Montana park.

You can order the book from Amazon or you can order it directly from the Gildarts.  Bert will knock a dollar off the list price of $16.95, but he must add the cost of book-rate mailing and the mailer, which are $2.25.  The grand total then is $18.20. Please send check to: 1676 Riverside Road, Bigfork, MT  59911

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AIRSTREAM TRAVELS ONE YEAR AGO:

*Virginia City’s Brewer Follies — It May Not Be For Everyone

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©Bert Gildart: About a week ago life-long friends Dave and V.V. Shea flew down from Montana and have been exploring parts of Anza Borrego Desert State Park with us. I think they are beginning to understand why we’ve become desert rats, and why we’ve been making winter visits each year to this part of the Sonoran.

Trail through Indian morteros and pictographs concludes at incredible overlook of Smugglers Canyon.

I met David in Glacier National Park (This link is about my new Glacier book, mentioned below. Lots of pictures.) back in 1966, where we both served as rangers.  We both were involved in the park’s first fatal grizzly bear maulings.  David was at Granite Park Chalet where I was at Trout Lake, and each of us shot the grizzly bears that were thought to have killed the two girls that one night in August of 1967.  David married V.V. 30 years ago and then he and his bride packed into Belly River Ranger Station.  The historic station is the park’s most remote station, which is according to David and me, another word for “the best.”

L to R:  Trail to Smugglers Canyon Overlook provides opportunities to study ancient Kumeyaay Indian pictographs and morteros.  Another outing took us through Split Mountain to a trailhead that lea to caves sculptured  by wind, called therefore, “Wind Cave.”

Both David and I say that it was in part because of our experiences in Glacier that our interest in natural history mushroomed, and appropriately, David eventually worked as a permanent botanist for the Forest Service.  He is also a first-class writer and editor and has published a book on Glacier’s Chief Mountain.  As well, he reviewed the manuscript on my new book Glacier Icons, so for a host of reasons we were delighted they wanted us to share Anza Borrego with us.

David and V.V. both enjoyed our camp at Pegleg in part because the nights are so clear and the stars so vivid.  One evening we saw five planets: Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars and Saturn.  Seems as though David knew every single one of the 88 constellations, and he says his interest in astronomy began when he was in high school.

During the day the four of us made a number of hikes several to old Indian ruins, the others to see desert vegetation and the park’s incredible geology.  While here, the four of us hiked to an overlook that peered down onto Smuggler’s Cave, to several Indian morteros, to a panel of Indian rock art, and to an area known as Wind Caves.  We also made the drive to Sonny Bono to see owls, the subject of my last posting.

So far our only disappointment is that we have not found bighorn sheep, but that’s OK, for people should always leave a place wanting more.

AND NOW A NOTE: David, you should be here now as huge flocks of Swainson’s Hawks are flying north from Argentina. We saw them last night flying over our campsite.

AND YET ANOTHER NOTE TO OUR READERS: Finally our book Glacier Icons has hit the Amazon books shelves, and is described as follows:

From the mountain goats who linger by the visitor’s center on Logan Pass to the crystal-clear glacier-fed lakes, from the magnificent views from the Many Glacier Hotel to the old-growth forest landscapes, visitors will find much to ponder and enjoy within these pages. In 1903 writer, editor, and naturalist George Bird Grinnell expressed his thoughts in Century Magazine about this land he had come to love, calling the area the “Crown of the Continent.” His image of and descriptive story about the magnificent glacier-carved landscape in the far reaches of Montana brought about the creation of Glacier National Park in 1910. Grinnell’s description is apt, but it is just one of the collective descriptions that evokes iconic images of Glacier, also called the “Land of Shining Mountains” and known by many millions of visitors for their own personal stories and connections to its magnificent vistas and small wonders.

Glacier Icons contains fifty chapters filled with thousands of facts and hundreds of full-color photographs of iconic people, places, events, foods, animals, traditions, and more from all parts of this great national park.

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THIS TIME FOUR YEARS AGO:

*Exploring Glacier’s Highline

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©Bert Gildart: Here at Pegleg the New Year was ushered in with barely a peep, but shortly thereafter all sorts of good news begin filtering in.  Based on news from the first week of 2012 this could be a pretty good year for Janie and me.

First, I’ve just received an advanced copy of my new book, Glacier Icons, and I think (obviously)  it represents high-quality  work.  Though the book consists of about a hundred  images, essentially the book takes 50 large photographs (such as the one above and four  below) and complements them with an essay.  Smaller images round out the stories.

EXCERPTS:

Typically essays are relatively short, but each packs in much information. Here are a few introductory excerpts:

*Throughout North America, many species of wildlife engage in ritualistic contests to determine male order of dominance.  In the animal world, few contests are more vigorous or the ritual more complex than among mountain sheep…

*When one compares the various traits of the grizzly with those of the black, there is one distinct feature that immediately separates the two species. That, of course, is temperament…   There is reason for this behavior which is linked with environmental features that existed long ago…

* Hard, wind-blown snow comes early to the park’s high peaks.  It drives the elk down into the low country; it covers the boulder-strewn home of the mouse-like pika; and it sends the powerful grizzly bear scurrying to its den for a long winter’s nap.  In fact, the rugged alpine country forces just about every type of creature to leave or hide.  But there always remains a beautiful little one-pound animal, a bird called the ptarmigan…

SHIPMENT ON WAY

In several weeks we’ll have a shipment here at Pegleg of Glacier Icons.  The book will sell for $16.85, and certainly we’re hoping that anyone going to Glacier might  purchase a copy. Of course, you’ll be able to get it in Glacier or from Globe Pequot, but get it from us, and I’ll autograph and provide a personalized note.

There is yet more news.  I am flattered that Bill, a fellow blog writer, singled out some of my photography and made it the focus of one of his postings.  One day I’ll have to reciprocate, as I believe Bill is not only an excellent writer, but a top-notch photographer as well.

Ascending Old Rag

The other good news is that Globe Pequot has just shared with me the cover of a book about Shenandoah that Janie and I spent last summer updating.  This, our fourth edition of Hiking Shenandoah, is much expanded and includes more on natural history.  Additionally, all images are in color. The cover depicts Adam Maffei standing near Dark Hollow Falls.  But the book’s interior  also includes one of him climbing Old Rag, shown here.

There’s more yet to report, but I’ll save that for another posting.  In this posting, more than anything else, I hope you’ll  think, Glacier Icons.

NOTE: From Chris (Where The Bear Walks), I have just learned of the sad passing of Roy Ducat, companion of Julie Helgeson’s in Night of the Grizzly.

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Airstream Travels Three Years Ago:

*The Compulsion of Borrego Badlands

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©Bert Gildart: Amazingly, Glacier National Park’s Two Medicine campground was almost full, leaving us with the challenge of parking our 30 foot Airstream in one of the less desirable sites.

But the challenge of parking was worth the effort.  Fall is already exhibiting its first sign and it is gorgeous, particularly in the Two Medicine Valley.

Two Medicine campground and Airstream, squeezed into one of few remaining campsites. Orange from mountain ash berries means it is fall.

Over the years I’ve spent much time in this northwestern extreme of the park, and posted on it often, particularly as a Many Storied Valley.”

Most notably I worked here for a month following the devastating flood of 1964.  At the time I was working on a park labor crew, and our assignment was to clean up all the debris created by the exceptionally high waters of Upper Two Med Lake. The flood cost many people their lives.

Mountain ash, fall harbinger

Our crew lived in a tiny “Trail Crew Cabin”, and we stayed here from mid September through the end of October, when snows shut us down.  During that time we saw moose, goats, bears and all the various species of vegetation, such as mountain ash, which is one of the most conspicuous and one of the first harbingers of autumn.

But now, many years later, Two Med for Janie and me is simply a stop over, as we are now back on track after many interruptions. We’re working on a book about Montana and on several magazine assignments, all of which will take us into the eastern part of this diverse and fascinating state.

Interestingly for the technocrats, the addition of two extra batteries (total of four) has enabled us to operate well out of a campground that has no hookups.  Last night the temperature dropped to 39, so we kept warm running our furnace, which gobbles up the power.

But we still had plenty of umph to run the water pump, and yet plenty more to operate my computer and an external hard drive, all needed to create this blog.

However, there is no internet connectivity, so this post has actually been made from Havre, Montana, which boasts an underground Chinese section and a buffalo jump, which we are anxious to see.

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THIS TIME LAST YEAR:

*Shenandoah Monarch Butterfly

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©Bert Gildart: Considering all the years I have spent in and around Glacier, I’m sure there have been other days I’ve enjoyed  in this magnificent northwestern Montana national park just as much as the one I enjoyed yesterday,  but I honestly can’t remember when.

Angel Wing reflects in Swiftcurrent Lake

Yesterday I teamed up with Jim Andler, an old friend, and we departed Bigfork about 5 am, then made the two and a half hour drive to Babb, Montana. From there we drove along the Many Glacier Road to a barricade,  meaning we had seven miles to cycle into the Many Glacier Hotel.  Though the road has been plowed motorist are excluded while further spring maintenance continues. When weather is like it was yesterday that makes it one of the very best times to visit the park, particularly for the cyclist.

DAY OF PERFECTION

The day was perfectly clear and there was absolutely no wind.  We began cycling about 7:30 and as the day warmed we could feel the coolness from the four- and five-foot-high snow banks that still lingered.  The air was so pure that we could smell sap from trees that had been recently sawed and then removed by spring clean up crews. As we rode, we saw three moose and lots of elk and sheep tracks.  Skies were dark blue and helped dramatize the snow-capped mountains.

CLICK TO SEE LARGER IMAGE.  L TO R: Grinnell Point reflecting in Swift Current Lake; Many Glacier Hotel.

Because  we stopped often to take pictures, it took Jim and me about two hours to reach the hotel. For much of the way, Sherburne Lake flanked our left and it was still iced over. Soon we passed Grinnell Falls and then we arrived at Swift Current Lake, and though it was mostly frozen portions had opened near the shore. Because there was absolutely no wind, the reflections were near perfect and my bank account was happy that I was shooting digital rather than film.

RECORD SNOWS

The historic hotel flanks the  Grinnell shore and much snow still remained piled along its sides. Newspaper tells us that current snow depth is 59 inches or –  put in other words — Many Glacier is 500 percent above the 30 year average. That means melt waters could well flood the first floor of this historic hotel. As is, about one third of the hotel will be closed this summer for restoration. Flood waters may necessitate yet  further closure.

Yesterday temperatures around Glacier approached the 70° and if the unusually warm weather continues,  flooding in and around the park could be intense. The next few weeks will be crucial.

CLICK TO SEE LARGER IMAGE.  L TO R: Moose along road into Many Glacier Hotel; Jim Andler cycling beneath mountains still shrouded with winter  and spring snows; Grinnell Falls.

But yesterday, disaster was something that was difficult to envision. Jim and I ate lunch in the shadow of mountains with names such as Apikuni, Grinnell, and Angle Wing.  As we sat, periodically we could hear booming sounds, and we watched as the melting snow released it heavy loads and then cascaded along the slopes of Grinnell Point.  We departed about 2 pm and an hour later were back at the truck, assisted a bit by mountain breezes – making the day about as perfect as it can ever be.

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THIS TIME TWO YEARS AGO:

*Arrow Leaf Balsam Root — Another of the Flathead’s Spring Spectacles

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©Bert Gildart: For those of you wondering why no postings, essentially it is because I am about as busy with writing and photography projects as I ever need to be. Couple that with a few unexpected family obligations and perhaps you get the picture.

Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park, one week ago

But now, one of my projects is about complete, a book project on Glacier National Park. Work has taken me to the Park library on several occasions these past two weeks, and judging from those visits – and side visits to areas immediately surrounding – I contend winter in the Park will be around just a little bit longer. Mountains were covered with snow and McDonald Lake was still frozen though it was starting to break up.

As well, snow remains piled high on West Glacier stores, meaning that it will be another month or so before Bob and Rob Lundgren will be able to provide visitors with much in the way of groceries, booze or restaurant accommodations.

West Glacier stores, one week ago.

Despite the appearance of winter, park officials say the bears are already out of hibernation, a good reason to drive as far as you can along the Going-to-the-Sun Road and glass the avalanche chutes. Bears search these areas in spring, hoping to find the carcass of a goat or maybe an elk.

Always something to do in this wonderful place.

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THIS TIME THREE YEARS AGO:

*Mojave National Preserve

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Mark Ambre offers over a decade of guide service for x-country ski enthusiasts, all from the Izaak Walton Inn.

©Bert Gildart: Snow swished beneath our skis and the sound mixed occasionally with the distant echo of a lonesome railroad whistle, adding nostalgic to an already romantic  setting.

Trees were weighted with dense layers of snow, and as we reached the outer limits of the well-groomed back-country trail known as the Highline, clouds lifted and we could see lofty peaks spiraling upward from nearby  Glacier National Park.

SURROUNDED BY ICONS

At this point, Janie and I had reached the summit of trails forming this delightful wilderness setting.

We stopped for a few moments to enjoy the spectacle, appreciating that we were  also engulfed by the Bob Marshall and the Great Bear wilderness areas.

A trail-side gauge indicted snow depths of over five feet, and we pointed our skis downward, quickly gliding along  Pileated run; and, then, several miles later, to a sign pointing us to the hotel, from which our outing had originated.

We removed our skis, walked a bridge that crossed over a series of railroad tracks, then picked up a snow path that took us to the steps of the Izaak Walton Inn. The rustic lodge serves as a year-around retreat for those who want access in the summer to hiking, fishing and rafting – and in the winter to cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.

L TO R: In addition to about 35 rooms, the hotel also offers caboose accommodations; goat is the symbol of Great Northern and official mammal of GNP; Empire Builder and freight train stopped at Izaak Walton.

Over the years, the rustic hotel has become one of our favorite destinations, and though it offers no cell phone reception and no TV, it does offer a form of charm that is unrivaled.

ROMANCE & NOSTALGIA

Placing our skis in the pegs provided, we stepped into a lounge graced by a stone hearth, which contained a robust log fire that crackled and radiated warmth. We purchased two glasses of wine then turned to the soft chairs, which invited relaxation. We sat and began looking around.

A center table cross-sectioned from a huge tamarack tree dominated the lounge and was complemented by end tables adorned with lamps and lampshades etched with images of mountain goats. Glass-covered bookcases contained old books to include a number of Reader’s Digest Condensed books.

DISTANT TRAIN TRAVELERS

Continuing our visual sweep, we noted signal lamps hung from posts reminding us that it was the train that had first brought visitors to Glacier and that this old lodge was a part of that history. And, then, as though to punctuate that thought, Amtrak’s Empire Builder whistled its way to a stop at a nearby concrete slab, which was embedded with jackets of propane-heated water, installed to prevent the accumulation of snow.

L TO R: Lodgepole pines flank Middle Fork River Trail; descending Highline Trail; Janie waxing skis prior to day along one of the many trails forming hotel complex.

More visitors to the lodge – and we later learned that some had boarded the train in Seattle. That evening the west-bound equivalent arrived, and this time several skiers hailed from Chicago, again, providing testimony that the rustic wooden hotel is a Mecca for those with a yen for nostalgia and the outdoors.

ICONIC FISHING AUTHOR

Izaak Walton Inn was built in 1939 in part to accommodate train crews, but also to accommodate visitors who expected to use an entrance station to Glacier that would be constructed several miles away near Park Creek. The entrance never materialized, but as time went by, outdoor people began to gravitate to the lodge. Appropriately the lodge was named for Sir Izaak Walton, the 16^th century English author and sportsman who wrote The Compleat Angler. Sure enough, the area provides wildlife viewing,  rafting and lots of trout fishing.

RESIDENT SKI GUIDE

But on this particularly occasion, Janie and I were there for the skiing and to gather information for a book we’ve been commissioned to write on certain classic aspects of Glacier.  Certainly the old hotel – with its history, railroad themes, multitude of outdoor activities, as well as its cozy bedrooms and wonderful dinning – fulfills the requisite. The lodge even offers a resident ski guide and next day we’d heard that Mark Ambre would be offering a guided tour to a challenging area in Glacier not far from Firebrand Pass.

Dr. Andy Zimet and wife Linda Farmer of Whitefish lounge after a day of skiing. Both excellent skiers.

How could we pass up something like that? In fact, we couldn’t, appreciating that the Izaak Walton was indeed a lodge for all seasons and that it offered all these activities  against a backdrop of nostalgia that remained true to the area’s history — and Glacier National Park’s  intent.

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THIS TIME THEE YEARS AGO:

*Eyes of Canyon

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©Bert Gildart: Seventy years ago today my mom made medical history at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, giving birth through cesarean section to a baby boy. It was a first at the old army hospital, and the baby, of course, was yours truly.

A year and a half later, on December 7, 1941, my dad, mom and I survived the Japanese invasion at Pearl Harbor. Other significant and sometimes traumatic events continued to mark my life and did so for my first 30 years, to include a harrowing rescue in the ocean just off Fort Monroe, Virginia.

At the time I was 14 and not the most devoted of high school students. One day I had decided to skip school, take my dad’s sailboat, and cross  the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, failing to note that storm-warning flags were flying.

Mount Reynolds reflecting in small pond above Logan Pass

SAVED FROM STORM-RAVAGED WATERS

About mid way across, violent winds kicked up and the sailboat went over, and the last thing my companion and I saw before fog enveloped us was a huge aircraft carrier bearing down. Fortunately the Coast Guard also saw us, marked our location and moved in to snatch us from the violent waves that were sweeping over us. Somehow the rescue efforts were picked up by a local radio station but they got their news wrong.

Reporters were told two teenage boys were lost in the violent storm despite an attempted Coast Guard rescue. Both my mom and dad heard the report and by this time knew I’d “borrowed” the sailboat. But I thanked my lucky stars that they initially believe me dead, for normally my transgression would have brought out the wrath of God in my dad. As it was, both my mom and dad were so glad to see me alive that my “crime” was initially overlooked.

Mountain goat shedding winter coat; Photographer John Roberts, a most impressive man whom I will be describing further in subsequent posts; Bearhat Mountain, reflecting in small pond near Hidden Lake Overlook.

Other such calamities seemed to plague me until the time I was about 30, prompting many of my friends and contemporaries to tell me that I would be lucky to make it to 50 – much to the Biblical allotment of three-score and ten. They contended there were reasons. They elaborated, and though I won’t divulge their thoughts here, will concede that I might have committed transgressions that prompted such delusions.

Nevertheless, I have survived and am now recalling individuals  who made such insensitive comments. Today,  I plan to laugh in their face, for not only am I alive and well, but I am accomplishing things that I feel very fortunate to still be able to do…

GLACIER’S LOGAN PASS

Yesterday, I departed home at 4:30 a.m., drove to Logan Pass and was there to greet the sun from this lofty and incredibly beautiful place in Glacier National Park. While there I photographed goats and the image of Bearhat Mountain reflecting in several small alpine ponds. It was an absolutely beautiful place to look back over my life, concluding like Willie Nelson, that, sure, I have made some mistakes, but that without some of those mistakes I wouldn’t be where I am now. “I’ve profited from my mistakes,” said the famous singer/songwriter in so many words, “giving me wisdom. Life is good.”

I concur, for I have a wonderful wife, crazy enough to embark on many “outlandish” adventures. I also have understanding children – and so does my wife. Moreover, her children have accepted me and that acceptance adds to my blessings.

Mountain goats near Hidden Lake overlook, above Logan Pass

LEARNING FROM LIFE’S MISTAKES

Life, in fact, is good and I have many more goals which I believe I will be able to fulfill.  That is what I concluded yesterday following a fairly vigorous hike  to the Hidden Lake Overlook where I took the photographs included here.

Today, some of my best friends will be joining me to celebrate this day and there are several who will be attending whom I will remind of the predictions they made so long ago. I’ll laugh in their face and tell them that I plan to be laughing (but not too loudly) for at least another 20 years. Fate has been generous and I hope will continue, for I have many more mountains (both metaphorical and literal) that I fully intend (Chilkoot) to climb.

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THIS TIME LAST YEAR:

*Alaska Travels

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©Bert Gildart: In about a week I’ll be departing Montana, flying to Jackson, Ohio, to make several “slide” presentations for Rich Luhr’s Aluma Palooza, a huge international gathering of Airstream Travel trailers.

When Oregon Grape appears in Montana, warm days are not far behind.

One of my presentations will concern photography, and a portion of the talk will certainly include a bit about capturing images of flowers, generally a popular subject. Spring is a good time for such talks as the season is always crowned with beautiful displays, and one of those is beginning to occur right now not only in our back yard, but also in Glacier National Park. In our wooded property a particularly colorful  species  is growing at the base of several Douglas Fir trees.

OREGON GRAPE

Right now Oregon Grape is putting out a dazzling florescence of yellow, and there are two ways to capture this beauty: you can use strobes (also see: strobes & mushrooms), or you can wait until natural conditions are just right and then take your picture. This morning, there was no breeze, the sun was muted by clouds reducing harsh shadows,  so rather than using strobes as I often do to simulate such lighting, I set my camera on a tripod, attached a cable release so there would be absolutely no camera movement, set my f-stop to f-25 for depth of field and the shutter speed to .6 of a second. Then I depressed the cable release (no camera movement),  and because there wasn’t even the hint of a breeze  the slow shutter speed worked perfect. No part of the plant is blurred by movement of any kind and the depth of field reveals detail throughout.

Since college, Oregon Grape has been one of my favorite plant species. In a Montana State University botany class we were required to make a plant collection of spring wild flowers and then take one from that collection and describe it in detail. I selected Oregon Grape and my research revealed that the plant has antibiotic and anticancer properties. Scientists have discovered that the plant also contains properties effective in speeding recovery from giardia, candida, viral diarrhea, and from cholera.

In the fall, grapes can be harvested and used for making a tart but very palatable grape jelly. Though I’ve never had the opportunity to try the jelly others I know have, and they say it is tasty.

The species grows throughout the United States and Canada in cool, damp climates, and though not the first spring species to rear it head, is not far behind. Here in Montana, it is always a welcome sight, for it indicates that warm days are not far behind.

Hurray!

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THIS TIME TWO YEARS AGO

*Spring Time In Glacier National Park

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©Bert Gildart: Montana Public TV aired its “Night of the Grizzlies” documentary May 17 and if nothing else the program has reunited many of us who played some part in the twin tragedies of 1967. Since that time I’ve visited by telephone with friends in various parts of the country who appeared in the documentary. We’ve rehashed the program, and we’ve reviewed the problems that brought about the fatal mauling of the two college women on that black night of August the 12th. What, we’ve all agreed upon, is that the producers did a magnificent job of tying together the times with the tragedy, recalling as they did the biology and legends of g-bears, the magnificent setting in which the maulings occurred — and even the fact that 1967 was “The summer of love.” (Remember, Brian, Daniela, and David?)

There is one fact, however, that keeps creeping in, and that is:  that the probability of these two maulings occurring on the same night was infinitesimal. “A trillion to one,” some said,  but that is not a figure I’m comfortable with. I think the odds were less — considerably less, and I think it important to understand the conditions and never forget, least we again create a problem situation.

GARBAGE THE PROBLEM

Here is my rationale, and it is based in part on a considerable amount of research I conducted for a major story I wrote for Smithsonian magazine about bears and bear maulings. I wrote the story in the mid 1980s after another horrible twin mauling occurred on Divide Creek, also in Glacier. In this case a young couple (Ammerman and Eberly) were camped (OK, so they were illegally camped, considering the outcome who cares ?) adjacent to the creek which was unknowingly in the path that a grizzly bear followed almost every night on its way to a garbage dump, one located just outside of the park. My research emphasized that there was little that would stop a bear intent on feeding on garbage. Highly charged electric fences didn’t work, and sadly the obstacle of two campers didn’t work either. The result was another twin tragedy.

Click to see larger image. L to R:  Kintla Lake was my first ranger station; examining rogue grizzly bear and discovering glass embedded in its teeth;  Bert Gildart with rogue bear shot at Trout Lake.

In the above four cases, garbage was always the problem, for it had created bears that were conditioned to easily obtainable food sources –  food they’d come to associate with the smell of people. As a result, these bears had lost their fear of people, or in the words of biologists, they had become “habituated.” (Note: That’s not the way things are today! Despite a larger bear population, Glacier has  fewer problems, something that should also be remembered and that I really want to emphasize!)

Though the term habituation was not familiar in 1967, bears at both Granite Park Chalet and Trout Lake were certainly habituated. They craved garbage and absolutely nothing would stand in their way.

THEY WERE DUMPING GARBAGE

Certainly this is all in retrospect and is not to imply  managers at the time would have knowingly tolerated a situation that might have lethal consequences. I say that even though both David Shea and I had reported our findings to authorities at headquarters. As the “Night of the Grizzlies” retrospective brought out, one week prior to the maulings, Shea and I had hiked to Granite Park Chalet and had witnessed a horrible spectacle in which chalet personnel were dumping garbage over the balcony to lure grizzly bears in for free food. Our report was ignored but that may have been because Glacier was experiencing one of the worst fire seasons ever, and so headquarters was mostly without a nearby permanent staff, which is where authority ultimately rested.

Garbage was also present at Trout Lake and in such immense quantities that another monster situation had been created.  I once found cans of  honey, pancake mix, cans of tuna,  rotten sandwiches — enough discarded garbage to fill 17 burlap sacks later flown out in a helicopter, and that was just for starters! In other words, here were two completely separate situations and each could have but one outcome, and that was a mauling.

If my basic assumption is ball-park correct, then statisticians should view things differently. Rather than “a trillion to one,” the odds change and are based more on the number of days during which a probable mauling might occur.

Generally, Glacier’s approximately 300 maulings (10 fatal) have occurred between the months of July and September, though there are several notable exceptions. In 1998 rangers were notified that Craig Dahl had not returned from a May 17 hike. A search was conducted and the man’s remains were found on May 20. On the other seasonal extreme,  a sow and two cubs attacked and killed photographer John Petranyi on October 3, 1992, near Granite Park Chalet. No one can say with complete certainty what prompted the attacks because no one was there. But people can speculate, saying that perhaps it was photographic aggression or perhaps the hikers had a surprise encounter with the  sow and her cubs. (Today, before you venture into the backcountry you are required to watch a video that informs on ways to avoid surprise encounters.)

MAULINGS WERE A GIVEN

Most of Glacier’s other maulings (some with black bears lured into cars for better photo ops), however, have occurred between July and September, and isn’t it acceptable  then to focus on this three-month period,  a time frame of about 90 days?  Again, I want to emphasize that I believe the 1967 maulings were a given, that under the circumstances they were absolutely inevitable! If that’s the case, the probability of a mauling occurring on August 12 at Trout Lake was 1 out of 90. The same is true as well at Granite Park Chalet; there could be no other outcome!

Click to See Larger Image:  Ranger Bill Hutchison examining area for grizzly bear sign and finding it in the form of tree markings; sometimes bears turn rogue, generally subsequent to being feed; Heaven’s Peak separates Granite Park Chalet and Trout Lake, the two of which are 8 linear miles apart.

Now let’s take a rule from statistics, one which says that the odds of two separate events occurring at the same time is the product of their individual probabilities, meaning that the likelihood of these two mauling occurring on the same night (say, August 12)  is one in 8,100.

So there you have it, and though I don’t know how mathematically sound my statistical thoughts might be, I certainly think the odds are considerably less than a “trillion to one” or “infinitesimal,” as several seemed to think. . Still, that’s the virtue of such programs and such dialog:  they start you thinking…

From a personal perspective I am delighted for the small part I was able to contribute to the program and pleased many of my images (perhaps 25) were used by director Gus Chambers. To help set the background for my thoughts I’ve included a few of those pictures (above) in this posting.  My thoughts also suggest that though conditions were ripe for these two maulings, such is no longer the case.

Today, Janie and I frequently hike in Glacier without any  concern that marauding bears are stalking us, for these are decidedly different times, as I noted in a recent magazine article about bears. As biologist/author Doug Chadwick, who also served as the program’s commentator, said: “We’re learning to live with bears, and I think they’re learning to live with us.”

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NOTE:  As a guest speaker, I’ll be showing  the above photographs (and many others, too) between June 2 and June 4 at an International Airstream Rally in Jackson, Ohio. My program will also highlight Glacier, now celebrating its centennial.  Unfortunately, I’ll be flying and not traveling in our RV, which I regret.

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THIS TIME LAST YEAR:

*Memorial Day, On a Personal Note

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©Bert Gildart:  Tonight PBS will be airing on Montana Public TV its long awaited retrospective on Night of the Grizzly. The retrospective draws on an immense number of interviews conducted over the past few years with individuals who were in some way involved with the dual tragedy which occurred August of 1967. In a single night two young women were fatally mauled in two entirely different locations in Glacier National Park. One of the maulings occurred at Granite Park Chalet, the other at Trout Lake. Peripherally, I was involved at Granite Park Chalet but at Trout Lake, I was directly involved (see link just above).

When bears link the odor of food with people, they become "habituated" -- and very dangerous.

Both maulings were the direct result of habituation, a situation in which bears have lost all fear of people. Usually that results when bears have come to associate food with people and that is precisely what happened in these two cases. At Granite Park Chalet managers were placing food just outside the chalet so guests could see bears more intimately.

GLACIER’S BACKCOUNTRY LOOKED LIKE A GARBAGE DUMP

At Trout Lake, hikers were disposing of unused food and over the years the campground had come to resemble a garbage dump. In fact, subsequent to the mauling, Chief Ranger Ruben Hart and I returned to Trout Lake in a helicopter and loaded it with 17 burlap sacks full of refuse. That was just for starters. Most other campgrounds in the park had similarly deteriorated.

Since 1989 (when I became a free-lance writer)  I have written a number of articles about bears and the problems that result from habituation. One of the stories appeared in Smithsonian while others have appeared in many outdoor publications. Because of our RV travels, I frequently write travel stories now for the RV industry, and this month’s issue of MotorHome Magazine allows me to merge my evolution of feelings about bears along with thoughts about Glacier National Park’s centennial.

MOST unhabituated bears avoid people.

Over the years I’ve also posted a number of blogs about bears, mostly favorable to the park’s handling of bears, though not all.

WOULD HAVE JOINED HUNTING PARTY

Subsequent to the maulings I would gladly have joined a hunting party intent on eliminating grizzly bears from Glacier. But with the massive clean up of Glacier backcountry and with the implementation of a Bear Management Plan, my feeling have changed, for I believe you are safer now in Glacier’s backcountry than you are driving to the park. Essentially, that is because bears are once again wild and are not habituated. In other words, hikers are now dealing with wild bears, and when you see one of the magnificent animals created by the eons you may understand why Glacier would be bereft should they disappear.

I’ll be watching the PBS program tonight at 8 pm certainly because they’ve included interviews with me, but more importantly, I want to see how others now feel about bears.

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THIS TIME TWO YEARS AGO:

*They were “Honeyed Up”, Reflections from My Days as a Backcountry Ranger

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Superintendent Chas Cartwright urging another century of commitment

©Bert Gildart: For the thousand-plus people who attended Glacier National Park’s 100-year celebration held May 11, 2010, the day could not have been better. The weather was perfect and the audience was in accord with the various dignitaries who offered remarks, which carried much meaning.

Backdropped by mountains in the Apgar Range and beneath a perfectly blue sky, Glacier Superintendent Chas Cartwright provided opening thoughts in which he summarized some of the ways in which Glacier now appears on a world stage.

He recalled that the 1.1 million acre park is a World Heritage Park, an International Peace Park and a Biosphere Preserve. He urged everyone to recommit to the support and protection of this sacred land we call Glacier.

“As we move into the second century,” said Cartwright,” the continued preservation of this special place is in the hands of the stewards we engage today.”

HEAVEN’S PEAK LOOKOUT

Cartwright, who is on a fast track to becoming the crowd-pleasing advocate of wilderness designation for much of Glacier, also talked about refurbishing the old but historic Heaven’s Peak Fire Lookout, which seemed to interest everyone.

He said that last year he had threaded his way through the underbrush with Resource Specialist Jack Potter and that as they ascended the lofty saddle between Heaven’s Peak and the old Heaven’s Peak Lookout he’d asked Potter, “When do we pick up the trail?”

“This,” Potter had said, “is the trail.”

Others spoke, too, and Montana Lt. Governor John Bohlinger recalled he’d been coming to the park since he was ten years old and that “[Glacier has] a long history of enchanting people.”

Superintendent Chas Cartwright with Willie Sharp, Lt. Governor John Bohlinger and Rusty Tatsy.

Bill Schustrom, a highly respected Glacier interpretive ranger for the last 22 years, said he wondered if President Taft “realized what he was setting in motion” as he was establishing Glacier as a protected national park.

POIGNANT THOUGHTS FROM NATIVE AMERICANS

Though all remarks were enthusiastically applauded speakers whose comments seemed particularly poignant were the Native Americans from the Blackfeet and Salish-Kootenai Reservations. Though Willie Sharp Jr, Steve Lozar and Rusty Tatsey all used different words, the general theme recalled past struggles as the government down- sized lands the tribes once dominated – and that included portions of what is now Glacier National Park.

CLICK TO SEE LARGER IMAGE. L to R: Blackfeet Tribal Chairman Willie Sharp, Salish-Kootenai College Instructor Steve Lozar, Blackfeet Tribal Vice-Chairman Peter ‘Rusty’ Tatsey.

Nevertheless, the men recognized the times for what they are and seemed to be saying that national park designation enabled Glacier to protect the mountains, valleys and the spiritual qualities their respective tribes so cherished.

“When our family experiences illness,” said Blackfeet Tribal Chairman Willie Sharp, “here is where we come.”

Four former Glacier superintendents joined Glacier's current superintendent, Chas Cartwright, center. Flanking Cartwright are Phil Iversen and Dave Mihalic to his right and Mick Holm and Bob Haraden to his left.

Several of the state’s leaders could not be present. Stand-ins, however, read speeches from the podium for Sen. Ryan Zinke, for Senator Jon Tester and for Rep. Denny Rehberg. Montana Senator Max Baucus wasn’t present either but from past experiences I am sure that he very much wanted nothing more than to attend. Once he and I climbed Triple Divide and in 1992 I escorted him around Arctic Village, Alaska, immediately adjacent to the Arctic Refuge. I was gratified when his stand-in said that on Monday night (May 10^th) Baucus passed a resolution recognizing the park’s 100th birthday.

YOU’LL NEVER BE THE SAME

Baucus who recently helped settle oil and gas leases (much clapping) near Glacier offered a remark which fit this day of great harmony. “Once you’re in Glacier National Park, “said Baucus, “You’ll never be the same.” The remark drew one of the many standing ovations offered throughout the day and was in perfect accord with Superintendent Cartwright who offered an appropriate challenge:

“Together,” said Cartwright, “we can insure Glacier National Park remains a jewel in the Crown of the Continent.”

Without qualification, all seemed to be in accord.

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THIS TIME ONE YEAR AGO:

*Natchez Trace and Arctic Refuge Images Used by Various Publications

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©Bert Gildart: One hundred years ago, today, 1.1 million acres in the northwest part of Montana was set aside as the nation’s 10^th national park. Like all young college people, many features combine to influence my life, but none had more of an impact on me than this wild country we now call Glacier National Park.

Mountain Goat at Gunsight Pass back dropped by Lake Ellen Wilson

For me it all began in 1961 in Washington, D.C., where I waved good bye to my aunt and uncle — who literally and figuratively pointed the way — and boarded a Greyhound bus. Three long days and nights later I arrived in Great Falls, Montana,  where I found a run-down hotel adjacent to a raucous bar. I was impressed but exhausted, and without the movement of the huge bus fell asleep before I could muster the energy to investigate the mysteries behind dark curtains and neon lights.

GREYHOUND WEST

Next day, I boarded a local bus and was overwhelmed as it ascended from the trough channeling the Missouri River to the top of a steep butte — where I soon sat stunned by my first real view of the Rocky Mountains, still clad in winter snow. Behind me sat two elderly Indian men, speaking in their native language. They were bound for the nearby Blackfeet Indian Reservation and the combination of Indians and rugged mountains seemed to posses the  potential for raw adventure — and that is what I craved.

Five hours later the bus pulled into West Glacier and so began what has become a life-long passion for this land born out of the chaos of great tectonic forces.

FOR LARGER RENDITION, CLICK ON EACH IMAGE. L To R: Going to Sun Mountain, David Gildart hiking by mountain goats, Granite Park Chalet, Chief Earl Old Person renaming Trick Falls as Running Eagle Falls.

For a number of years I worked in the park on the eradication of white pine blister rust. As well, new friends and I hiked many of the back country trails and here is where my experiences began to mount. In fact, the experiences were so influential that I returned to college after a prolonged hiatus, enrolling at Montana State University. However, I always continued with my summer work in Glacier National Park.

During these first few summers, I made marathon hikes and recall that during my first summer I got lost. Another summer I climbed Chief Mountain and, then, just weeks later, climbed another prominent one known as Heaven’s Peak. I did so with Ken Price (now a high school principle in Helena, Montana) and David Wilson, and if Wilson is still alive, his life may have been altered more than any other person to work in  Glacier.

PERMANENTLY MISSING PERSON

Essentially, David was a loner, and the very next weekend he climbed Going-to-the-Sun Mountain (just above on left) alone, but after that, he was never heard from again. We know Wilson reached the top as he signed the register, but then, nothing! The park conducted a thorough search organized and lead by Bob Frauson, a former 10^th Mountain Ranger. At the time of the search Bob had become a district ranger in Glacier and I remember that he spaced us out in a way that enabled us to scour the woodlands. Again, nothing. And then an expert mountain-climbing group combed the entire climbable  route (and fringe route too) but again, nothing.

Later, Bob researched David’s background and expressed thoughts that there was much about his makeup that might have prompted him to stage a grand disappearance, something friends who know him also thought plausible. If that is the case, I liken him to Christopher McCandeless (AKA as Alexander Supertramp) who rejected his family by going “Into The Wild.” But unlike Supertramp who died in a school bus in Alaska, hope exists that David’s life did not end tragically. Perhaps, he’s somewhere in South America. At any rate, no trace has ever been found of David Wilson.

CHANGED LIVES

As the years went by I applied for seasonal work in Glacier as a ranger and continued with my love of exploring the park’s wilderness trails. As part of my work I fought fire, worked on bear management, gave tickets, endured the historic flood of 1964, introduced my children to the park’s backcountry, and continued my explorations of this incredible park. The adventures mounted and subsequently paved the way for a life in newspaper and magazine work as an outdoor writer and photographer. Later, my interest in Glacier evolved to the point where I became interested in all of America’s national parks, which Janie and I now explore at length.

FOR LARGER VERSION CLICK ON EACH IMAGE.  L to R: Mountain goat kids at Logan Pass, Chief Mountain, hiking to Grinnell Glacier, grizzly bear on trail to Iceberg Lake.

Others, I know, can also tell  stories of life-altering changes, but  what many of us share in common is that it all began with Glacier. That’s something many may be recalling today. Possibly they’ll be doing so throughout the country, but for sure at park headquarters in the conference center. Day’s events will began with opening comments by Superintendent Charles Cartwright and will run through the afternoon. I’ll be attending, and perhaps I’ll run into some of my own buddies and learn more about what changes this magnificent park have wrought.

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THIS TIME (Almost!) TWO YEARS AGO:

*National Bison Range Celebrates 100 Years

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©Bert Gildart: OK, it’s official! On May 17^th Montana Public TV will air a “Night of the Grizzlies” retrospective.

As many may recall, 43 years ago on August 13, 1967, two young women were fatally mauled, one at Granite Park Chalet, the other, at Trout Lake. A huge mountain range separated the two incidents as did about eight linear miles, making it impossible for the same grizzly bears to have been involved in both tragedies. However, conditions at both sites were similar in that the bears had been habituated to people by the presence of garbage.

GARBAGE THE CULPRIT

At Granite Park Chalet, managers were intentionally disposing of garbage immediately behind the rustic stone building, doing so to attract grizzly bears. Unfortunately, the route the bears followed to the chalet passed directly through the Granite Park Chalet campground, and on that horrible night, the route led directly to where a young woman was camped.

By virtue of backcountry neglect, once Glacier's grizzlies dined sumptuously on garbage. Generally, it was unintentional, but not always.

At Trout Lake campers had been disposing of excess food or food they couldn’t eat, creating odors that also attracted bears. Much the same had happened at other park campgrounds, but the conditions were particular serious at this beautiful site because it also happened to be some of the park’s best bear habitat.

As a young ranger in the park, I was involved with the two incidents, tangentially at Granite Park Chalet, and personally at Trout Lake. At Granite Park Chalet, I heard the call for help over the radio as I was shuttling a huge CAT over Logan Pass. It was about midnight and I was on road patrol, and the radio pack set at the chalet was apparently too small for effective transmission. From my patrol car (I was working that summer as a road patrol ranger) I relayed the message to headquarters.

ANOTHER MAULING?

The next morning I was astounded when Norman Hagen, another ranger, pounded on my door and said that I must hightail it to Trout Lake, for there had apparently been another bear mauling.

In previous posts I’ve reported on my involvement, and much of this will be replayed May 17^th.   But Montana Public TV interviewed everyone involved, and there were many others; and some played particularly significant roles. There was a doctor, a helicopter pilot, and a ranger stationed at Granite Park. There were hikers who had accompanied the victims, and tried — after the mauling — to do what they could. There was Leonard Landa, a ranger and my partner in tracking down and disposing of the bear. There was a minister at Granite Park, who provided comfort…

I believe the TV company found most all these people, so the reporting promises to be thorough. Gus Chambers, one of the program’s film makers, tells me that they have also recreated many of the scenes using actors, so I will be anxious to see how this comes off. (Did they choose Brad Pitt or Johnny Depp to portray me?)

Today, upon encountering people, MOST bears in Glacier prefer to go another way.

Gus says he will soon known the URL for an Internet “streamed” version and that he will share it when it is final. That means people all over the world can watch the program on their home computers. I’m excited as I believe the program will dispel many myths.

100 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Presumably, because the program is airing on the 100 year anniversary of Glacier National Park there will also be some retrospective on what conditions were like in 1967, and what they are like now. At the time, after finding the body of one of the young women, I had to wonder why we needed bears in Glacier, but my thoughts have changed. They’ve changed because these magnificent beasts are no longer habituated to garbage, and that means your chances of encountering a grizzly bear are really very, very small.

Put another way, you are probably safer hiking the trails of Glacier than you are driving through the Flathead Valley to the park’s various entrance stations. In other words, you are forewarned about inherent problems, and you can certainly elect to remain off the trails; but then you’d be missing a lot. Though there are problems sometimes, park rangers and managers have learned much over the past four decades and are doing a good job today of “Keeping Glacier’s Grizzly Bears Wild.”

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THIS TIME LAST YEAR

Poke Salad

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©Bert Gildart: Again, bears are much on my mind, essentially because Gus Chambers from Montana Public TV spent this past Thursday with me in my office, going over some of my photo files that date back to the late 1960s. I’ll be posting some of those images later in the week, and think most readers will find them interesting. They tell stories of the ways in which bear management in national parks has so drastically changed.

Gus was interested in these photos as Public TV plans a  documentary intended to  rehash that horrible night in 1967 when two girls were fatally mauled, both in a single night (Night Of the Grizzlies). They intend the documentary to be released in late spring and in the gathering of materials the station has visited with all the people involved.  That’s a lot of leg work, but because of time invested, this promises to be a well-researched presentation.

Hibernating black bear on ridge overlooking Glacier National Park

Previously, Gus and his partner had interviewed me but last week he was here to peruse my files. Before he showed up I wasn’t sure how much I’d be able to help. Gus wanted bear images, but more, he wanted images from the ‘60s, which was prior to the time when I began the methodical filing of professional images. No problem finding bear images, which he’ll use as stills, but he’d hoped for more, and so he asked:   “Don’t you have an old shoe box of images?”

Well, yes, I did, and what a treasure trove we found; images I hadn’t looked at in years. More later this week.

TABLOID OFTEN WON FIRST PLACE

In the meantime, here is a black and white photo pulled from the days when I was the editor of the Flathead Outdoor Journal, an image which Gus and I found in the course of our search for photos for his documentary. The outdoor tabloid was published by the Bigfork Eagle,  and was eventually inserted into three of the Valley’s weekly papers. During those years, the paper often won first-place from the Montana Press Association, both for story content and for my photographs.

Above is one one of the images that won a first prize, and it was made from a hillside overlooking Glacier National Park. While hiking in late November friends and I had discovered a likely site for a bear den and decided we’d take a peek inside. Snow covered the ground that year, and it was extremely cold. Food was scarce so it was not a big surprise to find exactly what we’d been looking for hidden in the much recessed cave.

Crawling into the opening, I  could see curled in a ball in the far corner, a female black bear. She knew I was there but had already entered into a state of lethargy associated with hibernation, so she simply raised her head and then gnashed her teeth. She repeated this action several times, eventually sinking back into her stupor. A friend was grasping my ankle and if there had been a problem he was to yank me out with all his strength. Quickly I snapped a photo, and although the flash didn’t seem to disturb the bear, nevertheless I signaled my friend to yank.

It was a great photo opportunity, and it did win a prize, but I doubt I’ll do that again.

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THIS TIME THREE YEARS AGO:

*When It Snow In The Great Smokies

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©Bert Gildart: When Bruce Funk, a hunting guide in Alaska who just returned from the Brooks Range, looked at this photo, he immediately said, “Sow.”

Guess, then, that I’m typical of those who see a bear and are impressed by the intensity of the moment rather than by the more dispassionate facts. Big bears can do that to you, and all grizzlies can seem big, particularly when they’re staring right at you. But after talking to a few people who must make proper evaluations for a bear’s safety and a client’s satisfaction, I find that I must modify comments I made in my October 19 post about gender and weight.

Bruce, who is neighbor here in rural Creston, Montana, looked at my pictures and made his instant assessment by looking at several features. “Look at the ears,” said Bruce. “A sow’s ears are located more toward the top of its head while those of a boar are located more on the side. And see how circular this bear’s face is. A boar’s face is more angular, more triangular in shape. This one’s legs are short and squat, so it all starts to add up.”

Bruce said that you also need to look at its neck. “The neck of a boar is longer,” said the hunting guide. “So you put all these things together and I’d say with 95 percent certainly that what you photographed was a sow. It’s a big one alright, but I believe it is a sow.”

WINTER FUR CREATES ILLUSION OF IMMENSE SIZE

Bruce went on to say that the bear appears so heavy because its fur is long at this time of year, and that makes its body weight appear more than what it might actually be. “When you get a bear on the ground,” said Bruce, “and strip the hide from the carcass, bears start to shrink real quick.”

Based on short snout and placement of ears, those in the know say this is a sow, weighing about 450 pounds.

Another person whose opinion I greatly respect is that of Rick Millsap. Rick worked for almost 30 years in Glacier National Park and many of those years were spent in bear management in the Many Glacier area. Currently, he’s a backcountry Ranger in Alaska’s Wrangle St. Elias National Preserve, our largest Park Service managed area.

EARS TELL THE STORY

Like Bruce, Rick uses ears in helping him evaluate various features. As a bear ranger, sometimes he’s had to dart bears, and an overdose of the drug could kill it. As a result he has given much thought to the art and says he’s never been off more than 50 pounds off.

“When I look at your bear,” said Rick, referring to the photo which I’d emailed to him, “I see big ears and a relatively small body. It’s about ready to hibernate so it has added another couple hundred pounds. I’d say it could go as large as 450, and that’s really big for a sow in Glacier. “Course I’m not in the field so I’m disadvantaged.”

A file photo from the Wolf Grizzly Bear Discovery Center near YNP, so we know this one is a male. Since you can't get upclose and real personal, look at the elongated snout and ears, which suggests a MALE.

Though I was in the field, still I’m going to defer to Bruce and Rick who both came up with similar thoughts. So now I’ve got to back off from my thoughts about it being a large boar. Bruce and Rick also said that if this is a pregnant female she’ll probably lose several hundred pounds during the course of hibernation. Cubs will be born about February, and if this is, in fact, a lactating female, she’ll loose several hundred pounds by the time she emerges from hibernation. “She’ll void the plug,” said Bruce, “that all bears create in their intestines to keep their digestive systems in order. Then, it will be several weeks before her system is back to normal.”

KEEP BEAR SPRAY OUT AND READY

Bruce said that she’ll probably lose lots more weight during hibernation so that by May, she might only weigh 300 pounds. Bruce thought this was a bear well into her prime, making her about 10 years old.

So with all that information, I’m convinced, my grizzly of several weeks ago was a female that could have weighed between 450 and 500 (give me that as I was in the field), but what do you think?

What we all agreed upon is that the bear was not an angry grizzly bear. She had no cubs with her and she may well have acquired some fear of people through aversive conditioning regularly practiced by rangers in Glacier. What’s more we had not surprised her. However, Bruce said I was certainly smart to have my bear spray out and ready. Rick concurred, saying he’d used bear spray a number of times, and that a healthy blast had once turned a charging bear.

Lots you can learn by talking to good field people.

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THREE YEARS AGO AT THIS TIME:

*Harpers Ferry

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"Sometimes," said Eliot Porter, "you can tell a large story with a tiny subject."

©Bert Gildart: Often good photography requires the paring down of an immense landscape to something that has fewer elements, and that’s what I often try and do when I enter a place as beautiful as Glacier National Park’s Many Glacier Valley.

Contrary to what many say as part joke, you just can’t point your camera in any direction and shoot – even in a place as lovely as this mountainous valley. Instead you have to select and isolate, and do so critically. The famous photographer, Eliot Porter expressed my theme particularly well: “Sometimes,” said Porter, “you can tell a large story with a tiny subject.”

With those thoughts in mind, there’s an old snag about a mile or so from the Many Glacier Campground that I always stop to examine. It’s been there for a long time and provides cavity nesting birds with a home, and is another special component of a wild Glacier National Park.

On our trip of about 10 days ago, I again stopped as we entered, and found the old snag interesting — much potential, but in ways difficult to anticipate. However, those ways revealed themselves over the course of two days, for the lighting changed dramatically and did so in ways that can only be described as magnificent.

TIMING CRITICAL

The above scene is an early morning one, made just as the sun was rising. Timing was critical – for five minutes later the glow on the peaks behind the snag diminished. And then, a snow squall followed.

The second image was made again in the early morning (the next morning, in fact), but following a storm containing a mixture of rain and snow. The rainbow was associated with the storm and became one of the most magnificent I’d ever seen. I felt privileged to be there at that precise moment and recalled a quote from Ansel Adams:

“Sometimes,” he said, “I do get to places just when God’s ready to have somebody click the shutter.”

That’s exactly the way I felt last week, for the setting lasted but a few moments, but before the rainbow’s time on this primordial stage concluded, it expanded into a complete arc. But the arc also embraced man-made structures so lost some of its wilderness drama. As a result, I didn’t feel as though it measured up to what either Porter or Adams might have sought.

In both cases, the foreground consisted of the same old snag, but in the case of the rainbow, I chose a different location for this image so as provide a better arrangement for the two elements. (”A good photograph,” said Adams, “is knowing where to stand.”)

Ansel Adams believed that he often got to places "just when God is ready to have somebody click the shutter."

Together, I think the images make a nice statement and show the benefits of returning to the same setting time after time – in this case to an old snag – dead now for many years. You’ll find the gnarled trunk with its up thrust arms in the Many Glacier Valley of Glacier National Park, and I’m always surprised to see what “a huge story this tiny subject can often tell.”

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THIS TIME THREE YEARS AGO:

*Valley Forge

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