It's safe to say that Nathaniel Hawthorne wasn't thinking of the peaks in northern Montana when he wrote that "mountains are the Earth's undecaying monuments." Hawthorne died in 1865, before few more than native tribes, fur trappers and a lone railroad surveyor who crossed Cut Bank Pass in 1853, had even heard of this section of the West.
But as you stand at one of the first photo-op pullouts along the famous Going-to-the-Sun Road that bisects Glacier National Park, you can't help but think that he got it right. These are not the tallest mountains you have seen. The highest top out at just over 10,000 feet in elevation, so there are taller mountains back home in Utah. But there's something about them — the steepness, the amazingly etched surfaces, the rest of the surroundings — that gives them presence, that makes them feel majestic, that turns them monumental.
George Bird Grinnell definitely was thinking of these mountains, when in 1901 he wrote an essay for Century magazine in which he called them "The Crown of the Continent." As you drive further along Going-to-the-Sun Road, you soon realize that Grinnell also got it right. These tiara-shaped ranges and ridges, and the lands around them are, indeed, a gem set upon the landscape — a crowning achievement of the work of wind and water and other natural forces.
Drive on, and you will begin to look at mountains in different ways. You will take delight in the fact that Glacier National Park provides so many ways to view them: from the bottom up, from the top down, even from the inside-out.
From afar, you can see breathtaking views of snow-capped peaks, and you can relate to the words of poet Thomas Campbell: "'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view/And robes the mountain in its azure hue."
You can also get up-close-and-personal with the Glacier mountains. More than 700 miles of hiking trails give you all sorts of chances to wander in, around and among them — with distances varying from several-tenths of a mile to several miles and more. You can take a half-hour walk — or walk for days. Take a few of these hikes, and you may soon be identifying with Friedrich Nietzsche: "In the mountains, the shortest way is from peak to peak, but for that you have to have long legs."
Whether you hike or whether you drive, it will not take long for you to begin to understand and appreciate the geology. You see the twists and turns of rocky layers that speak of intense orogeny — of the spectacular thrusts and careless movements that go into mountain-building.
And you will soon begin to learn glacier-speak. You will come to recognize the U-shaped valleys that have been scoured out by mighty forces of ice and snow. You will see prime examples of aretes and eskers and moraines and cirques, words that have previously been little more than crossword-puzzle fillers. You will notice hanging valleys and avalanche channels. And you will realize that this is still a work-in-progress.
As naturalist Kathleen Ahlenslager notes, "The beautiful mountain scenery seen today is but one frame of a continually changing landscape. In concert with glaciers, landslides, rockfalls and mudflows, hundreds of miles of clear, swiftly flowing waters are continuously altering the land of the shining mountains."
It is not just the mountains, of course, that make this place unique. The ancient Ice Age glaciers have left behind numerous lakes and ponds — and none more spectacular than the bookend lakes of McDonald, at the west entrance, and Saint Mary at the eastern end of Going-to-the-Sun Road. Long, narrow and deep, these lakes act as reflection pools, recreation venues and picture-postcard scenery.
There are also rivers and waterfalls and forests. The Continental Divide runs through the backbone of the park, so you will see rivers flowing in different directions on each side; some will end in the Pacific Ocean; others in the Atlantic. At Triple Divide Peak, some water is even sent off to Hudson Bay.
Sections of old-fire landscape give you a look at natural cycles, as new growth comes up to replace burnt-out woods. And there is an amazing array of flora and fauna. More than 1,000 species of plants inhabit the park. In summer, wildflowers — Indian paintbrush, monkey-flowers, beargrass — bloom profusely, a sparkling contrast to the lush green of grass and trees.
Autumn will put on a dazzling show of reds and golds.
The park is also home to a vast variety of wildlife. You will be told repeatedly to treat them with respect and keep your distance. Most of the large mammals — bears, wolves, cougars, moose and others — keep to the backcountry. Along Going-to-the-Sun Road, you are more likely to see ground squirrels and maybe some mountain goats. More than 279 species of birds also find a home here.
You will not be surprised to learn that from the times of earliest human recollections, this has always been a place apart. Early Blackfeet used the area for ceremonial rituals. Kootenai, Kalispel and Salish tribes crossed through the mountains to hunt buffalo on the Plains.
The first recorded sighting of Glacier's mountains came in the 1780s, when a Hudson Bay agent named David Thompson visited the region. The Lewis and Clark expedition came within about 25 miles of the area and told of seeing what is now known as Chief Mountain. A hunting party, including Finian MacDonald, came through in 1810.
But it didn't become a tourist destination until the arrival of the railroad. As they had in other scenic areas, railroad entrepreneurs of the day saw nature as a way to increase ridership. The Great Northern Railroad completed a line to Belton (now West Glacier) in the early 1890s. In true "if you build it, they will come" tradition, tourists flocked to the far north.
Soon after, George Bird Grinnell and others began to push for permanent protection for the area. It was made a Forest Preserve in 1900. In 1910, President Taft signed legislation that set aside 1.4 million acres of wilderness as the country's 10th national park.
In those early days, Glacier was a true wilderness park. Visitors who came by train would then transfer to a stagecoach to get to Lake McDonald and then take an eight-mile boat trip to the hotel. To get beyond the lakes meant going by foot or horseback.
Going-to-the-Sun Road, finished in 1932 and about 55 miles long, took 11 years to build. Even now, you will marvel at its construction. No wonder it has been designated a national historic landmark.
While driving this highway is the most popular way to see the park, there are a few other possibilities. Open-top red tour buses have been a standard in the park since 1933. The original buses are still in use. Tours, ranging from a couple of hours to all-day, start at many of the lodges and hotels in the area.
To cut down on traffic on the road, the park has also introduced shuttle buses that depart from the visitors centers and make numerous stops along the way, so you can get on and off as you please.
Going-to-the-Sun Road lives up to its billing as one of the most scenic drives on the continent. But it isn't the only view-offering road in the area. The highway around the south end of the park takes you past the Great Bear Wilderness Area and through Flathead and Lewis and Clark national forests. At the southern tip, you can stop at the Goat Lick Overlook and have a pretty good chance of seeing mountain goats, albeit from a distance.
On the east side of the park, you can drive to Two Medicine Lake and farther along to the Many Glacier area. On the north, of course, there's Waterton Lakes National Park, the Canadian counterpart. Because scenery doesn't end at the border, the United States and Canada share the goal of preserving and protecting the entire area. In 1932, to commemorate the ties between the two countries, the whole thing was designated the Waterton/Glacier International Peace Park.
Nearby towns also offer scenic and recreational possibilities. Hungry Horse, or Dam Town as it was once called, offers boating and hiking trails at the dam on the South Fork of the Flathead River. Hungry Horse considers itself the Huckleberry Capital, and if you happen along when fresh berries are in season, you can find scrumptious pancake breakfasts. At other times of the year, you can get bottled jams, syrups, toppings and other treats.
Whitefish, about 30 minutes from West Glacier, is also a charming resort town. Big Mountain, north of town, offers skiing in the winter. But in the summer, you can take the gondola to the top for a gorgeous view of not only the Flathead Valley, but also the Glacier mountains in the distance.
If you happen to have stopped here first, so that this is your first view of Glacier, you will fall in love with those distance ice-sculpted mountains on the spot.
They are not the mountains that famous naturalist John Muir hung out in. But they will make you think of his words, anyway: "Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves."
E-mail: carma@desnews.com