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Published: July 16th 2011
Amtrak Empire Builder
15-cars are ready to rollWe were off to Glacier National Park, just above Whitefish, Montana, forty miles from the Canadian border. Thirty of us were traveling with Alki Tours. We would catch the Amtrak Empire Builder in Seattle at 4:30 p.m. and de-train in East Glacier at 10:30 a.m. the next morning. All of us looked forward to dinner on the train followed by a good sleep in our Standard cabins.
Red buses met us at the town of East Glacier. The tour buses were built in the 1930s by White Motor Co. and refurbished by Ford in 1999. Drivers were originally known as a "jammers" because they used stick shifts. Our driver, Wayne, said the red buses are a joy to drive.
Our first stop on Going-to-the-Sun Road was breath-taking. We entered a valley and came upon Two Medicine Lake shimmering in the sunshine. The name "Two Medicine" comes from two Blackfeet tribes that have met there annually since the 1800s.
The park was established on May 11, 1910 by President William Taft. Going-to-the-Sun Road was completed in 1913. We took pictures of Wild Goose Island, the most photographed site in the Park. On our way to Going-to-the-Sun Mountain, we drove
Standard Cabin
There's room for two past Jackson Peak Glacier, the newest mountain range in the U.S. It was created by an earthquake that pushed the Pacific Plate upwards thousands of years ago.
About 4 p.m., we arrived at Many Glacier Lodge. A delicious buffet dinner awaited us in the dining room. Afterwards, we headed to our rooms to enjoy the view of Swiftcurrent Lake from our balconies.
The next morning Captain Karla brought her boat, Chief Two Gun, around for our cruise. Glacial silt made the lake sparkle like an emerald. We saw a mother moose and her calf strolling along the marshy banks. Further up the mountain, a safe distance away, grizzly bears were feeding on huckleberries. There are 360-400 black bears in the park so bear spray is advised.
Later in the day, our red bus took us to Glacier Park Lodge at the entrance to the park. Glacier Lodge was built in 1913 by Great Northern Railway magnate, James J. Hill. It has all the amenities of a modern hotel, including a golf course and outdoor swimming pool. The lobby is a spectacular display of sixty 40-foot tall Douglas fir trees. The night brought the peaceful glow of a
Bedtime
The lower bunk is best full moon over the mountains.
The next day, after exploring trails with an occasional mountain goat, it was time to catch our Superliner back to Seattle. We would travel past rivers, waterfalls and forests for twenty hours and enjoy meals prepared by a chef.
Will the glaciers be there for you? Out of 150 glaciers only 25 remain due to global warming. There was a 900-foot snowfall last winter. More record-breaking snow is needed for the glaciers to survive. Glaciers or no glaciers, this area will always be called Glacier National Park--a spectacular place to be.
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