Hiking in Glacier Peace Park
by
Linda Aksomitis
The
white surveyor's obelisks were readily visible in the dense
green forest that rose up from the shores of Waterton Lake,
marking the 49th parallel dividing Canada and the United States.
The cool breeze blowing off the water wasn't enough to cool
my excite-ment at visiting the Waterton-Glacier International
Peace Park.
Backpack
in hand; I was ready for the smooth glide of the boat into the
dock at Goat Haunt, an area reachable only by water from the
Canadian side in Alberta, even though it is in Glacier Park
(Montana) on the US side. It is the only place on the thousands
of miles of border that divide the two countries where international
visitors may cross without applying for formal admission to
the United States. However, visitors leaving the shore area
to hike do require appropriate documents.
I
quickly left the shore with its driftwood treasures behind,
as I set off along the walking trail. The trees towered over
my head; a canopy echoing the hoots and chirps of dozens of
different birds. I picked out the red tail of a hawk gliding
above me, and the melodious song of a hummingbird. Lifting my
binoculars to my eyes, I spied dozens of other species perched
in trees and flitting between the branches.
The
first part of the hike wasn't strenuous, letting me concentrate
on picking out signs of other wildlife in the various meadows.
The International Peace Park is one of the few places in North
America where all of the native carnivores survive. Grizzly
and black bears both inhabit the area, along with wolves, so
I was particularly attentive to the sounds of any large animals
moving through the trees. A small deer, its eyes wide with surprise,
stood near me for a second on the trail before making an abrupt
turnaround, but that was the only encounter.
The
trail grew steep once I passed the ranger station, with the
next mile keeping me panting as I toiled under the hot summer
sun. As the elevation increased to 4400 feet (1341-meters) my
breath came in short gasps-hiking can be tough work! The view
from the top of Goat Haunt Mountain was worth the labor.
To
the North, in Canada, Waterton Lake spread out before me, a
glistening bowl of blue, with Mount Richards, and Vimy Peak
in the distance. Goat Haunt Mountain blocked my Eastern view,
although the ridge leading up to Mount Cleveland, Glacier's
highest peak, appeared in the Southeast. Kootenai Peak stood
out in the Southwest, somewhat lower than the glacier covered
tops of Porcupine Ridge to the west. The incredible view of
some of the world's oldest sedi-mentary rocks covered with the
snow-white of eons old glaciers were worth the hike.
This
landscape has always been sacred, first to the area's early
inhabitants: the Blackfeet, Salish, and Kootenai peoples, and
now to two countries. The landforms were created over 75 million
years ago when forces within the earth thrust the rock of the
Lewis Overthrust into the sky, where the newly formed mountains
touched the clouds. At the Triple Divide Peak, southeast of
Logan Pass, water can flow towards the Pacific Ocean, Gulf of
Mexico, or into Canada's Hudson Bay-earning it the title "Crown
of the Continent," which was coined by co-founder of the
Audubon Society, George Bird Grinnell, in 1908.
Waterton
Lakes Park was created in 1895, with Glacier Park coming somewhat
later in 1910. However, it was the joining of the two parks
into the world's first International Peace Park in 1932 that
is most significant. The global importance of the International
Peace Park was reaffirmed in 1995 with its designation as a
World Heritage Site.
For
me, the majesty of nature makes the Park one of the most beautiful
places I've ever visited. The diversity of wildlife and ecosystems
is incredible, with plants and animals of the humid Pacific
Northwest meeting those of the Great Plains and Northern forests.
In my further explorations of the park, I traveled from lush
cedar and hemlock forests though alpine meadows to the edge
of the western prairies.
Night
found me in the US side of the Park, checking into the magnificent
Glacier Park Lodge. Constructed of 500 to 800 year old fir and
3-foot wide cedar logs, it is a true complement to the park's
natural beauty. Originally built in 1913 by the Great Northern
Railway, it still retains a rustic style today.
My
second day in the Peace Park took me on another great adventure-the
Going-to-the-Sun Road. Local legends tell of a deity, Sour Spirit,
who came down from the mountain to teach Blackfeet hunters how
to be successful, then had his image reproduced on the top of
the mountains for inspiration on his way back to the sun. The
mountain was named Going-to-the-Sun, and inspired the road's
name at its 1933 dedication.
Going-to-the-Sun
Road crosses Glacier Park through Logan Pass, resulting in many
spectacular views of the park as it winds for 52 miles past
Lake McDonald, through the loop, and past Saint Mary Lake. In
1983 Going-To-The-Sun Road was included in the National Register
of Historic Places and in 1985 it was made a National Historic
Civil Engineering Landmark.
Glacier
Park's mountains have often been referred to as the North American
Alps due to the sheer height and massive beauty of the rock
formations. Looking up, all I could see was rock, while looking
down-well that was another story! I felt like I was on top of
the world, as if I'd climbed up Jack's bean pole and peered
over, not a scenic lookout, but through the clouds.
Behind
me, a cold rush of water gurgled through the rocks, careening
over the band of asphalt to the green bottomless forests below-I
realized the source was snow from further up the mountain. Around
me, the air was thin at the high elevation, so I moved slowly.
Below me towering pine trees spread out with the minuscule perspective
of wild grass. A river rushed through, the sound lost in the
distance.
At
the Visitor's Center I stopped again to hike for a few hours,
finding wildflowers along the trail as well as wildlife. Mountain
goats halted to stare at me, seemingly unaffected by my intrusion.
A squirrel raced across my path, and then came to a stop a safe
distance away to watch me. Heaven's Peak soared overhead at
an elevation of 9100 feet, while the Garden Wall rose straight
out of the valley in a sheer rock mass beside me.
My
Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park experience was unforgettable-surely
"Posterity will bless us"-as Canada's Minister of
the Interior, wrote in 1895, with the preservation of this natural
wonder.
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