Glacier Park Lodge Pre-opening

#ThrowbackThursday: Here's a photo captured in 1913 before Glacier Park Lodge opened to the public. The large 40-ft Douglas Fir trees used for the interior columns were transported by train from the Pacific Northwest, where the 500-800 year-old trees were harvested. The trees had to be imported because trees rarely grow to that size in Montana.

You can still view these massive columns inside Glacier Park Lodge today. The last day of the 2013 season is this Sunday, September 22nd.

To book a stay at Glacier Park Lodge in 2014, call 892-2525.

Closing Time

By: Cassandra Sunell

In northwest Montana, we have the opportunity of experiencing very distinct and vibrant seasons. We have the pleasure of enjoying sun-drenched summers filled with outdoor activities in the great backyards of Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness, cooling down in the waters of Flathead Lake and the three forks that feed into it, and picking the local cherries and huckleberries that ripen over the summer. The list of things to do and places to see seems endless, even for natives to the area.

Fast-forward to the following seasons. Winters make for harsh driving conditions at many of our properties, and the travelers that choose to travel through such conditions are very few and far between. For decades the Glacier Park, Inc. (GPI) properties have shut down our operations throughout Glacier National Park, Waterton Lakes National Park and the East Glacier Park Village during the cold, arduous months—a very large task of closing each property to hibernate over the winter. For many years, there have been mainstays of employees who headed the closing project and helped carry on traditions that have lasted for nearly a century.

Vicki Murphy, Director of Rooms Division for GPI, who has been responsible for the opening and closing of dorms and hotels for the past 15 years, states “we have a short window to accomplish everything before the National Park Service turns the water off for the season.” Vicki described the closing process as “closing with opening in mind. We take advantage of the staff that we have on hand and do prep, stocking and deep cleaning for the following season. Essentially the rooms are staged for the opening crew to arrive and have everything they need with the exception of freshly cleaned linen and towels.”

Many Glacier Hotel during the winter of 2012

GPI hires approximately 1,200 staff members annually, and many bonds between staff are created at the opening of the season and are separated during closing. Kathy Eiland, Location Manager for Glacier Park Lodge (GPL), says that in her 3 years at GPL she felt that her staff has become her kids and that the lodge has become her home, so leaving your family and home is very difficult.  Some of these bonds last well beyond one season in the park, as was the case with Vicki, who turned a friendship with a coworker into a relationship.

 Vicki and her husband married and now have three children.  Vicki stated that in her fondest memories in working for GPI, “I have been mentored and brought into a role that I can be proud of and I am now honored to have been a mentor to some amazing people myself! I have overcome a fear of heights by carrying mattresses to the 6th floor of the Prince of Wales Hotel via the fire escape, jumped into lakes that were too cold to have been jumped into, seen so many bears that I shamefully drive right around the “bear jams” that happen in the park and have made friends that will be in my life forever.”

Fireplace at Lake McDonald Lodge

There are many closing traditions that are only shared amongst staff; however, Lake McDonald Lodge has begun to share their closing traditions with the public in recent years. In a time-honored tradition, from when the first log is placed in the fire of the lobby, the fire never goes out the entire season. After the last guest checks out on the last day, the bell staff takes the last log from the lobby fireplace and throws it into the lake. The bellman and many others on staff always follow the log by jumping into the lake. This year, the tradition will conclude with words from a few speakers in a closing ceremony.

Glacier Park Lodge hosts Centennial Reunion with over 100 past employees

GPI will close its properties for the winter months.  This conclusion, however, only begins the flourishing of family-like bonds and memories that will be made.   The employees that travel here from all over the world will reflect during the off-season of their experiences—be it friends, memories or lessons learned, and they will all remain touched in one way or another from the times spent in one of the most spectacular parts of the world. From all of us at GPI, have a wonderful “off-season!”

Harvestfest 2013 Menu

Harvestfest is only a few days away! Join us this Friday, Sept 20, 2013 for a day (and night) of food, fun and live music.

A few tickets are still available. If you'd like to join us, give us a call at 406.892.2525.

• Farm Tours, Local Spirits Tasting, Dinner and Music for $49 per person
• Stay the Night! Overnight Harvestfest Package Available for $89 per person (based on double occupancy)
• Dinner only Tickets for $39 per person

Schedule

• 2:30pm - Depart Grouse Mountain Lodge for tours of Terrapin Farm and Purple Frog Gardens
• 5:30pm - Return to Grouse Mountain Lodge for local spirits tasting in outdoor pavilion
• 6:30pm - Buffet dinner in outdoor pavilion highlighting the food from the farms and gardens toured
• 7:30pm - LeftOver Biscuits to take the stage
• 9:30pm - Complimentary shuttle service to various locations around Whitefish

2013 Harvestfest Menu

• Hors d'oeuvres - Chef's Choice
• Baby Wild Greens Mustard Vinaigrette
• Roasted Vegetable Salad
• Roasted Autumn Organic Root Vegetable Hash
• Herb Encrusted Fingerling Potatoes
• Fennel Pollen Scented Salmon, with Chervil Bur Blanc
• Carving Station 
• Pepper Encrusted New York Strip
• Horseradish Cream Sauce   
• Baked Apple and Cranberry Cobbler

Spirits Tastings by:

• Whistling Andy Distillery
• Glacier Distilling
• Vilya Spirits

Beer by:

• Great Northern Brewing Company

Wine by:

• Glacier Sun Winery

Here are a few images from the inaugural Harvestfest in 2012.

#Throwback Thursday

#ThrowbackThursday: Here's a photo from the Minneapolis Paper by Great Northern Railroad in 1938 of Jim Wildt, a favorite cowboy guide for many years on the Grinnell Glacier Ride by Park Saddlehorse Co.. The photo is taken at Lake Josephine and shows Salamander Glacier up above, below the back side of the Garden Wall.

The caption under the photo describes Glacier Park as the "sublime wilderness" in northwestern Montana, offers some of the nation's most magnificent mountain scenery in its 1,537 square miles.  This colorphoto gives a good idea of what awaits the traveler to Glacier.  Typical of the park's sharp mountain summits that make a ragged saw edge on the horizon is the Garden Wall (background).  Just below is Grinnell glacier, one of the most accessible of the 60 -odd glaciers that gave the park its name.  Lake Josephine (foreground) is among the park's 250 lakes that sparkle amid impressive mountain settings.  Since Glacier park is being kept pretty much as nature made it, visitors will find few roads.  They enjoy the scenery by traveling mountain trails or horseback.

Monday Night Wings

Who's ready for some Monday Night Football Wings? How about for 24 Cents each?! 

The cost of the wings are the total scores from the Monday Night game the week before. The last Monday Night game last year totaled 24, so...24 cent wings it is!!!

Come down to Logan's Bar and Grill in Grouse Mountain Lodge and enjoy drink specials and wings while kicking off the first Monday night football game of the season!

$2 Kokanee and PBR, $3 micro draft beers, $3 well drinks, and $3 house wines! The first game starts at 4:55!

Throwback Thursday - September 5th

#ThrowbackThursday: September 7, 1912 via the Whitefish Pilot: 

NEW ROAD TO BE CONSTRUCTED

In order to make the way of the tourist easier in Glacier Park, the Great Northern R.R. secured permission from the government to construct a thirty five mile road from Glacier Park station to St. Mary's Lake. The work has been completed and the railway has established a one day automobile tour between these places. Two comfortable four-passenger touring cars have been placed in this service.

Beargrass

Beargrass, also known as Xerophyllum tenax, has been a popular sight in and around Glacier Park this year. While this plant only mass blooms like this every 5-10 years, the plant is an important part of the fire ecology of regions where it is native. It has rhizomes which survive fire that clears dead and dying plant matter from the surface of the ground. The plant thrives with periodic burns and is often the first plant to sprout in a scorched area.