"Crown of the Continent"
Glacier National Park, Montana
(Photos & video taken August 2022)
Glacier National Park was established in 1910 and predates the establishment of the National Park Service itself. It is a place of melting glaciers, many waterfalls and lakes, alpine meadows full of beautiful wildflowers, carved valleys, and wildlife. It is a hikers and photographers paradise to explore its more than 700 miles of trails. Here are some of my favorites and memorable moments from my trip this past summer.
“Far away in northwestern Montana, hidden from view by clustering mountain-peaks, lies an unmapped corner—the Crown of the Continent.” When George Bird Grinnell first wrote those words back in the 1880s, little did he know the impact they would have for future generations. Give credit to Grinnell for swinging public opinion in favor of making this area into a national park, and also for promoting the legislation that made it possible.
This land has been home to native tribes for thousands of years by the Blackfeet, who controlled the prairies on the east side of Glacier, while the Salish, Pend d’Oreille, and Kootenai lived in the more forested west side. Today, the 1.5-million acre Blackfeet Indian Reservation, which shares Glacier’s eastern border, is home to about 8,600 members of the Blackfeet Nation, the largest tribe in Montana. The Flathead Indian Reservation encompasses approximately 1.3 million acres mostly along the Flathead River and is home to approximately 7,000 members of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation. The tribes have tribal members share knowledge of their history and culture through song, dance, storytelling and hands-on-learning through a program at Glacier National Park called Native America Speaks. This program is made possible through donations made to the Glacier National Park Conservancy.
St Mary Falls; a short hike from the Going-to-the-Sun Road
Bull moose having some dinner. My jaw dropped when I first saw him.
Video taken by my boyfriend with me in it as a female moose crosses our path.
This was the second moose encounter on this hike back to our campground, the first was the bull moose.
