Saying Hello… to Glacier!

Welcome back to the Flavors! It’s a new year, and we’re in a new home: Glacier National Park! So much has happened since my last post, and I’m sure I’ll weave in the major events as we go, but the big one is that we are working this season for the Glacier National Park Conservancy, the official fundraising partner for Glacier National Park, also known as GNP. We found this organization on the Coolworks website, and they seemed like a perfect match for us as we obviously love the National Parks, and we have come to love both personal stewardship for the Parks and helping visitors to connect with the Parks and to feel welcome here. After our trip to Glacier last fall, we were just itching to come back and explore this pristine wilderness, known by many as the “Crown of the Continent.” And if the view above–dawn from our trailer–is any indication, we are in for some spectacular vistas ahead!

Unfortunately, we’re going to have to put that “on ice” for the time being. It may be springtime in most of the United States. But for us, it’s still late winter! The pattern so far is that we get a few nice days of weather, followed by a punishing amount of snow–3 to 6″ at a time! And of course this melts pretty quickly, but then the whole cycle starts again, a couple times a week. They tell us this is just typical Montana weather, and the overall trend is toward spring. Suffice it to say, though, that we’re spending most nights in the dorm next to where we’ve parked the Airstream, as it’s just too cold to stay in the trailer right now.

The view above is also from the trailer. It’s Apgar Mountain, which Rob and some co-workers climbed on our first weekend here. There’s a lookout tower on top, which is completely obscured by snow right now. And below are a couple shots from my walk to work.

Rob will be working in the warehouse this season, just a 25-foot walk from where we’re parked! And I’ll be working as a Retail Associate in the Conservancy’s stores, located at the three Visitor Centers in the park as well as at the Historic Belton Train Depot, which conveniently doubles as the Amtrak Station in West Glacier! Two of the three stores I’ll be working at, while not as convenient as Rob’s warehouse, are just a walk or bike ride away, which is great from a fitness perspective. The other store, located at Logan Pass along the peak of the Going-to-the-Sun Road, is a major and reportedly death-defying drive that I’ll be making along with whichever co-workers are staffing it that day. That store won’t open until July, when the Park Service has finally completed snow removal on the road. So you can see we are definitely pre-season right now!

Some scenes from the warehouse. We’ve both been busy receiving and sorting the season’s inventory.

Scenes from the store in the Belton Train Depot. You can see from the architecture that it used to be a working depot for the Great Northern Railway, complete with ticket windows! Now it’s really just a whistle-stop for Amtrak. But the train that passes through here goes all the way to Chicago, and I’ve been told that the trip boasts some spectacular views of the mountains and prairies of the Mid- and Northwest. Just sayin’!

Finally, a few shots from the dorm where we’re currently residing. This building, along with the warehouse, was built by a guy who used to do helicopter tours of GNP. The warehouses served as hangars for helicopters while they were being repaired or out of service. And the house itself is like a ski chalet!

If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading! We hope you enjoy sharing our adventures this season!!
–Nancy & Rob