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Montana: Jammin’ the Sun ~ continued pg. 2 of 3 Article by Bobbie Hasselbring of www.realfoodtraveler.com |
| WAVE Journey |
| Women's Adventures, Vacations & Experiences ~ Your Journey Starts Here! |
“We’re called Jammers,” explains Chris, who’s been making this harrowing drive for the past
three summers, as he pulls out of the McDonald Lake Lodge parking lot. While we’ve picked
up our bus on the western side of the park, visitors can catch a Red Bus at a number of
hotels and other stops, including Glacier Meadows RV Park and the St. Mary KOA. “Before the
buses were retrofitted with automatic transmissions, the drivers used to have to double
clutch and jam the gears to shift. You could hear the grinding for miles. That’s why they call
us Jammers.”
The Jammer name stuck, but today, the completely refurbished buses provide a smooth,
comfortable ride for up to 17 passengers. The rollback canvas tops offer unparalleled views
as we wend our way out of McDonald Valley. The open air also makes the ride under the
shady canopy of pine, aspen, cottonwood, larch, tamarack and cedar a bit chilly, so we
snuggle under nubby wool blankets Chris has provided.
three summers, as he pulls out of the McDonald Lake Lodge parking lot. While we’ve picked
up our bus on the western side of the park, visitors can catch a Red Bus at a number of
hotels and other stops, including Glacier Meadows RV Park and the St. Mary KOA. “Before the
buses were retrofitted with automatic transmissions, the drivers used to have to double
clutch and jam the gears to shift. You could hear the grinding for miles. That’s why they call
us Jammers.”
The Jammer name stuck, but today, the completely refurbished buses provide a smooth,
comfortable ride for up to 17 passengers. The rollback canvas tops offer unparalleled views
as we wend our way out of McDonald Valley. The open air also makes the ride under the
shady canopy of pine, aspen, cottonwood, larch, tamarack and cedar a bit chilly, so we
snuggle under nubby wool blankets Chris has provided.
“This area is contains the easternmost stands of rainforest on the continent,” says Chris,
pointing out 300- to 400-year-old cedars and cottonwoods. The ancient bark is so chunky
and crinkled it looks like folds of thick cardboard.
We pass into an area of low green and amber colored brush studded with the dead snags of
evergreens. This is the site of the 2004 Trapper fire that consumed 137,000 acres. The
handling of this big fire by park personnel sparked controversy, but unless structures or
human lives are at risk, National Park fire policy dictates that wild fires burn themselves out
naturally. Biologists say the fires have a cleansing and regenerative effect by clearing away
weeds and underbrush that choke out trees and native species, keeping the meadows open
for grazing wildlife and helping release seeds from certain species of trees.
We’ve moved from the shady valley into full sunshine. We abandon our wool blankets and
take off our fleece jackets to enjoy the warmth of the fall sun. Even with sun, the air sports a
crisp autumn snap, a harbinger of the bitter cold that will embrace this land in the upcoming
months. A tapestry of yellow, gold, red and green trees dot sweeping hanging valleys and
climb the jagged peaks, many perpetually capped with snow fields and glaciers.
The park, of course, is named after its many glaciers. A true glacier is more than a patch of ice
and snow. To earn the glacier title, the ice/snow must cover at least 25 acres; the ice must
be at least 100 feet thick; and it must be moving. In the 1850s, the Park boasted 150
glaciers. Today, due to warming conditions, there are only 25. Scientists predict by 2030
there will be no glaciers left in Glacier National Park.
Looming above us on the narrow road is the Garden Wall, a natural monolith formed millions
of yeas ago by two competing glaciers that carved away at an ancient mountain. They left
behind a thin blade of sedimentary rock that stands above the valley like a guardian sentinel.
pointing out 300- to 400-year-old cedars and cottonwoods. The ancient bark is so chunky
and crinkled it looks like folds of thick cardboard.
We pass into an area of low green and amber colored brush studded with the dead snags of
evergreens. This is the site of the 2004 Trapper fire that consumed 137,000 acres. The
handling of this big fire by park personnel sparked controversy, but unless structures or
human lives are at risk, National Park fire policy dictates that wild fires burn themselves out
naturally. Biologists say the fires have a cleansing and regenerative effect by clearing away
weeds and underbrush that choke out trees and native species, keeping the meadows open
for grazing wildlife and helping release seeds from certain species of trees.
We’ve moved from the shady valley into full sunshine. We abandon our wool blankets and
take off our fleece jackets to enjoy the warmth of the fall sun. Even with sun, the air sports a
crisp autumn snap, a harbinger of the bitter cold that will embrace this land in the upcoming
months. A tapestry of yellow, gold, red and green trees dot sweeping hanging valleys and
climb the jagged peaks, many perpetually capped with snow fields and glaciers.
The park, of course, is named after its many glaciers. A true glacier is more than a patch of ice
and snow. To earn the glacier title, the ice/snow must cover at least 25 acres; the ice must
be at least 100 feet thick; and it must be moving. In the 1850s, the Park boasted 150
glaciers. Today, due to warming conditions, there are only 25. Scientists predict by 2030
there will be no glaciers left in Glacier National Park.
Looming above us on the narrow road is the Garden Wall, a natural monolith formed millions
of yeas ago by two competing glaciers that carved away at an ancient mountain. They left
behind a thin blade of sedimentary rock that stands above the valley like a guardian sentinel.
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