A Glimpse at the Complicated World of Wilderness Management

Over the last few weeks I have been doing the Arthur Carhart National Wilderness Training Center courses on wilderness management. Through the application of computer technology I have been able to take these courses on-line through ProValens Learning. (http://provalenslearning.com/) ProValens is the outcome of collaboration between several educational organizations and institutions for the benefit of those of us working with the National Park Service, US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and US Department of Fish and Wildlife. These are Eppley Institute for Parks and Public Lands, Arthur Carhart National Wilderness Training Center (Univ of Montana), Indiana University, National Center on Accessibility, National Park Service, Indiana University Department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Studies, Indiana Parks and Recreation Association, World Urban Parks, and World Parks Academy. (https://provalenslearning.com/our_partners/) It has been a lot of hard work but well worth the effort.

One thing which I quickly learned was that decisions pertaining to the care and management of the wilderness are extremely complicated. As was pointed out in my most recent course - Natural Resource Management in Wilderness: Challenges in Natural Resource Restoration - the process is complicated by ambiguous legislation and agency policy, insufficient funds and personnel resources, insufficient scientific information, conflicting public and personal values. Three of the four of these are obviously self-explanatory. Insufficient scientific information is a problem because we don't have enough long-term studies. Part of the reason for that goes back to the influence of the other three problems - legislation and policy, funds and conflicting values.

There are five wilderness characteristics of which one must be aware when proposing or evaluating a plan of action in the wilderness: untrammeled, undeveloped, natural, solitude or primitive and unconfined recreation and other features of value. One could write books about each of these characteristics but I'm going try to give a really brief explanation. Untrammeled is an archaic word but exceptionally appropriate both in the Wilderness Act itself as well as in making wilderness management decisions. Untrammeled basically means uncontrolled. It is the "wild" in wilderness. Undeveloped means that the area is free of any "permanent improvement" or human occupation. Natural is the quality of a wilderness' indigenous species, patterns and/or ecological processes. Sorry, but homo sapiens are not indigenous to any wilderness in North America. Strictly speaking a very strong, scientific argument is made that the homo sapien is only indigenous to limited areas of East Africa. That means that anywhere else we are technically an invasive species. Solitude or primitive and unconfined recreation is all about people. I find this a bit objectionable but, because of the homo sapien's erroneous belief that it is the most important animal on the planet, it is necessary to have this type of statement in order to get a law such as the Wilderness Act passed. But my bias is showing. Sorry! "Other features of value" is a catch-all which includes archaeological sites or sites of historical interest/importance which may exist within the wilderness area.

When the wilderness manager must make a decision whether or not to take action which might be contrary to the law - viz. Wilderness Act of 1964 - they must go through a complex process called a Minimum Requirement Analysis (MRA). My first prerequisite class was on the Wilderness Act itself. The second prerequisite was on how to write an MRA. By law, the decision-maker is only permitted to skip the MRA in the case of an emergency such as a forest fire or search and rescue. It is no wonder that decisions take so long. To write an MRA is a long, laborious task. After you give all the details of the project in your description, you must determine whether the objectives can be achieved outside of the wilderness boundary, whether there are any valid existing right, special provisions, other laws which might have a say, and the impact on the characteristics. Once you have determined that action is necessary, then you have to determine minimum activity. You don't go into an area with a bulldozer when a single man with a shovel can do the job just as well. Here you deal with things like time restraint and then list the component parts of the project, develop and compare alternative before deciding how the project is going to be done.

If that isn't complex enough, there are natural conflicts when you start trying to maintain the characteristics of the wilderness. I'm going to avoid the obvious; viz. natural conflicts between trammeling and natural versus unconfined recreation; because I don't want my personal bias to overshadow the real story. So let's take untrammeled versus natural as an example.

One wouldn't think that there should be any conflict. Both are for the good and welfare of the wilderness. But here's a problem. Howard Zahniser, the Wilderness Act's author, said, “Wilderness areas are peculiarly those remnants of our land where the play of natural forces and man’s accommodation of himself to these forces are to be insisted upon for the continued preservation of the wilderness and its special values to man. Those who have the custody of these areas should manage them with this objective always in mind. As nearly as possible, wilderness areas should be so managed as to be left unmanaged.” To be kept untrammeled is to be kept wild and so in relationship to trammeling we must say we manage people, not the wilderness.

At the same time the wilderness manager has responsibility to maintain the natural quality of the wilderness. And so the question is posed “What are the obligations, duties and responsibilities that wilderness managers have in regards to protecting species, their habitats, and natural processes?” (http://eppley.org/lms/mod/url/view.php?id=3992) This would imply that to meet this obligation we manage both people and wilderness.

Do you see the almost unavoidable conflict? If you do something that you believe is a part of your responsibility to protect a species then you are necessarily going to have to do something in the wilderness which is, by definition, trammeling. Let me share a couple of examples. They do a good job of showing how complicated the entire decision making process is.

The first example is the Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa). The Ponderosa pine needs fire because of their pyriscence cones which are stimulated by fire to release their seeds. There is an ongoing battle between agencies - most notably National Park Service and US Forest Service - about whether or not fires should be suppressed. [Here I need to clarify that we're talking about fighting forest fires. Since 90% of all forest fires are caused by humans then we want to do everything we can to help them avoid starting fires.] If we suppress fires the needles of the Ponderosa pine fall to the ground and can become quite deep. When you add to this the accumulation of other fuels you have a virtual tinder box. When a fire does start it is going to be much hotter and more intense because of the abundance of fuel. When this happens the fire is hot enough to burn through the bark of the Ponderosa and into the cambial layer - the living material under the bark - and kill the tree. To avoid this scenario we might not suppress fires. But such an act, while fulfilling our obligation to keep the wilderness untrammeled, might permit a human-caused fire to destroy the last grazing area of a major animal species. If we do something like rake the duff we might be able to reduce the severity of the fire so that the tree can survive, but that is obvious manipulation of the wilderness and therefore contradicts our mandate to keep the wilderness untrammeled. There is no absolute answer or absolute right. Decision makers can only work to make the best decision for their particular circumstances.

Here's an example right out of the course on Challenges in Natural Resource Restoration.

"Whitebark pine grows in the northwestern United States and Canada. It is commonly the highest-elevation tree in these regions, and almost 98% of its range is within United States public lands. Their seeds contain high-fat, high-energy food sources for several animal species. Whitebark pine also contributes to watershed health and protection in their ecosystems. They are an important part of the Natural quality of many wilderness areas. The Wilderness Act and agency policy require that managers protect and preserve all of the qualities of wilderness character, including Untrammeled, Natural, Undeveloped, Outstanding Opportunities for Solitude or Unconfined and Primitive Recreation, and any of the Unique quality values that may be present. However, whitebark pine is severely threatened by two human-caused problems--introduced disease (white pine blister rust inadvertently introduced from British Columbia in 1910) and fire suppression--which are complicated by recent upsurges in mountain pine beetle.

Over 70 years of fire suppression has allowed succession of fire-intolerant species such as subalpine fir and Englemann spruce to increasingly replace whitebark pine throughout its range. Whitebark pine mortality from the combination of blister rust and beetle outbreaks exceeds 50% in some areas. Less than 5% of mature whitebark pines have a genetic resistance to white pine blister rust. Natural regeneration of whitebark pine trees from surviving individuals will increase the spread of rust-resistant trees. Individual trees might be protected by application of aerial sprays, but it is expensive, ineffective range-wide, and may not be ecologically sound. Mechanically removing the blister rust host species or pruning infected branches is possible, but expensive and ineffective range-wide. Seedlings from rust-resistant seeds have been propagated and planted with good success in non-wilderness areas where the environment has been restored and is conducive to survival.

In an effort to allow fire to play its natural and historic role, wild fires are no longer suppressed in some wilderness areas and where they pose no threat to human life or property. Will restoration of whitebark pine forests minimize threats from blister rust disease and encroachment of other species? Will restoration allow stands to, eventually, be healthy enough to withstand occasional mountain pine beetle infestations. Should restoration actions be taken? If so, which ones?" (http://eppley.org/lms/mod/url/view.php?id=3992)

Doing the exercises in the course work can be quite humbling. You write a plan that you believe is really good and it gets totally destroyed. But the benefits of taking these classes has gone far beyond learning information and skills that I might use in our work with the National Park Service. They have opened my eyes to the gigantic task which has been given to our wilderness managers. These are tasks having tremendous impact upon our land and our world for which those given the responsibility are not given adequate funding or resources nevertheless any financial reward for their efforts. They often have to find their own funding and make their own resources. Their reward is seeing the fruits of their labor of love. Thankfully, that is of great value and importance to them. It definitely makes me feel proud to be one of their resources and I hope that taking these courses will enable me to be of greater service to them as a resource. 

I am able to take these classes because I work the for the National Park Service as a volunteer. Pamela and I, like the other NPS volunteers, have a contract with the NPS so we are treated like employees. We are also members of the Glacier National Park Volunteer Associates which is a major resource and partner of Glacier National Park. If you would like to investigate the possibility of taking some of these courses, please drop me a note and I'll help as much as I can.

 

The Plants of Glacier

Those of you who have seen my pictures of meadows filled with wildflowers at Glacier will not be surprised to learn that Glacier National Park is home to at least 1,132 species of vascular plants. Vascular plants are those plants which have vessels that conduct water and nutrients throughout the plant.  Of these there are 804 types of perennial herbs, 20 different trees, 93 shrubs and vines, and 88 annuals.  Apart from these 1,132 species of plants there are over 200 types of fungi and 855 species of mosses and lichens.  Among all these there are 30 species that are endemic to the region.  This means that these 30 species are limited in range to the northern Rocky Mountains.

Lichen on a rock at Aster Park on Never Laughs Mountain

Glacier is approximately 33% moist coniferous forest and 16% dry coniferous forest.  The remaining area is 8% dry meadow and prairie, 6% deciduous forest and 5% wet meadow or fen.  This makes for a very wide variety of plant life.

An east side aspen grove in fall. 

There is a world of difference between the east side and the west side of  the Park. The west side is a continuation of the Pacific Northwest with cedar and hemlock forest dominating the landscape to the Continental Divide. Moisture from the Pacific coast condenses as it moves toward the Continental Divide making for an average of 30 inches of precipitation.  During normal years the entire month of June is rain or snow.  While on the east side the average precipitation is 23 inches.  The reason for this is that there is almost constant wind on the east side of the divide.  Along the high ridges of the east side one can see the work of the dry Chinook winds. Below, where it is calmer, one finds aspen groves. Most people are not aware of the fact that the aspen tree grows from a genome the average age of which is 10,000 years.

Hemlocks in Sprague Creek

The mountains on the east side of the park are more barren while those on the west have dense cedar and hemlock forests most of the way up the mountain.  The campgrounds on the west side are heavily shaded. Sprague Creek, where we work, has such a heavy canopy of old-growth cedar and hemlock that it can rain for days and there are places that never get wet. By contrast, the campgrounds on the east side have very short trees and no heavy canopy.

Bear Grass

Glacier Lilly

Purple Aster

Despite the great difference the wildflowers grow in abundance on both sides of the Continental Divide. Among the most common and most loved are the Purple Aster (Symphyotrichum puniceum), Bear Grass (Xerophyllum tenax), and Glacier Lilly (Erythronium grandiflorum).  Bear Grass was used by the native Americans as medicine and as a talc for diper rash. The Glacier Lilly is one of the bear's spring-time favorites.  Pamela is hoping to eventually develop a flower guide to Glacier wildflowers. As a result we have many hundreds of pictures of wildflower in our computer. There are pictures of all the hundreds of flowers indigenous to Glacier as well as some of those which are not. 

Spotted Knapweed

Common Timothy 

Yes, there are plants which are not supposed to be at Glacier. They are called invasive species and about 127 of the 1,132 plants fall into this category.  The reason that these non-native plants are called invasive is that they push out native plants.  In nature everything has a reason. For example, as I have pointed out in other blogs, carnivores eat the herbivores. If they don't the herbivore will over graze which will cause a decrease in the density of plants which leads to a decrease in migratory birds and spoiled water sources. The plants on which the herbivore grazes are a naturally balanced diet with the nutrition the animals need. If the native plants, which match the native herbivores, are pushed out by an invasive species, then you are going to have a decrease in native herbivores which is going to cause a food shortage for the carnivore. Well, you can see how it works. 

Oxeye Daisy

Yellow toadflax

The worst offenders among the invasive species are the Spotted knapweed  (Centaurea maculosa), yellow toadflax  (Linaria vulgaris), Canada thistle  (Cirsium arvense), Oxeye daisy  (Leucanthemum vulgare),  St John's Wort  (Hypericum perforatum), Common Timothy (Phleum pretense)  and Sulfur cinquefoil  (Potentilla recta). These plants may be fine where they are native, but they are not fine in Glacier.  



The wildlife and plants at Glacier start to appear toward the end of May with the greatest display being in July.  The saying goes that at Glacier there are two seasons - July and winter.  This brief growing season is even shorter for the sub-alpine meadows at high altitude where the vegetation, as well as the animals, must survive extreme winds, cold night and occasional snow. In 2014 thirty inches of snow fell in Logan Pass (6,686 ft) on June 23rd.  Despite the tremendous difficulties the wildflowers and plants of Glacier never fail but provide the animals with food and visitors with a breath-taking display of beauty an color.  

Glacier's famous Mountain Goats

 Woops! A Marmot scampers under legs and across feet to the large outcropping of rock on its way to a sunny spot where it can soak up the sunshine on the side of Clements Mountain. Children shreek excitedly, and adults laugh. I hear a mother tell a child “ask the Ranger, honey.” 

       The young girl approaches and, pointing at the fat Marmot, asks “what is that?” Most visitors have never seen a Marmot and so a host of cameras were immediately pointed at the chubby rodent. He didn't notice or care. While all eyes are on the Marmot, a Gold Mantled Ground Squirrel takes advantage of the distraction to check out bags and backpacks that have been left on the overlook boardwalk. This group of visitors had done a good job keeping the area clean, so the ground squirrel headed off elsewhere in search of food.

A Nanny at Hidden Lake Overlook
She looks a bit shaggy because she's losing her winter coat.

About that time a band of Mountain Goats wandered into view and the Marmot was no longer the center of attention. This was why I am here. Our trail patrol was designed and initiated for the purpose of managing human – Mountain Goat interaction. Nothing makes me happier than to have people ask a lot of questions about the Mountain Goats instead of running out across the fragile alpine vegetation trying to get a close-up picture of a goat.

The Mountain Goat (Oreamnos Americanus) is not actually a goat. The name Oreamnos means literally mountain (ore) lamb (amnos), but it isn't a sheep. Scientifically the Mountain Goat is a part of the Rupicaprid “tribe” - a subdivision of the large and diverse Bovidae family which includes true goats and sheep, antelope, bison, and cattle. Rupes means rock and capra means goat. There are only five species of Rupicaprids in the world – three in Asia, one in Europe and our own Mountain Goats who live in the high mountains of northwest US, western Canada and parts of Alaska. These animals are unique and a magnificent example of an animal that has very successfully adapted to its environment.

Most visitors will also ask why they haven't seen any Big Horn Sheep. We are at an elevation of 7,200 feet. They are amazed to learn that the Mountain Goat lives much higher up the mountains than the Big Horn. If you put it on a graph, the Mountain Goats lowest elevation point starts about mid-way up the Big Horn's range and goes very much higher. I tell them that they have to go back down to the Alpine meadow almost 1,000 feet below us where the Big Horn hang out.

Today there were two Nannies (mature female goats) with kids (offspring born within the past several weeks). That always attracts a crowd. One of the Nannies was being followed around by a small yearling. It may or may not have been her kid from last season. The Mountain Goat herd consists of solitary individuals and small bands. A band may be as few as two to five animals or as many as 10-15. The band that was wondering through our area consisted of three Nannies, four or five yearlings and two kids, and the crowd was going wild. As many times as I've experienced it, it is still a thrill to be so close to these famous mountain climbers who are the symbol of Glacier National Park. I'm mindful of that thrill when I try to maintain some semblance of order and a safe distance between humans and Mountain Goats, but it is somewhat comparable to herding cats.

The two kids our visitors were watching we born high on a mountain ledge. They were walking within hours and by the end of the first day were doing, or at least trying, aerial acrobatics along the narrow ledge. For the first five days or so the Nanny keeps her kid isolated. The kid spends a lot of time right under its mother, looking out from behind her stocky, muscled legs.

A Billy on Mt Obelin wearing his
summer coat

The Mountain Goat is marvelously adapted to climbing and traversing the steep mountains. In fact, they spend some seventy percent of their time in terrain with an angle of repose – the steepness of the ground – of over 40 degrees. To get some idea of how steep this is, visualize the pitch of the roof of a house built in snow country so that the snow naturally slides off because of the angle. Such a roof is probably 40 degrees or more. Their bodies are a natural work of art designed to move through the seemingly impassable. Douglas H. Chadwick, author of the goatwatcher's bible entitled “A beast the color of winter”, tells of observing a Mountain Goat that wandered out on an ever narrowing ledge. When it looked as though the billy (male goat) could go no further he went further. Finally he did get to a point where he could not go on. He appeared stuck and not even able to back up. After standing there for a while he lifted his hindquarters straight up and over his head until his back legs touched down and he was facing in the opposite question. Gymnasts call this slow-motion cartwheel a “rollover” and the Mountain Goat billy did it while perched on a narrow ledge high on a mountain side. Chadwick also tells about seeing goats perched on outcroppings that are so dangerous that it looks like the goat is in great peril, only to see the goat lift a back leg and scratch its ear.

The Mountain Goats roaming the area around Hidden Lake overlook are unfortunately extremely habituated – accustomed to being around people. They will tolerate humans within feet of them and, if they want the same narrow path along a snowfield, they'll walk right over your feet as you lean back against the snow. It is so neat to be so close but there is a deadly down-side to habituation. The Mountain Goats are starved for salt after an entire winter with almost no sodium. They will lick automotive fluids from a parking lot or look for where a person has urinated along the trail. The habituated animal gets closer and closer and will eventually get a sample of human food. Taking food from humans is a lot easier than finding its own and that is when it becomes really bad. The animal will start taking risks in order to get the food until they end up getting hit by a car or in physical conflict with humans. We try very hard to make sure that visitors understand that the reason that it is illegal to feed the animals is because it is so detrimental to their health and welfare. People who ignore this can count on receiving an expensive “educational coupon” (ticket) from a Law Enforcement Ranger. If I see it happening while we are on patrol, I don't have the authority to give a ticket, but I have a radio that will ensure the person is met at the trail-head by someone who can.

A kid at Hidden Lake Overlook

On this day the kids were venturing a bit farther from mom than they ever had, but mom was not far away. Mountain Goats look so gentle and peaceful but their social order is almost as harsh as the terrain in which they live. Yearlings and adults who are down the pecking order from mom will often pick on the kids. Visitors are surprised to see a Nanny chase a yearling away. In reality, the Mountain Goat can be quite deadly. When they feel threatened or are highly agitated they lower their heads and swing their sharp horns from side to side. If you see that behavior you want to get as far away as possible. There was a tragic case in Olympia National Park where a Mountain Goat was following a group of hikers. One of the hikers left the group and went back to the goat to chase it away. In his attempts to “haze” the goat he agitated it to the point that it attacked and actually eviscerated the man. He died a short while later.

As the goats approached I used the opportunity to talk with large groups of people about goat-human etiquette, and the people this day were being very good. Park rules say that you are to stay 25 yards from animals other than bears (100 yards from a bear) but the goats would frequently move toward the people. I was proud of the visitors as I watched them back away to give the goats more room.

After a long session of pictures where the nanny appeared to parade her kid, who bounced from one spot to another like he was being propelled by sudden and erratic bursts of energy among the amazed and awestruck visitors, she led him off to a thicket where the kid laid down on a warm rock for a nap while the nanny kept watch nearby. Some visitors followed but stood respectfully away from the thicket.

I stood at a distance and got an energy bar and Gatorade out of my backpack. The up close encounters had gone well. I was pleased and felt relaxed as I munched on the energy bar while watching the remaining goats feed nearby. My job was to protect them while enabling the human visitors the opportunity to observe these magnificent creatures. As you might suspect, it doesn't always go this well. Obviously, if it did go this well every time, I wouldn't have a job. I would love to lose my job because humans and Mountain Goats could co-exit and share space without trouble. But that isn't going to happen any time soon. In the mean time, I have one of the most rewarding jobs in the park.   

NOTE:  Glacier is home to one of the largest populations of Mountain Goats in North America. 

Glacier National Park Volunteer Associates

We met Joan and Mark Wierzba on the Hidden lake Trail in July 2014. They were wearing the volunteer's uniform and as we got talking we found that they had just dealt with a young man climbing on the side of Clements Mountain throwing snowballs at the Mountain Goats. They were the pilot project of what would become the trail patrol in which I participated this year. Joan and Mark introduced us to Glacier National Park Volunteer Associates, Glacier's only all volunteer park partner. If you've looked at our pictures over the summer you will remember the sign on the side of our truck which we proudly display. 

We actually wear two volunteer hats at Glacier. When we work at the campground we are treated like park employees and have a personal contract with the National Park Service even though we are volunteers. At the same time we are members of the Glacier National Park Volunteer Associates and are NPS volunteers through that organization. 

Glacier National Park Volunteer Associates provides 6,700 hours of volunteer service to the park each year. We are the workforce for the park.  We help with trail maintenance, gardening and the native plant nursery. Restoring park building. We do back-country trail and river patrols as well as staffing the park Discovery Cabin - an educational program. We also fund the back-country ranger internship and a native nursery internship. Our current second in command at Glacier is a product of our back-country ranger internship many years ago. 

Accepting award from Superintendent Jeff Mow

In 2015 GNPVA was selected by the National Park Service as the Intermountain Region's winner of the George and Helen Hartzog Award in the category of Outstanding Volunteer Group Service. The Harzog award recognizes individual and groups that make exceptional contributions of their skills, talents and time to the National Park Service. This was a great honor for us since we are one of the smallest organizations and we were selected from all of the volunteer organization in the Rocky Mountains between Montana and Texas.

I'm sure you can tell that we are very proud members of Glacier National Park Volunteer Associates. It is a small organization and I hope that you will take a look at our website. Perhaps you'd like to join us.  Click here if you'd like to visit the GNPVA now.

Matekja Cabin Restoration

Mountains, trails and tails

The mind is an unbelievable organ. Scientists haven't really figured out how it works yet, despite many hypotheses. This morning that ability to make mental quantum leaps led to this blog. I was seeing Pamela off to work. I noticed the high humidity. That made me think about how we hadn't experienced humidity like this since we left for Montana the first of May. In the quarter of a year we spent in Glacier (northwestern Montana) the highest humidity, without raining, was 40%.  The lowest humidity we've seen in Evansville since we got home was 52% with a high of 96%. Mostly it's been in the high 80th percentile. The statistical average in Evansville is 70%.

Anyway . . . my brain is doing it to me again . . . that led me to think about Glacier, which led me to think about our beloved mountains, which led me to think about hiking the mountain trails, which led me to think about all the stories I can tell about them. Did you follow that? Not sure that I did. But that's what I mean.  Isn't it marvelous. I can thank a bit of uncomfortably high humidity for a blog idea.  In any case, I came right in and sat down to write this blog about stories from or about Glacier mountains and their trails. Now there are a number of books of stories about Glacier, but these are just some of my own stories with pictures of mountains that I know well.

The evening light on Mt. Brown from our camp. 

If you follow me on FaceBook or my blog, you will know that Mt. Brown holds a very special place for me. It is one of three mountains that are easily visible from our campsite and Sprague Creek, where we work, is nestled right up against it.

After the Reynold's Creek Fire started it was difficult to get to one of the most popular hiking areas of the park - Many Glacier. I was making rounds one evening when two young women expressed their disappointment and said  that there vacation was ruined because there were no good trails on the west side. I took the challenge.

"There are lots of great trails on the west side of the park," I insisted.  They didn't seem convinced. "I take it you're looking for a real bun-burner."  "Yes," they replied excitedly. "Then have I got a trail for you!"

If you enlarge the picture to the left you will see a fire tower just a few feet short of the summit. That's where I sent them.  (I'm not really sadistic.)  The trailhead is called the Sperry Trail and is across the road from the McDonald Lake Lodge. This trailhead climbs 1,300 feet in the first 1.97 miles. Once there you have four choices. The first choice is the Mt. Brown Overlook - the fire tower. From the trailhead to the overlook is a 1,260 meter elevation increase (4,200 feet) in around 5 miles.  I emphasized that they take plenty of water. The last time I was up there I had found a man suffering from dehydration. I also encouraged bear spray and warned them about the Mountain Goat billy that has been chasing hikers.  They looked at each other and grinned.

The next evening, while making rounds, I saw the two young women sitting by their campfire. They looked like they had just been mugged.  "You went up Mt Brown, didn't you?" I laughed. Two tired and bedraggled young women looked back at me with the biggest smiles you've ever seen. "Yes, and it was awesome."

That's the normal response when I send people up this seldom climbed trail, and I've sent a lot of young enthusiastic hikers and a few more my age on this trail. But I always make sure that they have the endurance and the skills.  It is not for the faint-hearted.

The cirque containing Iceberg Lake 

Iceberg Lake is a very popular hiking destination. The trailhead starts at Many Glacier campground. It is at least a ten mile hike right up to the Continental Divide on the east side of the Garden Wall from where we live and work. If you climbed up the wall in the picture to the right, you could just about see Willy about 10-12 miles down the road.  Of course, because of the mountains, it takes 3 hours of driving to get to the trailhead.

Iceberg Lake is the remains of a glacier and so it is rarely less than 50% frozen.  As the caption says on the picture below, the picture was taken the last week of July.

Iceberg Lake at the end of July. 

Pamela and I last hiked this trail in July 2014. It is a perfect example of how Pamela, because of her arthritic knees, will say we'll just go a little way and we end up doing many miles. It was a marvelous hike starting off with an encounter with a Grizzly bear.

An Interp Ranger (=interpretive) actually mis-identified the bear as a Black bear. That's really extremely easy to do. He had told people to keep moving and returned to his station. As we got near the bear we were able to clearly see the face, hump and the claws. There was no doubt it was a Grizzly but it was intent upon feeding on the mountain side and totally ignored those of us passing by on the trail a short distance below.

When we reached the lake there were a couple of groups of hikers already there. Like them, we took off our boots and socks and waded momentarily in the frigid water just to say we had done it. Some young people tried to see how long they could stand in the water. The winner lasted just over 20 seconds.

I've seen Mountain Goat kids butting heads on cliffs with an 800 foot drop, and a Black Bear sow have to chase her two cubs up a tree to keep them out of trouble, but only homo sapiens seem to do such things at all ages. There was a woman floating in a rubber kayak on the super-cold water. She was wearing a wet suit, but there isn't a wet suit made that would protect her from that water. Like I tell my friends and children - I may be adventuresome but I'm not foolhardy. I'm just glad that she made it because there was no one on shore who was going in that water to rescue her.

We weren't in uniform but our hiking hats have the National Park Service Volunteer logo on them. A lady tapped me on the shoulder and asked if the small black dot moving along a snowfield high up the mountain was a Mountain Goat. I got out my binoculars. No. It was just another silly human climbing around on the ice alone and without any climbing equipment nevertheless proper climbing gear.

Stanton Mt. with Mt. Vaught just behind it. 

Stanton Mountain is the mountain that greets us each day from across the lake.  It is only 7,750 feet high, but, as you can see, it is beautiful. Like the other mountains there isn't an official trail to the summit, but there is a climber's trail that starts at Howe Ridge (just out of sight of the picture to the left of the mountain) and runs up the less steep side of the mountain. I've hiked Howe Ridge, but I've never gone up the climber's trail.  Maybe next year. Too much to do and too little time. Besides, the Howe Ridge and Stanton Mt summit trails are both in the area burned by the Roberts Fire of 2003 and so are constantly exposed to the sun and elements. There isn't any forest cover.

I was sitting at our campsite at Sprague Creek when a young camper approached. He asked me if I was able to call the park dispatch.  I told him that I had a radio and asked the purpose. "I'm just supposed to tell them when I get back."  I obviously looked puzzled and so he shared his story.

The young man had decided to hike to the summit of Stanton Mt.  Climber's trails are notorious for not being easy to follow and having a lot of branches where people decided that a different way was better, easier or more fun.  Somehow he had wandered away from the trail. One would think that it is pretty easy to get off a mountain . . . just go down. But it isn't always that easy and you can find yourself in serious trouble. By some stroke of luck his cell phone got a signal and he ended up talking to Glacier Dispatch who put a Ranger on the line who knows the mountain well.  The young man followed the Ranger's instructions and ran into a group going to the summit. He ended up climbing to the summit with them and was just returning.

"Glacier Dispatch. 219-Vance."  "Go ahead 219."  "The young man who was lost on Stanton this afternoon is safely back at the campground."  "Thank you 219." "219-Vance clear."

Reynolds Mountain

  Going down a mountain can be as difficult and dangerous as going up the mountain. That reality was driven home to me when Pamela and I started to make our way down from Mt. Oberlin. Things look totally different looking down as opposed to looking up. Places that seemed like someone had put a staircase in the mountain side just for you suddenly appear to step off into space.

Just a few weeks after the young man on Stanton Mountain I had a similar experience on the Hidden Lake trail.

A big part of my job patrolling the trails out of Logan Pass is to keep people out of the "closures". These are meadows and other areas of sub-alpine vegetation that are very fragile and therefore legally closed to all human foot traffic. As I was hiking down from the Hidden Lake overlook I spotted  three hikers well out in the closure. I hiked back to the closest place on the trail to them and hailed them. As they drew near they were all talking at once. They were all apologizing for being in the closure. It turned out that they knew better but they had just climbed to the summit of Reynolds Mountain and missed the trail coming down. They finally found a safe way off the mountain which happened to lead right into the closure.

Mt. Oberlin from Logan Pass - the side we climbed. 

By the end of our 2015 season the Mount Oberlin climber's trail was one of my favorites. Actually it didn't really take more than one time on this mountain to make it my favorite.  Just take a look at the picture below - basically looking east - and you can understand. That's just a small portion of a marvelous panorama.

Looking east from Oberlin at about 7,300 feet. 

The trail works its way along ledges up to the snow-ice field at the left. Then it goes up from there, along that ridge, to the summit. In this picture it looks like a straight shot would be easier, but that portion is actually in the closure and predominantly scree or loose gravel on top of the stone. You take two steps forward and either fall or slide one step back.

Mt Oberlin - from the north
The side we didn't climb! 

I give a fairly detailed description of our last time on this trail in my blog published on August 3rd. If you haven't read it, I hope you will take the time. The address for that blog is:
http://oldconservationist.blogspot.com/2015/08/because-its-there.html

To give a brief summary . . . it was our day off but I carry the park radio with me even on my day off. On that trip we were part of a search and rescue for a person who evidently made their way off the mountain under their own steam without telling us, had the dubious distinction of being the first to see a forest fire, and came within feet of reaching the summit of Mt Oberlin. We turned around because we were afraid that we didn't have enough time before we had to be back at Logan Pass. What we didn't know is that Logan Pass would be totally isolated for almost four hours.

Reynolds Fire from Mt. Oberlin 

Bearhat Mtn, with Fusillade and Gun-sight Mts in the distance.

Two of trails that I recommend actually have a common point even though the trailheads are almost 30 miles apart.  They are very popular trails and usually have a lot of hikers. From the Hidden Lake Trail (starting at the Logan Pass Visitor's Center) and the Avalanche Lake Trail (starting at the Avalanche Campground) one gets up close and personal with Mt Brown, Canon Mtn, Bearhat Mtn and Clements Mtn. It also gets one up close and personal with a variety of wildlife, despite the tremendous number of people who hike these trails. On Hidden Lake trail alone I've seen Mountain Goats, Wolverine, Badger and a variety of ground squirrels - most notably the Golden Mantled Ground Squirrel.  I had hikers tell me that they were chased off by a Grizzly but I didn't see the bear. I believe them because Hidden Lake is a primary fishing lake for bears and when the trout are spawning you dare not go near.

North end of Hidden Lake where it flows into Hidden Creek.

In the picture to the left you see Bearhat Mtn on the left and Canon on the right. Mt Brown is just beyond Bearhat. If you look carefully at the picture you will see where the water flows out of Hidden lake into Hidden Creek almost in the middle of the picture. The water cascades down a steep incline into Avalanche Creek almost 4,000 feet below. This is one reason I recommend hiking Avalanche Creek Trail. This is beautiful bear country - fishing in two lakes (mostly Hidden Lake) and a great area to forage in the natural pass between the two areas. It is far too steep for humans, but bears have no problem at all.

Cliffs of Clements Mtn -  Mountain Goat country. 

People are a bit surprised that I suggest these two trails first when they ask where to go to see wildlife. Actually I preface my response with "you can see wildlife everywhere in Glacier but if you want to improve your odds . . ."

The Mountain Goats hang around the Hidden Lake Overlook.  It is a high rocky promontory right on the Continental Divide and nestled in between the high cliffs of Clements and Reynolds. The Big Horn Sheep - which tend to hang around the Oberlin meadow and similar areas - are not as much a high altitude climber as the Mountain Goat. Mountain Goats do not get far away from the safety of high, sheer cliffs like the ones in the picture.  This is their defense.

Clements Mtn from near the start of the Hidden Lake Trail.

Because I patrolled the Hidden Lake Trail, I got to watch a band of Mountain Goats from early June until the end of July.  A herd of Mountain Goats is made up of a number of bands. A band may have 4-10 members. In the case of Hidden Lake, our band had two nanny's each with one kid, and 4-5 yearlings who may or may not have been related to either of the nanny. I got to watch the kids grow up from when they were still literally walking under their mother afraid of everything to when they were trying to knock each other off the cliff while playing.

Early in May we had two Canadian Rangers camping with us at Sprague Creek. As usual I recommended Avalanche Trail.  They returned laughing at the silly tourist they overheard saying "there're no bears here. They just want to sell bear spray."  The next day hikers were treated to one Grizzly and 4 Black Bears on the 2.5 mile Avalanche Creek Trail.

Avalanche Lake.  In May of a normal year you can sit here
and hear 3-4 avalanches every hour. 

Avalanche Creek.

I sometimes think that we should get rid of the work "park" because it evidently gives people the idea that it is as safe as a city park and that we have some control.  Some visitors get very upset with us because we didn't have the animals out. (oh, yeah!)  Even when you assure them that this is the wilderness, not Disney's Animal Kingdom, they don't seem to catch on. The poor people at the gates got accused of starting the Reynolds Creek Fire to ruin someone's vacation.

Visitors are often seen trying to walk on trails in flip-flops, and go out without water or bear spray despite the large red warning signs. I have seen women wearing wedding dresses and men in tuxedos to get pictures at Hidden Lake. Some have put their children on the backs of a Mountain Goat for a picture or tried to get a selfie with a bear.

But I don't want to waste time telling stories on homo sapiens. However, I am going to end with a story that starts out with a story about homo sapiens.

The Garden Wall is a knife edge formation that was created by glaciers on both sides. The Continental Divide runs across the top. It is a magnificent natural structure and is especially beautiful framed by the mountains on either side of the McDonald Valley as in this picture.

The Garden Wall. 

The Going-to-the-Sun Road runs along its flanks as it rises from 3,200 feet at McDonald Creek to 6,686 feet at Logan Pass. In the picture to the right, the road is just below the snow-line. The Highline Trail is about a third of the way up from the bottom of the snow-line.

I believe it was three years ago some newly-weds visited Glacier for their honeymoon. One day they hiked a trail that went up the side of the Garden Wall. It is a very steep trail. Only the young bride came out. To make a long story short - she pushed her new husband off the mountain. At first she said she had no idea where he fell, but as it appeared that searchers weren't going to find the body, she suddenly was able to show them exactly where he went over. She had to make sure they found the body because, if she didn't, she wouldn't get his insurance. (Nice lady!)

One day last June the crews made their daily trip up the side of the Garden Wall to clear the snow from the Going-to-the-Sun Road. When Pamela and I were talking to one of the crew later that day they told us that the found a Grizzly bear dead on the road after they had passed.  An autopsy showed that the bear had not be shot or poisoned. It just fell . . . . to which I couldn't help but comment "he must have been on his honeymoon."

With that I must end. These are just a few of the many mountain, trails and tales at Glacier National Park. I do hope that you will come and visit Glacier and enjoy these magnificent mountains and the trails on them and write your own story.  

You are invited to follow me on 

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 or visit my website at

 www.earthlover.net. 

Fratrem nostrum urso. Vivat!

By their own account the two experienced back-country rangers did just about everything wrong. They were hiking a remote trail well into the wilderness of north-central Glacier National Park.  They had a strong head wind, yet they made no noise nor did they take any other bear precautions.  Bears - ursus americanus and ursus arctos horribilis - both prefer to avoid humans. If they smell you, you'll never see them. In fact, one author hypothesized that they do not like our smell.  The Grizzly Bear (ursus arctos horribilis - a lousy, disrespectful name) does not have particularly good eyesight. It can hear about as well as a human, but its sense of smell is phenomenal. Contrary to the popular misconception, the bear does not raise up on its hind legs to attack but to see, hear and smell better. With a strong head wind there was no way a bear knew these two seasoned outdoorsmen were coming.

Pamela and I sat on the edge of our seats listening to our boss tell the story of his friends. Since the friends were alive to tell it, we knew the outcome was good, but our pulses raced with anticipation of what was to happen next.

Bear mothers are EXTREME protective of their cubs.

The two men rounded a corner on a narrow high mountain trail and were confronted by two Grizzly cubs.  "Oh, ****!"  You never, never, never ever want to be between a bear sow and her cub(s), but that's exactly what these two men had done.  Before they could react the mother was on them. She knocked over the first ranger and pinned the second against the side of the mountain.  She took one swipe at his head. Fortunately he was wearing a climbing helmet which kept him from being cut. The bear paused. Both men were down and motionless. They were of no threat to her cubs so she gathered her cubs and moved off. The only souvenir of the encounter was a cut on the forearm of one of the men which would probably leave a scar.

Telling their story they emphasized that the mother Grizzly acted perfectly normal and had done nothing wrong. She had perceived them as a threat to her cubs and she neutralized the threat. Nothing more. She did not maul them nor attempt to eat them. On the other hand, they were in her domain and had done just about everything wrong.  It takes a strong person to admit that. They had survived a very scary lesson.

Our first Grizzly encounter at Avalanche Lake, 2014.

The Grizzly bear (ursus arctos horibillis) is also known as a Brown Bear, Kodiak Bear and Silvertip Bear.  It is generally multi-colored. The Black Bear (ursus americanus) is generally a solid color but may be any color from white to black. Since humans are encroaching on the bear's last refuge when they enter the park, the basic policy by which we work is (1) in the front-country we move the bear for its own safety and protection - i.e. so that it doesn't get hit by a car or get hooked on human foods; and (2) in the back-country we move the humans - e.g. if a bear wants to fish in a back-country lake, we move the people out and keep them out until the bear is done.

Sadly most people think of the Grizzly bear (ursus arctos) as some sort of monster and the Black bear (ursus americanus) as a teddy bear. Both are total misconceptions.  The picture to the left is the type of things which floats around the internet reinforcing such misconceptions.  Yes, even I have to laugh at such humor, but the difference is that I know the bear isn't chasing the bicycle because he's a monster wanting to devour the rider.  Bears are omnivores and therefore are, at times, predatory.  Predators have a pursuit instinct; viz. if it runs it must be food and therefore you must chase it. This is why, in Bear School I (basic bear training), one is taught to never attempt to run from a bear. Despite their bulk and appearance, they can do 40 mph in a sprint.  Even Lance Armstrong on steroids isn't going to beat that.  I did meet a ranger who is a cyclist who had this experience but he was already moving fast when the bear gave chase. Nevertheless, the bear almost caught him. He could hear the bear's claws on the asphalt just behind him. The bear evidently decided that he wasn't worth wasting the calories. You see, bears of all types are calorie machines - i.e. all they can think about from spring to hibernation is consuming mass calories.

From March through May Grizzly bears feed primarily on animals that have been killed by winter storms or avalanches (Gunther and Renkin 1990, Mattson 1997). "Grizzly bears also dig up pocket gopher caches in localized areas where they are abundant. Other items consumed during spring include succulent grasses and sedges during early green-up, dandelion, clover, spring-beauty, horsetail, and ants. During spring, grizzly bears will also feed on whitebark pine seeds stored in red squirrel caches during years when there is an abundance of over-wintered seeds left over from the previous fall." (Mattson and Jonkel 1990)

This is why you have a good chance of finding a bear - Black or Grizzly - near an avalanche chute. It is like the frozen food section of the wilderness. There is one stretch of Going-to-the-Sun Road that is lined with Glacier Lillies (a bear favorite at Glacier National Park) and has a nearby avalanche chute. One day in 2014 we encountered three Black bears on this 2 mile stretch of road. 

The picture of the bear to the right isn't the actual one we encountered. It is a photo that has been floating around the internet for a while with the caption "Are you a runner? You are now."  Nevertheless this is exactly what we saw coming toward us.  We have no idea why he was running at full speed because he came to a stop about 30 yards in front of us. Of  course none of the visitors walking the road had bear spray, so we quickly became everyone's best friends.  We did everything by the book as we had been taught, but the bear didn't want to go the other way.  In the end result he ambled past us, on the other side of an 18 foot wide road as you can see in the picture of him below. 

The bear who ambled past us after running toward us at full speed.

Yes, people can visit Glacier National Park and never see a bear. Others see a Grizzly and five black bears all on a 2.5 mile hike. Glacier does have more bears than anywhere else in the lower 48 States. We have 6-800 Grizzly Bears and countless Black Bears. The bear population is growing at about 3% a year.  More bears frequent the Camus Creek area of Glacier than most places in North America, according to wildlife biologist, Dr. John Waller.  Dr Waller did his PhD dissertation studying bears in Glacier and is now the head biologist ranger for the park.




In the summer grizzly bears eat succulent grasses, sedges, dandelion, clover, spring-beauty, horsetail, and bugs. In addition, thistle, biscuit root, fireweed, fern-leaved lovage, and army cutworm moths are consumed. (Gunther and Renkin 1990). A female who has mated during the spring must surpass 15% body fat for the pregnancy to take. This is also the time of year that the trout start spawning and the bears go fishing.  Hidden Lake, right on the Continental Divide just west of Logan Pass, is such a hot spot for bears that the trail is closed for several weeks. When I was patrolling the Hidden Lake Trail in late June I had several hikers chased away by a Grizzly. We closed the trail. Later in the summer the berries start to appear and the bears begin feeding on strawberry, globe huckleberry, grouse whortleberry, and buffaloberry. The favorite at Glacier is huckleberry. Before the snow starts flying in September false truffles, bistort, and yampa are added to their diet.  

Notice the Grizzly claws. They are designed to dig.

During the Glacier season (May - Sept) we are taught to watch for and recognize bear signs. Obviously bear skat is a dead giveaway.  Black bears have short (by comparison), curved claws that are much more suited for climbing than digging. The Grizzly, on the other hand, is a digger. With long, straighter claws and those massive muscular shoulders, they are quite efficient diggers for food items such as roots, bulbs, corms, tubers as well as rodents and animals that den in the ground.  Contrary to popular belief, the Grizzly's claws are not designed for tearing flesh of unsuspecting humans but for digging. Some of the most common signs are scratching trees, where they like to rub their backs, trees they have clawed to get at insects, rocks flipped on a trail and large areas which look like they've had a rototiller go through. 

Bear digging for bulbs and tubers. 

A dig area I found on the Sperry Trail. 

Bears flip stones to find bugs. 

Friend, colleague and hiking companion, CGH Tom Spalding, and I were hiking the trail to the Sperry Chalet. Tom had not worked in Grizzly country before and I was sharing what I learned in the basic and advanced bear schools I had attended. As it turned out the trail was filled with Grizzly bear signs. There was no doubt that we were in Grizzly country and that there was one or more Grizzly bears active in the area. We talked to a back country volunteer, whom we met on the trail, who had been up the trail earlier that morning and said that the dig, pictured above, was not there when she went by. The bear was close.

A Grizzly has clawed this tree for insects. 

The ironic part of this story is that it wasn't a Grizzly that we encountered.  We were passing through a portion of trail that was very heavily over-grown. I suddenly noticed a very large black rump sticking out of the thickets. It was close enough that I could swat it with my trail pole. Tom was in front of me and almost brushing the bear.  All I could do was quietly say "bear".  The bear was too close for anything else. I didn't want to startle it or draw attention to us too soon.  Tom, an extremely experienced wilderness person, didn't see the bear but, upon hearing me, moved to stand beside me without delay or question. The bear was obviously so engrossed in what it had found in the bushes that it didn't notice our approach even though we were talking and not being quiet. The overgrowth was so thick that the bear had to back out. When he saw us 10-15 feet away he looked as surprised as us. We talked to him . . . which is what you're suppose to do . . . and moved slowly backwards widening the distance between us. The bear seemed to think that was a good idea. It did the same thing in the opposite direction. When it felt safe it turned and moved off through the thicket. I love seeing these magnificent animals, but I would have preferred a bit more room.

There is no time here to either share all of our bear encounters or to do justice to this magnificent creature. The Black bear is still found in many parts of the US, but it is being systematically pushed out of its habitat and slaughtered for fun. The Grizzly is protected because it is an endangered species, but that doesn't stop poachers.

The bear is extremely important to the ecosystem. Because berry seeds pass through the bear's digestive system unbroken, the seeds are able to germinate. Not only does the bear disperse the seeds but it provides fresh manure as fertilizer. The digging of the Grizzly bear stirs up the soil, increasing plant species richness and nitrogen availability in a fragile alpine ecosystem. They also spread salmon carcass and other animal remains which enriches the soil.

The Grizzly bear, and to a slightly lesser extent the Black bear, helps to regulate and prevent ungulate overgrazing. Many decades ago people got the idea of destroying the "bad" animals - i.e. carnivores. With the carnivores gone the ungulates - deer, elk, sheep and goats - overgrazed causing tremendous problems. The reintroduction of the carnivores solved the problem. A study in Grand Teton National Park, as reported by the Western Wildlife Outreach (an educational organization in Washington and Idaho), showed conclusively that the removal of wolves and Grizzly bears in Grand Teton caused populations of their herbivorous prey to increase, which decreased the density of plants in the area. The decrease of the plant density led to a decrease in migratory birds and spoiling of water sources. Bears, like all  carnivores, are keystone predators and have a significant influence on their ecosystems.

However true this is and however valuable the bear is to its ecosystem and our world, I must admit that I find it a bit presumptuous  on the part of the homo sapien to say that any living thing's right to exist is dependent upon its contribution to the ecosystem. This is especially true since the homo sapien is a destructive invasive species which, if the tables were turned, would be eradicated for the preservation of the world's ecosystem.

In the movie Star Trek IV Spock comments on the destruction of the Humpbacked Whale. "To hunt a species to extinction is illogical," he said.  To which Captain Kirk replied, "Who said the human race was logical?"

Are we really so illogical?  Or are we so full of ourselves and so determined for our own immediate gratification that we don't care what we do to others?

Again to paraphrase Spock. 'Friend, if we were to assume these animals were ours to do with as we pleased, we would be as guilty as those who are causing their extinction.'   If you are as enamored as am I with the marvelous nature of which we are all a part, there are many ways you can participate. Check out organizations like National Wildlife Federation and Sierra Club. Spend some time in a park where you can get to know such wonderful creatures like the bear on a personal basis.

A scratching tree. Everyone needs a scratching tree. 

Siblings cooling off.

The beautiful Black Bear (ursus americanus)

Black Bear cub

A bear "play pen". Mom was sleeping 1/2 way down the tree.

Fratrem nostrum urso. Vivat! 

Our brother bear. Let him live!