Going-to-the-Sun Road may open later than ever this year

Last July I visited Brandon in Polson, Montana and we took a trip to Glacier National Park while I was there.

You can watch day one and day two of our adventure and of course, don't forget Brandon vs. the goat!

On our trip we headed up Going-to-the-Sun Road. But this year visitors to the park might not be able to make that trip.


The Great Falls Tribune ran an article yesterday about how the road may not open until very late this year.

GLACIER NATIONAL PARK — Only twice in the history of the Going-to-the-Sun Road has the scenic drive in Glacier National Park opened for the season after July 4.

This year will mark the third year the alpine section of the Sun Road isn't open on Independence Day.

In 1933, the road had its inaugural opening on July 15. In 1943, the road opened on July 10 because of reduced staffing during World War II.

It appears that 2011 will go down in history as one of the latest openings of the Sun Road.

The reason for the late opening this year is a heavy snowpack and cold, snowy weather late into spring.

You can read the rest of the article over on The Great Falls Tribune site.

Olympic National Park quarter design released

2010 marked the beginning of the America the Beautiful Quarters Program. This program is similar to the state quarters. But instead of states, these quarters feature sites from each state.

In 2010 the first five quarters were released. I haven't personally seen any, but supposedly they are out there. These included designs honoring the Hot Springs National Park (Arkansas), Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming), Yosemite National Park (California), Grand Canyon National Park (Arizona) and Mount Hood National Forest (Oregon).

Today the United States Mint released the design for the Olympic National Park quarter that will be released in 2011. The image is to the right.

The quarter design shows a Roosevelt elk standing in the Hoh River with a view of Mount Olympus behind it.

The other four quarters to be released in 2011 will be designs honoring Gettysburg National Military Park (Pennsylvania), Glacier National Park (Montana), Vicksburg National Military Park (Mississippi) and Chickasaw National Recreation Area (Oklahoma).

According to the United States Mint, the quarters program is a multi-year initiative during which the United States Mint will issue 56 circulating quarter-dollar coins with reverse designs emblematic of a national park or other national site in each state, the District of Columbia and the five U.S. territories – the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

The quarters are being released in the order in which the featured site was first established as a national park or site. The designs will rotate five times each year through 2020, with the final coin being released in 2021.

Mount Rainier still 14,411 feet tall

Recently there has been speculation that Mount Rainier has been measured incorrectly in the past. The most recent measurement had came in 1988.

This year the Land Surveyor's Association of Washington set out to measure the height of Washington's tallest peak using newer GPS technology.

A team of nine surveyors carried GPS units to the summit of Mount Rainier. The GPS units, which weighed about two pounds, connected to 45 satellites. This is very different compared to the 1988 measurement that had 140 surveyors and over 40 pounds of GPS units.

And their results?

"The new elevation came in at only a few inches different than the previous observations," said Larry Signani, team geodesist for all three expeditions. "The published value will remain at 14,411 feet."

At least we know that the mountain has shrunk. No matter the height, it still is a stunning mountain.

National Park free weekend

This weekend, August 14 and 15, the National Park Service will waive entrance fees to help encourage all Americans to visit the national parks.

"This fee-free weekend provides an opportunity for individuals and families alike to take an affordable vacation or to explore a nearby park they have never visited before," Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said. "I encourage everyone to take advantage of the free admission to visit not only our greatest natural wonders but also our nation's historic and cultural icons."

There are 391 national parks in our national and many offer views that can only be seen there. So if you haven't visited a national park lately, why not head out there for free this weekend?

Also, please note that the fee waiver is only for the entrance fees. Any camping fees, reservation fees and special bus tour fees are still in place.

Pacific Northwest Trail

I came across a hike for anyone wanting to experience the Northwest. It's called the Pacific Northwest Trail.

The Pacific Northwest Trail stretches 1,200 miles, between Washington and Montana and was designated in 2009.

The trail begins in the Olympic National Park in Washington and ends in Glacier National Park in Montana.

Being so new, the trail doesn't have a "designated" route yet and hikers must navigate forest trails, highways, logging roads, city streets and even a ferry.

According to an article by Terry Richard of the Oregonian, it will take years -- perhaps decades -- before a formal route is surveyed and marked.

But just how many years could that be? Richards says in his article that, trails are works in progress. As an example, the Pacific Crest Trail was conceived in 1932, designated by Congress in 1968 and officially completed in 1993. Even now, the trail gets rerouted as storms damage sections, or as land ownership issues are resolved.

Imagine the views that you will have though. From the coast of Washington to the Rocky Mountains. All with desert, forests and rivers in between.

The Portland office of the U.S. Forest Service has been charged with the task to coordinate official designation of the route. I'll keep you updated as the route is designed.

Glacier National Park: Part Two

Here is Part Two of mine and Brandon's trip to Glacier National Park.

This is our hike to Hidden Lake.

Part Two includes: hiking to Hidden Lake in Glacier National Park, Logan Pass, Brandon chased by a goat and beautiful views.



Watch Part One here.

Thank A Ranger Day

Today, July 29, is Thank A Ranger Day.

Thank A Ranger Day was initiated back in 2006 by RMNPforums.com and RMNPguide.com in memory of Jeff Christensen, a ranger at Rocky Mountain National Park who died in a fall on July 29, 2005, while on a backcountry patrol.

Many National Park travelers use this day to thank rangers that they come across in the park. But you don't need a special day to thank them for what they do.

Rangers provide a number of rolls within the parks that tourists visit. They answer questions, provide information and maps, offer suggestions on hikes or destinations, host campfire activities for children and also know first-aid and respond in emergency situations.

So the next time you see a Ranger in a park. Thank them. For if it wasn't for the work they did, you wouldn't have the parks that you love to visit.

Jack Hanna is pretty awesome

So I spent roughly half an hour last night surfing the internet looking for a way to survive a bear attack. None of them were very helpful.

You’d think the people writing the articles would try to be helpful and somewhat optimistic. Things like “By doing these actions, you too can survive a bear attack” would be nice. However, their tone was more like a goth kid trying to explain the meaning of life to you. “You probably made the bear angry and unless there’s a hill you can run up too with a Sherman tank waiting for you, you’re pretty much screwed.”

Thanks, Internet.

However, zookeeper and all around nature stud Jack Hanna has given us all new hope. Remember when he would bring snakes on the Late Night show to eat Jay Leno. Along with hoping the snakes would actually eat Leno, I always marveled at how calm Hanna was when handling the animals.

“This snake it the most poisonous in North America… and I’m going to put it in my armpit.”

He was just as calm two weeks ago hiking in Glacier Park with his wife Suzi and three other hikers. Walking on the Grinnell Glacier Trail, he encountered a Grizzly Bear and her two cubs.

Hanna had the group back track and get about 30 feet above the trail to let the Grizzlies walk by. One of the snotty cubs decided to stop and get fussy.

“The one youngster stops… and the hair starts going on its back and I said, ‘Oh shoot’,” Hanna told the Daily Interlake.

At this point, I would have done two things.

1. Wet my pants.
2. Pushed my fellow hikers down on the trail and make a run for it.

Hanna is not that kind of guy though, which makes sense. He’s the Chuck Norris of outdoor people and I’m the Kevin Federline of journalists.

He busted out the bear spray and laid down a cloud of smack down to ward of the bear. It came within ten feet before getting a wiff of the stuff, shook its head and bugged out.

Say hello to Jack Hanna, professional zoo person and grizzly bear enforcer. How many famous people can say they’ve came face-to-face with a large furry bear and survived?

Except for perhaps any guest stars on “Care Bears” nobody can really make that claim except for Hanna. I mean we can only imagine if the likes of Danny Bonaduce and Snooki were on that Glacier Park trail.

Glacier National Park: Part One

Here is Part One of mine and Brandon's trip to Glacier National Park.

This is our journey there.

Part One includes: our road trip to Glacier National Park, our attempt to find a campsite for the night, and driving up the Going To The Sun Road.




Tune in tomorrow for Part Two: Hike to Hidden Lake.

Brandon vs. The Goat

The last few days I've spent out in Montana. One day Brandon and I went hiking around Glacier National Park.

And while there Brandon met his arch nemesis.

Peter Griffin of Family Guy has The Chicken. Brandon of Just South of North has The Goat.



I'll get the video from our whole trip to Glacier National Park up soon.

Park Rangers are bad ass

While most of us live in our air-conditioned domiciles, occasionally venturing outdoors for a run or to get a ten, there are still modern-day John Waynes rolling around our nation's parks.

Yes, park rangers. Learn to respect them.

Why? Cause they have stories like this...

"There is the ranger now!" someone called, and two men ran off the ice and into Liebig's camp. A woman had fallen into a crevasse, they reported, and was wedged tight, 35 feet below the surface.

Liebig grabbed his axe, chopped down a small fir, cut his horses loose, strung the lash ropes together, and then hacked a hole in the glacial ice.

"I selected a place on the lower side of the crevasse and set the green post into the hole and packed ice all around to make it fairly solid," Liebig later wrote.

Then, with the men anchoring his post, he tied off and lowered himself into the crack. At the bottom was the poor woman, "dead as a doornail."

Liebig sent the rope back up, with orders to lower his axe back down, and when it arrived chiseled footholds into the icy walls so he could work with both hands.

"I started to pull the woman loose and nearly pulled her arm out, she was wedged in so tight."

He finally wrangled the rope around her waist and the men up top hauled her out. When they lowered the rope again Liebig was too frozen and exhausted to climb, so he tied it around his chest and they pulled him up, too.

That's just part of the story. Check out the entire write-up on how being a park ranger has changed but has stayed largely the same. With the modern-day person becoming more and more indoorsy, it's nice to know there's still some people out there that know what the heck they're doing.

Glacier National Park turns 100

Today is the 100th birthday of Glacier National Park in Montana.

100 years is awesome. But will the park make it another 10? That's what an article in USA Today looked at.
The gorgeous million-acre park in northwestern Montana celebrated its 100th birthday on Tuesday. But many of its glaciers have melted, and scientists predict the rest may not last another decade.

The forests are drier and disease-ridden, leading to bigger wildfires. Climate change is forcing animals that feed off plants to adapt.

Many experts consider Glacier Park a harbinger of Earth's future, a laboratory where changes in the environment will likely show up first.

Average temperatures have risen in the park 1.8 times faster than the global average, said Dan Fagre, a U.S. Geological Survey scientist.

The change is visible to the naked eye, with the vast moraines left behind as the giant glaciers melt away. Climate change is blamed for the increasing size and frequency of wildfires, and lower stream flows as summer progresses.

You can view the rest of the article on the USA Today site.

(This is from Just Northwest)