MUMBLINGS September 1, 2005

On our trip to Glacier National Park we landed at Kalispell, Montana. Kalispell is a city of about 20,000. It is the county seat of Flathead County, named after an Indian tribe. The county is over three times bigger than Baldwin and has less than half the population.

Montana has the fewest number of people per square mile of any state in the nation. Flathead County is in the center of a popular recreation area with a lot of attractions including Glacier National Park.

Amazingly, the Chamber of Commerce informed us that by the year 2011, 149,000 new homes are to be built, making it one of the three fastest growing areas in the United States.

Like Bay Minette, the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce is located in an old railroad depot, except considerably larger.

You would think their biggest business would be tourism, being within 45 minutes of Glacier, which has millions of visitors annually. The Chamber of Commerce lady said the biggest industry is agriculture. Their chief crops are barley and wheat.

Before you get to the huge mountains of Glacier National Park, there are plains with rich soil.

The people living there like it, brag on it and don’t want to live anywhere else. But to me, it would be unbearable because it gets way below zero in the winter time and often stays there a long time. Also snow is a problem. In the mountains nearby which go up to 10,000 feet, snow often exceeds 25 or 30 feet. Many of the roads are closed during the winter. Our guide, who was born and lived most of his life in Texas, has been in Kalispell for ten years and likes it.

Several years ago, a well-known traveler, Edward R. Murrow, proclaimed Glacier National Park as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. One of my purposes for going there was not only to enjoy the scenery, which was interesting, and beautiful, but I don’t know whether I would proclaim it one of The Seven Wonders of The world that I have seen. I must think about this some more. I originally named nine : The Grand Canyon, The Great Wall of China, Glacier National Park, Pyramids of Egypt, Amazon River, Empire State Building and New York City, Eiffel Tower, Great Barrier Reefs of Australia, and Panama Canal.

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Continued

I think that Glacier National Park is a wonderful place to visit. It was established under President Taft. Later in 1921 the Great Northern Railroad built a track across the park and erected seven hotels to attract thousands of rich visitors. The train still crosses the park and stops for passengers at one or two places. But it is nothing like the volume it once had.

We visited the Hungry Horse Dam, which at the time of erection was said to be the tallest dam in the world, 564 feet. Completed in 1953 and furnishes enough electricity for 270,000 homes, it is a part of the great Columbia River dams and reservoirs.

Riding on the road you cross the Continental Divide. On the west side, the water flows into the Pacific and on the east, into the Atlantic Ocean.

Lewis & Clark came within 50 miles of the park when they made the tour of the northwest 200 years ago. The beauty and attractiveness of Glacier National Park is outstanding. It is well worth spending a few days there enjoying the scenery, looking at the flowers, birds, animals, high mountains and the glaciers.

See you again soon, I hope.