Some years ago now, when I was training people to drive Glacier's famous Red Busses, Both my boss David and I knew that our drivers should all know at least ten mountains they could identify for our guests.
The problem was that we could never agree on what ten mountains the drivers should know. David had worked in the Many Glacier area so his favorite list included many Many Glacier Peaks whereas I worked in the Lake McDonald area and my list included many of the Lake McDonald peaks.
The only peak we could both agree on is Mount Saint Nick which is a huge Matterhorn in Glacier but best seen on Highway 2 west of Marias Pass. I especially loved that peak for its sheer beauty but also because it was first climbed, in 1927 by Havre Presbyterian minister, Conrad Wellen. He went on to have a peak in the Bear Paw range named in his honor.
Anyway here are my other nine mountains, not in any special order but all beloved by me.
Any list has to start with the mountain of all mountains, Going-To-The-Sun Mountain just at the west shore of St. Mary Lake. It is the mountain that frames most all of the Logan Pass area from the top of the divide to St. Mary Lake. It is rifed with legends and lore and is as beautiful as any mountain ever has been!
I love Mount Brown as it towers over Lake McDonald Lodge and has a fire lookout to walk to that gives enormous views of the whole lake McDonald. Mount Brown is not all that rugged and jagged but it is home to all who have ever worked at Lake McDonald Lodge and is one that will always be remembered by lots of people. Lake McDonald Lodge is one of the few places where instead of people asking for a room that overlooks the lake, many ask for a room with a view of Mount Brown! That is some mountain.
I love the Garden Wall. Technically it is an arête which is defined as a narrow ledge that two glaciers have formed as they went down side by side canyons, carving them out as they go. Looking up at the Garden Wall from the Many Glacier side of the wall or from the Lake McDonald side, the views of that magnificent arête just simply take your breath away. For more breathtaking views and vistas of the grand mount, travel the Hi-Line trail from Logan Pass to Granite Park Chalet. You are on the side of the Garden Wall all the way.
I laugh whenever I think of mount Fusillade. It is the end of another arête that is at the end of St. Mary Lake. Many have called it the Paramount Picture Mountain as it looks just like the mountain that Paramount Pictures shows at the beginning of their films. Some old pictures of Mount Fusillade even show a lake in the picture. The rangers did not like drivers saying that was the Paramount Mountain and tried to make them stop. That just made more drivers talk about the Paramount Mountain. In fact the story used to be told to many tourists that every night the rangers would turn the
stars on around Paramount Mountain until due to budget cuts in Glacier, they could no longer afford to run those lights.
I include Mount Cleveland because it is the highest of all the Glacier peaks and can be seen from the top of Logan Pass. It is an imposing mountain and it is said there is a shelf just below the top of the mountain where there is room enough to land a small airplane. However, I vastly love C2 much more.
C 2 or Cleveland 2 as it is called is the seventh mountain in Glacier National Park over ten thousand feet. Although many people do not count it as it is a part of Cleveland called Kaiser Point. It is over ten thousand feet high, difficult to climb and us having a C 2 seemed to put us in a league with many huge mountain ranges. So, to me, it will always be C 2 although I must say that I have not been able to convince a lot of people that C 2 is genuine.
Jackson Mountain on the east side of the park has Jackson Glacier which is an actual glacier. You know that one of the major parts of being a glacier is that the glacier must always move. Therein is the brunt of many glacier stories. Remember one thing; what goes in must come out. A fellow fell into Jackson Glacier around 1930 and he finally came out a frozen ghost of a man in 1966. The amazing thing about his coming out is that his watch was still running and showing perfect time. It seems that the watch which was a self winding watch, rubbed against the ice and kept running all those years.
And last, and what should be on everyone's list of favorite Glacier Peaks in Heaven's Peak at the top of the McDonald Valley. It forms breathtaking vistas of Glacier for anyone driving down the west side of Going-to-The-Sun Road. It is as beautiful peak as there ever was and having the name, Heaven's Peak seems to say it all about that wonderful piece of the Rocky Mountain Range.
There you have it, my favorites. The best thing is that anyone can find ten, twenty or even thirty more Glacier Mountains that fit into the category of most beautiful of all.
What are your favorites?
