Glacier's gift

Autumn is my favorite season. Maybe it’s the bright colors, the cooler temperatures or the general slowing down of life in this summer recreation haven. Maybe it’s nostalgia for the start of a new school year and the excitement of high school sports playoffs. Friday night football games, Saturday cross country meets, it’s hard to not be happy during those few perfect weeks when summer scorchers transition into crisp afternoons.

Mid-October is pretty much the pinnacle of those wonderful fall happenings and being outside this time of year is a must. Whether it’s hiking, fishing or hunting, the world outside takes on a whole new personality. We’ve been lucky this year to experience some extended sunshine and out-of-the-ordinary warm days. For me, it’s been one fast-paced weekend after the next attempting to squeeze in a day or two amongst the area’s many beautiful places.

The last few weeks, Glacier National Park’s east side was aglow with the canvas of yellow aspen leaves and narrow white trunks. Driving along Highway 2, even the approach to the park’s eastern entrances is spectacular. Hints of the seasonally turning western larch trees were speckled around the typically dark green hillsides. Larches are the only conifers in the park that turn yellow and lose their needles, and it’s an incredible sight to see.

The area’s many crystal clear rivers and streams are even more beautiful when surrounded by fiery red underbrush with tiny floating leaves collecting in the calm pools of the rapids.

With the shorter days, catching an awe-inspiring sunrise isn’t as much a chore, and many of the park’s most elusive animals can be spotted foraging for food during those last few hours of daylight.

In two trips to Two Medicine and Many Glacier in as many weeks, I crossed paths with mountain goats, bighorn sheep, moose, and more birds, both big and small, than I can recall. Because of the warm temperatures, the bears were still, for the most part, wandering up high, but they too should move to lower altitudes with the inevitable fresh snow these next few weeks.

While you won’t quite have the park to yourself, it could feel that way. Visitors to the park drop considerably after Labor Day. Most of the campsites turn primitive, which means you won’t have the luxury of running water, but you won’t have to pay as much to spend the night either.

In many ways, this time of year is a gift to Montanans who put up with out-of-towners during the summer months. After sitting in traffic on Going to the Sun Road for four months straight, we now have the pleasure of a stress-free ride along one of the world’s most magnificent drives.

When we stop for wildlife, “that guy” with his video camera doesn’t jump out of his car and scare it away.

There are always reasons to stay home. Heck, it’s nice to sleep in on a Saturday. But, there are just a few perfect weeks a year to experience the magic of an autumn day. I hope you can get outside and enjoy it.