Celebrating 100 Years

No, that's NOT how old I'll be on my birthday in September(!)...it's Christine Barnes's beautiful new book in her "America's Grand Lodges" series, "Glacier Park Lodge; Celebrating 100 Years" & what a grand presentation! "Glacier Park Lodge: Celebrating 100 Years" is a must read for all of us in north central Montana with Glacier National Park as our next door neighbor. In what would become Glacier National Park, Louis Hill fished, hiked, camped & experienced a sense of wonder & awe that never left him, even as he became president of the Great Northern Railroad. Christine writes, "It rarely leaves anyone who has taken in the marvels" of this GREAT national park. She says that Louis Hill saw Glacier as a virgin park-a place where he could develop a tourist project of his own. I learned learned from the book that for every dollar the federal government spent on Glacier, the Great Northern spent 10! Glacier Park Lodge, with a design derived from Roman halls, opened in June 1913. 24 Douglas firs, each 3 stories high & 4 feet wide, line the 200 by 100 foot lobby & support the 60 foot ceiling. Barnes says in the book that the lobby is a sanctuary of sorts & reflects the idea of architecture as a symbol, not just a shelter. Commemorating a century of the lodge (thus it's title), "Glacier Park Lodge: Celebrating 100 Years" also examines back country chalet camps built around the same time, as well as general history & descriptions of the park. Historical or modern photos are on EVERY page of this glorious read. Christine Barnes serves as a consultant for the PBS television series "Great Lodges of the National Parks" & has written several other books about parks lodges. "Great Lodges" is  GREAT book indeed. Check it out from Farcountry Press at: www.farcountrypress.com or pick up a copy next time you're in the Glacier National Park area. I should mention also that all the beautiful photography in the book is by Fred Pfughoft, David Morris, & Douglass Dye. Talk about "armchair traveling"...this is the BEST!