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travel / great places / cg recommends / glacier
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Glacier National Park
The first time I visited
the Illecilewaet Campground in Glacier National Park, British Columbia,
in the mid-1980s, I found myself in a state of confusion trying to figure
out the origin of a large, level, curving embankment. What was it and
why it would be found here, so far from the highway? Judging from the
size of the trees growing on its crest, it had been sitting here unused
for a very, very long time.
It turns out that before the tunnels were bored under Rogers
Pass, the architects of the rail lines were forced to snake them in
and out of the side valleys in an attempt to reduce the steepness of
their grade coming down off the pass. And here, in 1887, with nothing
else around except the endless expanse of the Selkirk Mountains, the
Glacier House hotel was built, catering to a new enthusiasm about mountaineering
that was growing in Europe and the United States.
Only a few stone foundations now remain of the hotel, but the network
of trails developed at that time remains, radiating out over the crests
and valleys of the headwaters of the Illecilewaet River. They create
a playground for hikers and climbers, who now check into tent and RV
sites instead of hotel rooms. The trails are relatively steep, as hiking
trails go, but they provide quick access to the glorious alpine country
above thick stands of cedar and hemlock.
This first visit was
prompted by a noon-time phone call to some friends, who, like myself,
were living in the Kamloops area at the time. They were just about to
head out to the park, and invited me to follow. I packed, jumped in
my car, drove the two and a half hours to the park, hiked up into the
alpine country, gaped in amazement across the vast empty spaces left
by the valley glaciers, hiked down, and joined my friends for dinner
at their campsite. This, I thought, is living.
Over the following years, I was drawn back to the area around
the Illecilewaet Campground to find inspiration for my paintings (ABOVE).
The Selkirk Mountains have their own look, composed mainly of metamorphic
rock instead of the sedimentaries of the Rockies to the east. The
peaks are steep, the valleys relatively narrow. They grab a lot of the
snow and rain before it can reach the much drier Rockies, and the lush
forest is ribboned with avalanche chutes, which periodically deliver
their treacherous payloads to the valleys below.
A number of wonderful snapshots of this area remain in my mind, almost
15 years since my last visit. The Illecilewaet Glacier, accessible by
a fairly short hike from the campground. An abundance of alpine flowers.
Balustrades of towering peaks, fading into the blue distance towards
Rogers Pass. A large, friendly log shelter in which campers can cook
and socialize when it is raining. A nighttime trip to luxuriate in the
waters at Albert Canyon Hot Springs. There would be no complaints from
me if this beautiful area were still only two and a half hours from
my door.
Steven Fick, Cartographer
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