Archive for July, 2010
Glacier National Park’s 100th anniversary
Rising like a ghostly apparition above the windswept prairies of western Montana, this World Heritage Site and International Peace Park is lauded for its back-country hiking and spectacular big-sky scenery. Come celebrate Glacier National Park’s centennial this summer and check out our top 10 park treasures.
1. Going-to-the-Sun-Road: Crossing the Continental Divide at Logan Pass, this engineering marvel, juts through the heart of the park’s wilderness.
2. Grinnell Glacier: Named for the 19th century conservationist George Grinnell, this beautiful (but receding) glacier lies in Many Glacier Valley. It’s an 11-mile hike there and back, but the views more than make up for the effort you’ll expend in getting there.
3. Two Medicine Valley: Famous for its healthy bear population and deeply imbued with Native American legends, the region is less visited these days, though it has lost none of its haunting beauty. Towering authoritatively over sublime Two Medicine Lake is the distinctive hulk of Rising Wolf Mountain.
4. Logan Pass: Perched above the tree line atop the wind-lashed Continental Divide, and blocked by snow for most of the year, 6646ft Logan Pass is the park’s highest navigable point by road.
5. Wildlife: Glacier offers a unique habitat for bighorn sheep, grizzly bears, myriad birdlife and a bundle of fluff called the hoary marmot. Sometimes known as whistling pigs, these mammals can often be seen along high mountain trails.
6. Highline Trail: This Glacier classic cuts across the famous Garden Wall, a sharp glacier-carved ridge that forms part of the Continental Divide. The views here are some of the best in the park.
7. St Mary Lake & Wild Goose Island: It might just be a tiny stub of land with a handful of lopsided trees, but Wild Goose Island in the middle of St Mary Lake makes a popular photo op.
8. Kintla Lake: Soak your feet in the beautiful Kintla Lake, close to the Canadian border, before heading off on the 4-day Boulder Pass Trail.
9. Parkitecture: Designed to provide top class visitor facilities without infringing upon the fragile natural environment, pioneering park buildings were first constructed in the early 1900s. Glacier’s early experimentation with the style came with the construction of the Glacier Park Lodge, followed by Many Glacier Lodge and Lake McDonald Lodge.
10. Horse Trails: If you’re after a really authentic mountain experience, you can’t beat seeing Glacier National Park from the saddle. Comprehensive listings of pack-trip companies and outfitters can be found at Montana Outfitters & Guides Association.
For park news visit http://www.nps.gov/glac/parknews/glacier-centennial-2010.htm.
Glacier National Park celebrates Centennial
In many ways, Glacier National Park is the same today as it was a century ago when 1.2 million acres were set aside as America’s 10th national park. Glacier remains one of the most diverse and intact ecosystems in the world, yet the establishment of the park was crowbarred by a rush to build: a railway, lodges, trails and roads.
This year, Glacier aficionados celebrate the park’s 100th anniversary with commemorative events, historic displays and memorable trips along trails, upon lakes and over the famous Going-to-the-Sun Road. Fun for some visitors is a half-day whitewater trip on the Middle Fork of the Flathead River.
Splash, gurgle, laugh, laugh, laugh. “Ha, you all got wet!” shouts a man visiting the park with his family. The raft guide from Glacier Raft Company deftly turns the boat to face the next set of rapids, Class 3, he says, so that dry dad quickly becomes drenched dad.
The kids love it, especially since this time, they avoided a splashing in one of the river’s rapids, which range from gentle Class II to vigorous Class IV rapids with sections of scenic flat river in between.
A year ago in the spring, the Middle Fork peaked in mid May at over 11 feet, or 30,000 cubic feet of water per second (cfs), according to the USGS gauge at West Glacier. It was the highest mark the river had reached since 1996. This year will be closer to average for the rushing river.
“It’s an awesome level,” said Billy Carrol, a guide at Glacier Raft Company. He is quite adept at seeing to it that all dry dads get a dousing—all for fun, of course. “There are plenty of big wave trains, and rapids out there that we don’t get to see when the river is lower.”
Rarities are certainly part of a Glacier visit. Wildlife, seldom seen among the lower 48 states, have starring roles here. The Continental Divide is not only a stunning backdrop, but visitors get a view of divergent ecosystems on either side of what’s known as “the Backbone of the World.” Glacier, along with its Canadian sister, Waterton National Park, serves as a World Heritage Site and a Biosphere Reserve, designations that salute the twin parks as Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, named in 1932.
About a 20-minute drive from the raft company headquarters in West Glacier is McDonald Lake Lodge, where guests may stay in the 1914 log structure or nearby lakeside cabins—100 guest rooms, and not one bad view. Campgrounds are nearby too.
Mule deer frequent the rocky beach in front of the lodge where Glacier Boat Company launches lake tours; bald eagles nest in treetops nearby; and the native flowers like fuchsia Fireweed and crimson Indian Paintbrush decorate the paths around the Lake McDonald area better than if landscapers planned the bouquet.
As park plant specialist Stacy Jacobsen explains to park visitors, she is part of a project to replace non-native plant species with native plants in Glacier, including Snowberry and Spiraea in place of invasive weeds.
“We salvaged native plants from the new Transit Center before it was built,” says Native Plant Nursery Manager, Amy Lijewski, who works with Jacobsen.
The Transit Center is a Centennial-era program in which visitors are encouraged to park private vehicles inside the West Glacier gate, and rely on state-of-the-art buses or the famous Red Buses with the storied “Jammers” at the wheel. A Red Bus Tour lessens the traffic and impact on the park, since the 1930s vehicles run on propane, 93 percent cleaner than gasoline. The “Jammer,” as the driver was called for the gear jamming while driving the Going-to-the-Sun Road in the early years, shares park history, historic sites and sights like the mountain goats that frequent the Logan Pass parking area.
Other Legacy Projects include upgrading trails and visitor facilities, preserving historic buildings like the Heaven’s Peak Fire Lookout, and continuing Citizen Science projects. More Legacy Projects are listed at https://www.glaciercentennial.org/Legacy_Projects.html. Restoring native plants remains a main component of visitors’ viewshed throughout the park.
“There are some challenging plants to transplant,” Lijewski admits. “We have a hard time with Beargrass, a lily, and with Huckleberry,” both showcase plants.
Beargrass, tufts of thick grass with a tall stalk and puffy lantern of a flower, dominates some of the 700 miles of hiking trails like the Highline Trail at Logan Pass. Once Beargrass blooms and then dies, a new stalk won’t bloom for another five to 10 years.
Huckleberries, as a tasty trailside fruit, attracts humans and bears August through October. While humans are asked to only pick as much as they can eat on an outing, the grizzly bears, of which Glacier is home to about 300 to 350, can eat gallons in an afternoon.
“Bears, moose, wolves, they are the big, charismatic animals that people come to see in Glacier,” says District Interpretive Ranger Matt Graves, who supervises interpretive talks around the park, including evening programs at Lake McDonald auditorium. “The greatest likelihood of seeing a grizzly bear is while hiking to Iceberg Lake or Grinnell Lake on the east side of the park near Many Glacier area, and along Going-to-the-Sun Road where it’s open so there’s good visibility.”
Graves adds that grizzlies, indeed all the animals of Glacier, are wild and should be treated as such. People should never approach any wild animal, remain at least 100 yards away from bears and 50 from other animals, and hike in groups while making loud noises so the animals know hikers are near.
During an evening interpretive session, Centennial coordinator Kass Hardy tells guests that people have stood, for thousands of years, below these peaks, beginning with Native Americans some 10,000 to 12,000 years ago.
Hardy talks about George Bird Grinnell, who is considered the Father of Glacier and coined the term, ‘Crown of the Continent.’” He also pushed Congress to make Glacier the 10th national park, of which it became so on May 11, 1910.
Hardy tips her ranger’s hat to the numerous celebratory activities in and around the park, including a seven-month-long film festival featuring films made here such as The Shining (the intro scene is Going-to-the-Sun Road), a fresh-air “Paint-Out” with artists creating their work in the field, and a campfire songfest. More events and dates/times are listed at www.glaciercentennial.org.
Glaciier National Park, Inc celbrates its 100th Anniversary
GLACIER NATIONAL PARK is commemorating its 100th anniversary! We invite you to explore its land and discover the relevance and meaning of its million acres to your life.
Consider this a call to action for celebration, inspiration, and engagement as Glacier National Park has the power and legacy of inspiring people to become stewards of this unique place.
The Glacier National Park Fund, Glacier National Park’s philanthropic park partner, has recently announced the completion of their fundraising efforts for the following Centennial Legacy Projects: Stabilization of Heavens Peak Lookout and the Citizen Science High Country Program. Thank you, Glacier National Park Fund for your continued support!
Collecting Teapots
As a collector of teapots, the one problem I often run into is that there are so many different manufacturers of past teapots out there. Where does a new collector of these treasures start? What companies have manufactured teapots, and how do you decide if that teapot you have been in search of for quite some time, once you find it, is worth adding to your collection after all?
Lets look at some manufacturers throughout time, materials they used, different design elements, and, very important to the buyer today, how to determine the value of one you are thinking of purchasing.
Manufacturers
Hall China Company, from East Liverpool, Ohio, is considered by many to be ‘the’ teapot manufacturer of all time. Teapots manufactured from the 1920’s, up through the 1950’s are highly sought. This company is still in production today. A popular design element on many of this company’s teapots, was the use of gold trim.
Hull Pottery, from Crooksville, Ohio, is the manufacturer of several popular lines that included teapots. Their most famous being ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, from the 1940’s.
Homer Laughlin China Company, producers of the colorful Fiesta line, from the 1930’s all the way through to present day, offered numerous teapots in colors that collectors just love, from cobalt blue to yellow. The simple lines used in their work is a draw for many collectors looking to add a simple, yet elegant, teapot to round off a collection.
McCoy Pottery, from Roseville, Ohio, also known as the Brush Pottery, manufactured stoneware in the early 1900’s. One teapot they are known for is an advertising item made for the Salada Tea Company in the 1920’s. The teapot lid is in the shape of an ‘S’, for Salada.
Materials
Ceramic, porcelain, glass, china, stoneware, and tin are the most common materials used in both past and present day teapots. The finish of the materials was as varied as the material itself. Spatterware and Spongeware are two different forms of decoration that are often confused. Both appear to have paint smeared across them, with colors including the most common blue, and the harder to find red, yellow, brown, and green.
Figural Teapots and Design Elements
One reason many people collect teapots is that they often came in a figural design that corresponded with something they already collected. Lighthouses to tomatoes, cows to chickens, Santa Claus, Little Red Riding Hood, and even Betty Boop! If you collect a particular theme, chances are a teapot has been made that would fit right in with your collection. Many companies offered ‘Aladdin’ style teapots. These are very beautiful, designed to bring to mind the ‘genie in a bottle’ image. Flowers, Victorian scenes, bright colors as in the Fiesta Ware, chunky handles, slim handles, gilded patterns, all these and more are different design elements used to attract customers of every taste.
Condition
Because teapots of days gone by were an everyday used item, wear and tear is a common problem. Take the time to examine any teapot you are considering purchasing. Run your hand carefully around the inside of the rim, around the edge of the lid, underneath the spout. Research the marks that different companies used if you are in search of a specific manufacturer, as with any collectible, reproductions exist and are made every day. Some things to look for and to consider when you find the perfect teapot to add to your collection include:
Crazing – Numerous small cracks, in the surface or glaze of the piece. A small amount of this is not a big deterrent, but if the piece is widely crazed, you risk actual shedding or chipping on the surface where the crazing appears.
Staining – Depending on the material of the teapot, staining can be a simple matter of proper cleaning to get rid of it, or if the teapot was made from a porous material, staining may be permanent. Personal opinion will make your decision, though staining only on the inside of a teapot meant to be used as a decoration would not stop me from adding one to my personal collection.
Chips and Cracks – The most common place that a teapot will be chipped is on the inside of the lid itself and the rim where the lid meets the pot, also on the underside of the spout itself, from nicking the teacup. Examine these areas well, as a touch of paint to conceal chips is not unheard of by non-reputable dealers. While a small chip can be lived with, a cracked teapot is most likely not worth purchasing.
Hairline Cracks – These fall into the previous chips and cracks, but you need to be especially noticeable of these. Often hard to see, they often are the precursor to larger cracks. A hairline crack may be very small, or run the whole length of the teapot. If a hairline crack already exists, one bump may lead to a teapot that is nothing more than garbage.
After all is said and done, you will have the final decision on whether to add a particular teapot to your collection. One of my favorite pieces is one I would never have purchased. A blue Hall teapot, with gilded gold decorations, brought to me by my husband and son. Working in a remote area they discovered it shattered and half buried. My son collected all the pieces and we pieced it back together. It now sits on the counter holding flowers. Not perfect by any standards, but beautiful because it simply is, a teapot.
Shop now for teapots at Karen’s Collector’s Cottage. Buy the beautiful Dave Fetty Mosaic art glass teapot featured in this article here.
Author Unknown
Source: Essortment
Glacier National Park Celebrates 100th Anniversary This Year
Glacier National Park, located in northwestern Montana, became the nation’s tenth national park on May 11, 1910 and celebrates its Centennial this year.
Often referred to as the “Crown of the Continent”, Glacier National Park boasts over 1,000,000 acres of land, over 130 lakes, 25 active glaciers, and over a thousand types of plant and animal species. It is located along the Continental Divide and the Rocky Mountain range in northwestern Montana, with a small portion spanning into southwestern Alberta, Canada.
The park is open every day and provides year-round opportunities for outdoor enthusiasts and wildlife watchers to hike, camp, backpack, horseback ride, fish, cross-country ski, and participate in numerous educational and enriching wilderness experiences.
Glacier National Park’s Centennial Celebration
There is a bundle of activities going on almost daily to celebrate Glacier’s 100th year as a national park. According to the Centennial’s website, where a full calendar of events can be found, their mission is to “CELEBRATE the rich history of preservation, INSPIRE personal connections and partnerships through the commemoration, and ENGAGE future park stewards.” Their long-term goal is to raise three million dollars over the next five years for legacy projects and endowments to preserve the park and its history.
Through the work of more than 70 volunteers, the park is able to present the public with a wide variety of programs this year, such as the Glacier Centennial Film Festival, “The Art of Preservation” centennial art exhibition, poetry readings, a lecture series, interpretive programs, and special hiking and backpacking trips to the park’s various summits. Most of these events will run through the summer into early October and are located throughout the park and in nearby Montana towns and cities.
About the “Crown of the Continent”
Glacier National Park is home to real glaciers that were formed in the last Ice Age over 12,000 years ago. Many of them have disappeared or are shrinking rapidly, but about 25 glaciers can still be seen throughout the park.
Visitors to the park will witness an otherwise pristine wilderness that is home to grizzly bears, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, moose, black bear, mountain lions, a variety of birds, and beautiful plant life, lakes, and streams. Taking a drive along Going-to-the-Sun Road, a 52-mile road that cuts across the park and provides breathtaking views of the mountains on the Continental Divide, is a main attraction. Other possibilities for day trips include going on a ranger-led walk, taking a boat tour, or hiking one of the 700 miles of hiking trails.
The park has numerous cabins and campsites that can be rented, some with access to toilets and running water. A permit may be needed to camp or participate in certain other outdoor activities, such as fishing.
Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS) Links
