Glacier National Park Lodge

We spent Tues. night (Aug. 31st) at Glacier Park Lodge in East Glacier. After having seen this lodge on the PBS special “Great Lodges of the National Parks”, we decided that we just HAD to see it in person. It lived up to our expectation……

After having a very nice, though somewhat chilly, 4 mile hike in the morning, we arrived at the Lodge in East Glacier.

The Glacier Park Lodge was built in 1912-1913 by the Great Northern Railway. The railroad built a number of lodges in the National Parks. They wanted to provide a destination for people to travel to by way of the railroad.

This is the annex which was constructed the next year to house the employees and the power house and laundry. It now provides additional guest rooms.

This main lobby is supported by 60 fir and cedar columns, 36 – 42 inches in diameter and 40 feet long. These timbers were probably 500-800 years old when they were cut and all of them still retain their bark after nearly 100 years. It just amazed us to think about how these timbers were erected and how the beams were placed. The lobby was a very comfortable place to hang out. You could almost “feel” the presence of the people who had enjoyed this lodge – from the “roaring 20’s” to the present. We sipped a mocha from the coffee bar while we sat in the lobby and just savored the whole experience.   : )  

 

The dining room, the Great Northern, was very nice. We had a delicious dinner and then breakfast the next morning.

 

This is the connector to the annex. It is so bright and light with windows to take in the wonderful views. Small desks and tables were placed around to encourage people to write or play games in this area.

The large fireplace was at one end of the lobby. It was a very popular spot, with people practically “taking up residence” in the row of chairs facing the fireplace. By the evenings end, people were lined up in chairs three deep, enjoying the warmth.

We had our chance to enjoy the fire Wednesday morning. Fred sat and read while I worked on the computer (offline)………it was a wonderful stay.