Swiss Miss & the Matterhorn | East Texas Based Travel Photography

Whoops! Did I just reference Switzerland?

Okay, so I did.

Backstory — the 83 year old hoot of a Park Ranger that we got to learn about the park’s history talked about how the Hill’s (James J. and Louis to be exact) — the railroading magnets behind the Great Northern Railroad and the Glacier Lodges — brought in ‘little Swiss misses from St. Paul, Minnesota’ to greet tourists as they arrive. Why? Well, at least (in my humble opinion) the setting where the Many Glacier Hotel is located, it could very well be smack in the middle of Switzerland. And the accents around the lodge — from the crests to the red cross (aka the Swiss flag) on all of the room doors — made me feel like I was back in the Alps ever so briefly.

First however, a couple more of those large masses of rock (better known as mountains) on the road from Babb to Many Glacier Hotel …

… and this is why I referenced Switzerland — doesn’t this setting scream “Matterhorn”?

The hotel is so large that I couldn’t get a full length shot of it … short of hiking around the lake, that is.

Amanda asked if the water really was turquoise — it most definitely was! The water’s color is from sediment (from the green rock/stone that makes up many of these mountains) that is in the snow as it melts and trickles down to the rivers and lakes. I guess it beats being red from the iron that’s in much of the other rocks

Wait, is that the grown up version of Heidi?

Some of the alpine wildflowers …

Monolith marker at Marias Pass/the Continental Divide commemorating Theodore Roosevelt’s dedication to preserving American lands for future generations

This man — John Frank Stevens is responsible for finding a overland route through the Glacier area for the Great Northern Railroad — long story short, he left his Indian guide behind, traversed on with a snowstorm coming, paced all night while playing number games in his head to keep from freezing to death, and found that route — better known as Marias Pass. Not Maria, pronounced Ma – rye – uhs. Some mapmaker was better at cartography than grammar checking and put the apostrophe in the wrong place.

Since it’ll be sometime tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon or evening before the next installment is live, CMP (aka myself and one extremely exhausted — and close to heatstroke — Robby) wish all of our clients, family, friends, and US website visitors a wonderful Independence Day — aka Fourth of July! And for all of our international visitors (including many of my friends!) — hope you have a great weekend!