“If you make a mess you will be out of the park by tomorrow morning” was one of the first phrases I heard after entering Glacier National Park. I was taken aback by this abrasive welcome, but as my time in the park progressed, I began to understand that park rangers not only have a duty to protect the park because it is their job, but also because it is their home.

Sue was the first ranger I encountered in the park and her intimidating welcome made me nervous about the future red tape our research group would encounter. My second interaction with a ranger did not improve my apprehensive mind; as I wandered around the ranger station, I unknowingly crossed into the Rangers’ housing and was confronted by Ranger Diane.

However, within the first few days, my perspective changed as I started to see the park from the Rangers’ perspectives. Sue had been so strict with us because a juvenile bear in Many Glacier had followed a man back into the campground and stolen his food, causing the campground to be closed until the bear was caught and euthanized. After additional conversations, I realized that Sue thought of the bears in the park as her own children and did not want our lack of caution to cause another bear to become habituated and meet the same fate. Similarly, Diane snapped at my roaming because it was her home, and intense visitation in the Park has caused strain on their limited resources (https://missoulian.com/news/local/it-s-not-a-relaxed-environment-glacier-staff-share-challenges/article_825febea-03b1-520c-95e8-20b076fedee1.html).

Usually, visitors do not take the time or are not in the park for a long enough to get to know the rangers well enough to understand the importance of the park. By the second week, I and other members of the group often found ourselves feeling like we belonged in the Park – rangers in training!- as we could pass on advice we had learned from the rangers to other visitors.

One of my fondest moments, which encapsulated the close relationship we cultivated with the rangers, was when our group presented what we had found from our two weeks of research in the park. Many a time, visitors nod their head politely as they got caught in our gushing rants over the coring process, but unlike the visitors, the rangers shared the same excitement as us. Ranger Kara found our work so exciting that she even took notes to share with other rangers that could not make it to the talk. Kara had already been incorporating the results from previous Keck student research into her talks during ranger-led hikes; she described the cores and lakes as “history books of the park.”

Ranger Sarah was kind enough to let us keep some of our equipment outside of her house and when she was asked about the bulky pipes and boxes lining the front of her house she proudly exclaimed that she was assisting in research. Similarly, rangers in the park often mentioned our work to visitors as they explained the erosion process in connection to the lakes and glaciers. It was an unbelievable feeling when people in the park approached us and said they had heard about our work from the rangers. The rangers in Glacier National Park made our teams’ experience in the park incredible because it showed us how meaningful our research is to the Park and to the public!

Our first hike was memorable for two reasons. First, it was the first real hike I’ve ever been on and, second, it drained me. We started the hike with the intention of just going to Iceberg Lake (10 miles!) and returning back to the campsite. But, then the idea of going to Ptarmigan tunnel was tossed into the air… and of course we had to do it. The hike to Ptarmigan was beautiful and probably holds the most incredible views I’ve ever seen, but that does not mean the hike was easy. In fact, the hike was actually really hard. The moment we started Ptarmigan (an extra ~5 miles!) I could tell it wasn’t going to be a usual hike. First of all, unlike the trail to Iceberg, the trail was pretty void of people. This made our group feel a real intimacy with the wilderness around us. Second of all, after walking just a little bit on the trail, we came to realize that the trail had turned into one giant incline. Oof.
Nevertheless, we continued to push on. But, then another hardship came by our way. We all began to run out of water – more specifically I was the first to run out of water. This happened about halfway up the trail. That meant I had to go ~8 miles on a rationed water supply. And due to the heat that is always present at midday, this wasn’t an ideal situation. But, after careful consideration and water-sharing among the group, we decided that we could still make it, because, after all, when would be the next time I’d have to chance to make it up to Ptarmigan Tunnel or even visit Glacier National Park. So, with that reasoning egging us forward, we pushed on and I’m glad we did!
The views on the trail to Ptarmigan tunnel were, in my opinion, the most spectacular views I saw at Glacier. From the trail we could see dense packages of trees and the tan and pinkish mountains hovering over them. And, then at the end of the trail, we were granted a picturesque view of a valley that extended for miles and miles from a perch near the top of a mountain. And it was then, looking out into the valley, that I realized that this was going to be the most memorable view of my time at Glacier. And even as the days went on and I saw many beautiful sights, the view from the perch at the end of Ptarmigan still ranked number 1 on my list.