Swiftcurrent Happenings Week 4

MAIL

Quinn Endicott/SWC

 110 9th Street West

Columbia Falls, MT 59912

 6/18/21

Nothing spectacular about today beyond the jam session that I sat in on in the housekeeping office at 1am after work. Two guys took turns playing guitar and singing while a few of us listened to them. It was a pleasant evening hanging out there and am hoping that this week has plenty of opportunity to adventure!

6/19/21

Today was my day off so I went with a group of guys to Ptarmigan Lake, which was the most intense hike I have done yet. We changed 1,000ft in elevation over 1.5 miles. The lake itself was still covered in snow and ice but the spot was fun to get to! I ended up crossing to the back of the basin while the other guys stayed at the front until I got back.

Later in the evening there was a group of us that were off for the day and we were talking outside of the EDR when someone mentioned that a small rubber slingshot chicken was stuck in the pine tree. We then proceeded to throw small rocks to try and dislodge the chicken from the tree. We were able to do so after about 15 minutes, the lead maintenance guy walked up and got it on his 5th try, and then we shot it back into the tree. However, we couldn't find the chicken once we shot it in the tree the 3rd time and we ended up spending 45 minutes searching for the small rubber chicken, even using binoculars.

6/20/21

Today I gave the sermon for the two worship services that we host at Swiftcurrent. I was fairly nervous but they ended up going well! The team that I work with decided to go for a hike to Apikuni Falls after the morning service, although one of our team had previous plans for Cracker Lake so he couldn't join us. The falls were absolutely stunning and the view form above the falls was one of the best I have seen. We were able to sit and enjoy the view of the entrance to Many Glacier Valley. Later in the day after the second service, I was determined to find the rubber chicken that we lost in the tree so I climbed the tree to look for it. After I got 3/4 of the way up the tree I spotted the little rubber chicken sitting on a branch behind a bunch of pine cones!

I was waiting on a friend so I traversed on some rocks in the hallway.

6/21/21

Today I worked the morning shift from 6 am-3 pm and then organized a group hike to Iceberg Lake. We left at around 3:30pm and maintained a steady pace up to Ptarmigan Falls. We stopped for a break at the falls and enjoyed the sound of the water flowing over the rocks. We continued on our way expecting to find snow drifts over the trail but the drifts themselves had melted since I last attempted the hike. However, once we got to the lake basin, there was plenty of snow and ice all around. We ended up having a snowball fight while we hiked over the snow until we arrived at Iceberg Lake. We spent a good hour resting while trying to break up the snow and ice that covered the lake. It was mostly unsuccessful and we hiked back to Swiftcurrent.  

6/22/21

Today was another morning shift but my location manager had ordered a game of Throw Throw Burrito-Extreme Outdoor Edition, so we had giant inflated burritos behind the desk until she could get them to her room. It was quite enjoyable seeing the guests reactions and hearing the fun comments about the burritos. The shift went by quickly and later that evening some co-workers and I played a full game of Throw Throw Burrito-Extreme Outdoor Edition. It was quite the spectacle to see us running around and throwing inflated burritos at each other. I ended up winning the game and then we hung out and talked for a few hours.

6/23/21

Today after work I went with a group to the Grinell Glacier trail and we tried to get as far as we could along the trail. We ended up having two strangers join us because they were extremely terrified of running into a bear and there were only two of them in the group. They did their best to keep up but we had a time crunch with starting so late and ended up splitting up once we could see Lower Grinell Lake. Once we reached the recommended stopping point, due to snow hazards being across the trail at 70 degree angles, we sat at a waterfall for a while soaking in the views. We didn't run into any bears but the hike itself was a good one.

Lower Grinell Lake

The snow hazard sign posted by National Park Services.

If you look closely at the snow drifts you can see where some people skied down the slopes. They said they were trying to get further up the trail but had to stop because the sun was setting. We saw a guy skiing down so we ran over to see what was going on.

6/24/21

Today started off as an interesting day with some drama going on with an employee but it ended up being taken care of. However, on top of dealing with construction, two bosses leaving Glacier National Park, and the COVID regulations, it has been a rough week for us. Today started out gloomy then changed to a bright sunny afternoon, thankfully for my lunch break, then had a huge rainstorm pass through. The guests all huddled under our front porch to watch the rain come down and I had some friends who were caught in the middle of a hike. When I got off of work I ended up hanging out behind the EDR with some other co-workers. We were all still shaken up from the drama of the morning so we put some kayaks in puddles and soaked up the sun, until we started a rubber chicken slingshot war! We had multiple people in on the "fighting" and the maintenance guys were using their truck, while trying to get trash, as a get away vehicle. Eventually some of the rubber chicken slingshots ended up on the roof so the maintenance guys grabbed a ladder and started shooting them down from the roof!

Grinell point splitting a cloud passing through with the Motor Inn in the bottom of the shot.

P.S. The wifi has been really bad since the guests have been arriving so my photos are limited again.

P.S.S. I have a half marathon tomorrow so that should be interesting.

"Printers are the bane of my existence. So I took home the one from work and I shot it." - a guest 6/23/21