Quinn Endicott/SWC
110 9th Street West
Columbia Falls, MT 59912
7/2/21-7/3/21
Today was a big adventure after work. A group of ten of us gathered gear and then journeyed up to the top of Mt.Altynn to camp for the night. Each of us carried a fairly heavy pack, mine weighed about 30lbs, and we started up the 3,000ft of elevation change over the course of 2.5 miles. On our way up we saw many flowers and stopped multiple times to not burn ourselves out. We were able to catch the beauty of the clouds as the sun set to the West. We made it to our camping spot after a little less than 3 hours and we were all exhausted. We set up camp and then stargazed until we all either dozed off or tried to fall asleep. We woke up at 3:45am to start the rest of the trek up to the summit, about 600ft over half a mile, and we were able to see the dawn of the sun come over the mountain top. We stayed at the summit for the length of the sunrise and I was able to get a time-lapse of the entire thing! We started our trek back down at around 7:15am and slowly made it back to Swiftcurrent at 9am. It was an amazing trip and a once in a lifetime experience to sleep on top of a mountain in almost perfect weather! I took a nap that afternoon and then hung out with co-workers down by Swiftcurrent lake.
The group preparing for the trip.
7/4/21
This morning we had our usual service for ACMNP (A Christian Ministry in the National Parks) and the turn out was pretty good! After the service I had a jam session with Ryan, the security guard, who had helped with the worship service. Then I joined my two ministry partners, Bailey and Molly, at Fishercap Lake. We ended up seeing two moose swim across the lake and then we had to get up and move because they came straight for where we were along the shore. We put some trees and 20 yards between us and them and they went along their business. Bailey and I ended up swimming across the lake which was pretty cold but it felt good after swimming around for a bit. After hanging out at the lake, I prepped for a trip back to the West side of the park to drop off a co-worker at the Kalispell international airport and then attend a 4th of July party at a ranger's house. The co-worker bought me Five Guys for dinner as a thanks for driving him to the airport and once we ate I dropped him off and drove back to West Glacier. Turned out that the airport closed at 12am so he was kicked out and he went and slept in a field until they reopened at 4am. I am not sure why an international airport would close but he sent a video of himself being covered in grass laying in the field half a mile from the airport. When I arrived at the 4th of July party everyone was playing yard games and roasting s'mores. We eventually moved to the front driveway and road to light some fireworks for the evening. We had a forest firefighter onsite so that we could shoot them off but nothing dangerous occurred so it was a pleasant evening. A group of the overall ministry team went to the employee housing and played a few games before calling it a night. I ended up sleeping in the van instead of driving back to the East side overnight.
The lawn party for the 4th of July.
7/5/21
I woke up this morning and drove back to the East side before work at 12pm. I made it with a few hours to spare so I grabbed lunch and unpacked from the trip. Work was fairly routine with nothing too extreme happening beyond learning that the park is turning away around 300 visitors due to lack of parking in the valley we are located in. The ranger in charge of parking came by and was trying to brainstorm some ideas to help with the issue. They are afraid to shuttle guests in because that will increase the number of visitors by quite a bit and creates potential harm to the trails that aren't official. Visitation to the park is at the highest it has ever been. Due to COVID closing this side of the park last year, since the Blackfeet Tribe didn't want to risk exposure to outside traffic, and the boom of outdoorsy activities on social media, there have been many visitors lacking the fitness and awareness to visit the park safely. We have had multiple cases of trash being found on trails and individuals pushing the limit on approaching dangerous wildlife. Personally it has brought into question for me the ethical dilemma of bringing people into nature but swarming it so much that we are actually doing more harm than good. I also learned, a few weeks ago, about the detailed exploitation of the Blackfeet tribe when the park was established and how their sources of food were cut off and extremely limited due to "regulations" that were put in place. I also learned more about the boarding schools that were established in the U.S. and Canada to remove the culture of indigenous people during the late 19th and early 20th century. Some of these boarding school operated into the 1960s! It goes to show how we can get so focused on our own perspective and feeling that we are in the complete right that we are actually hurting others rather than helping them. I am curious to learn about how the exploitation of indigenous people has lead to their current state.
7/6/21
Today started off quite interestingly with a lady showing me a video of a bear digging underneath her window at one of our motels. she started slapping the side of the window to get it to stop and then it stood on its hind legs and smacked the side of the wall and growled at her. We had some rangers come by to make sure there weren't any cubs or bears in the crawlspace and then they gave recommendations on ways to prevent the bears from getting into the crawlspace. They are planning on setting up a game cam to make sure there are no bears in the crawlspace so that when they seal up the siding they won't be trapping a bear or bear cubs in there. This evening I ended up joining some coworkers for board games until I went to bed.
7/7/21
Today I learned the reality of how addictive caffeine is. We had a guest complain for a five minutes to me about the lack of quality of our coffee makers and how coffee is the only thing that should never lose quality in hotels. I just smiled and nodded but definitely felt attacked for an instance that I am not responsible for. The other guests in the lobby said that I handled the situation well and one of them even said that he would have been strangling the guy if he were me. A fun event that has been occurring at Swiftcurrent is a mafia style nerf war. An article appeared in the Employee Dining Room detailing the "nerf murder" of our store manager. The article mentioned how she was shot with nerf bullets leaving the store and that there were nerf guns seen being smuggled into the kitchen. Then later today there was another article released about the housekeeping manager being taken out by the "Godfather" and that there would be a sunset vigil for him this evening. The articles are quite entertaining with fun names for the detectives and theories behind the targeted attacks. It has been a fun change of pace to the mounting pressure from COVID and guests. I ended up rock climbing today with a kitchen employee, who turns out to be involved in the mafia game going on, and had a great time figuring out the boulder problems.
Here are some of the articles that have been posted around the EDR.
7/8/21
Today I woke up to the sound of rain, which was quite inviting due to the lack of rain we have received. The valley that I am in has not had a fire since the 1930's which is an extremely dangerous reality to face. Forest fires are a part of the natural cycle of clearing the underbrush and replenishing the soil for future growth. Due to the fact that there hasn't been a fire in almost 100 years and that this summer season has been the driest it has ever been, any thunder storms pose a danger to igniting the valley. So, rainstorms are greatly welcomed and sought out by the employees even though the guests are not fans of them. This evening I am starting the Dungeons and Dragons campaign for some of the employees. I have been creating a story with characters for them to interact with and monsters for them to fight. It has been fun coming up with the ideas and then building upon the adventure I am working to create.
P.S. I am almost 23! That is crazy to realize...close to a quarter of a century.
"Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Chicken Queen slain at Swiftcurrent!" -guy handing out article about store manager
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